Quebec forward Xavier Simoneau did well at the Canadiens’ rookie camp, so he will participate in the real Montreal training camp starting on Wednesday.
It’s a great step for the 21-year-old skater, chosen in the sixth round by the Habs in the 2021 draft. For the general manager of the Voltigeurs de Drummondville, Philippe Boucher, who knows him well, it’s an invitation largely deserved. Because at 5’6” (according to the list of Canadians), Simoneau often had to go to great lengths to convince the hockey world of his worth.
“Xavier deserves to be there, he’s a great leader, a guy who did everything to play hockey,” Boucher told “JiC” on Tuesday.
“We questioned him since he was midget, too small, too this, too that, but he was very good for us with the Voltigeurs, he was very good in Charlottetown, a team he took to final,” he added.
One thing is certain, those who know Simoneau well tend not to doubt him.
“He’s a guy that (former CH coach) Dominique Ducharme wanted to bring, he worked hard for two years to get drafted by the Montreal Canadiens, Boucher then revealed. He was finally drafted at 19 and the Canadian will not regret it.
That said, Simoneau is not necessarily at the gates of the NHL despite an excellent internship at the junior level, warned Boucher.
“Will we see him wear the blue-white-red uniform in the National League in the short, medium or long term, I don’t know,” he admitted. But one thing is certain, he will do everything he can to be a good hockey player, to stay in Laval, to influence the team and help the young people there, and continue his progress towards, one day to be, the National League.”
There was also talk, during Boucher’s intervention, of the injury suffered by Sean Couturier with the Flyers, as well as the retirements of Zdeno Chara, PK Subban and Keith Yandle, announced Tuesday at the start of the day.
Watch the full conversation in the main video.
