The Montreal Canadiens kicked off the on-ice portion of their training camp on Friday, splitting the team in three groups.
Voici les groupes pour la première séance d’entraînement sur glace.
Here are the groups for the first on-ice sessions at training camp.#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/0uqFwPTy9z
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) September 13, 2019
The lines used are obviously a work in progress, but they can provide some clues. Two years ago, Victor Mete was the surprise partner with Shea Weber and that was the way the team started the season.
Group A and B are the two groups we should be used to seeing in pre-season games, although those teams are not necessarily the ones used for the games. Group C is a group of players slated to go to Laval Rocket training camp.
Group A was the first to skate.
Victor Mete is with Shea Weber. Brett Kulak skated with Josh Brook who seems like he will be getting an extended look. Laval Rocket captain Xavier Ouellet skated with Noah Juulsen.
Artturi Lehkonen skated with Jonathan Drouin and Max Domi (with Domi at centre) while Nick Suzuki centred Jordan Weal and Charles Hudon.
Ça ressemble à ça pour le groupe A au camp du #CH#Habs
Drouin-Domi-Lehkonen
Hudon-Suzuki-Weal
Cousins-Thompson-Weise
Pezzetta-Evans-Barber/AlainKulak-Brook
Sklenicka-Fleury
Mete-Weber
Ouellet-Juulsen— Alexandre Gascon (@GasconAlexandre) September 13, 2019
Group B skated later in the day, and the defence pairings shows that it is an open competition for the final spots on the blue line.
#Habs Team B D-pairs:
Chiarot – Petry
Alzner – Folin
Leskinen – Reilly
Lamarche— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) September 13, 2019
Up front, there are very clear NHL and AHL lines to start.
Group B lines: Tatar-Danault-Gallagher, Byron-Kotkaniemi-Armia, Peca-Poehling-Varone, Vejdemo/Verbeek-McCarron-Belzile #Habs
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) September 13, 2019
