Thursday marked day one of rookie camp for Canadiens prospects, including roster hopeful Artturi Lehkonen, who spoke about his desire to crack the lineup. [TVA | Camp | Lehkonen]
First-round draft selection Mikhail Sergachev spoke with the media following day one of rookie camp. [NHL.com]
Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty is unphased by the rumoured comments of Michel Therrien, and has no issue with the criticism he has faced from Team USA bench boss John Tortorella. [NHL.com]
Carey Price commented on what he believes Shea Weber will bring to the team, touching on his shot and leadership qualities. [Twitter]
The Habs netminder is far from the only one with positive reviews of Weber, however, as the defenceman has been heaped with praise from his Canadian teammates. [WCH]
Despite a strong challenger in Braden Holtby, the job of starting goaltender for Team Canada is still Price’s to lose. [TSN]
Alex Tanguay is still without a contract for the coming season, and while many thought the Canadiens may offer the veteran a tryout it turns out the club has no interest in bringing the former Hab back. [La Presse]
In fact, it turns out that Marc Bergevin has no interest in offering professional tryouts to any players this season as training camp draws near. [Twitter]
Bergevin did state on Thursday that the Habs have hired a new data analyst, though he gave no information on who that may be or what role they will play. [EOTP]
Elaborating on the team’s use of analytics, Bergevin cautiously explained that it is an area in which they are trying to improve. [Twitter]
Tomas Plekanec, who captains the Czech team at the World Cup of Hockey, spoke out about his team’s need to improve. [WCH]
Sean Burke, who was recently hired by the Habs as a professional scout, will be the general manager of Team Canada at the 2016 Deutschland Cup. [Hockey Canada]/
Around the League and Elsewhere
Whether or not the NHL participates in the 2018 Winter Olympics is irrelevant to Alex Ovechkin, who restated his position that he will be there regardless. [Puck Daddy]
While the World Cup of Hockey has actually been quite enjoyable thus far through pre-tournament action, here are some reasons you can hate it. [The Guardian]
Vadim Shipachyov – who was said to be courted by the Canadiens this summer – has confirmed he will honour his KHL contract before considering an NHL move. [Twitter]
The coming expansion draft may throw a wrench in the plans of Marc-Andre Fleury, but the Penguins goaltender hopes to remain in Pittsburgh for a long time to come. [NBC]
Jack Han shows why it can be a mistake to blame individual players for entire defensive zone breakdowns. [Twitter]/
