Georges Laraque: Michael Pezzetta’s new special trainer

Vacations don’t exist – or they’re short-lived – for NHL players. And for Georges Laraque!

The Montreal Canadiens are currently holding a field hockey school for youngsters at the Bell Complex in Brossard, and this morning the kids and their parents were treated to a number of surprises.

First, Kaiden Guhle and captain Nick Suzuki went into the room after the kids’ morning session to meet them, have a little chat and, of course, take a few photos with them.

Secondly, when the youngsters and their parents left the locker room, they were treated to another surprise: six players from the Montreal organization had jumped onto the ice after the resurfacer had passed by: Xavier Simoneau, William Trudeau, Joshua Roy, Miguel Tourigny and Riley Kidney worked on their skating strokes with specialized trainers…

And Michael Pezzetta was treated to “ice combat” lessons with none other than Georges Laraque.

One of the parents in attendance sent us some live footage:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by DansLesCoulisses (@dlcoulisses)

I contacted Georges to get his comments on the session, but he initially denied having participated in any such activity. When I mentioned that I had conclusive video footage, he laughed, but refused to comment.

Georges was often asked on BPM Sports, as well as on Tony Marinaro’s Sick Podcast, if he ever went to give sessions to Canadian pugilists. We’d seen a few NHL teams offer such sessions to their players.

I think we now have the answer as far as the Canadiens are concerned.

Now that we know it’s been done for Pezzetta (and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s also been done in the past, in the shadow of curious onlookers), will Arber Xhekaj be Georges’ next student? Will he wait until he’s fully recovered from his shoulder operation before throwing on the gloves again, even for fun?

Michael Pezzetta clearly knows that with the arrival of Ryan Reaves, Tyler Bertuzzi, Milan Lucic and Bokondji Imama in the Atlantic Division, he’s now playing in the league’s tuffest division.

Clearly, some advice from one of the best goons in NHL history can’t (really) hurt.

According to our eyes in Brossard, Laraque emphasized the optimal way to grab his opponent’s jersey, as well as the proper foot position to maximize his chances of winning a bare-knuckle ice fight.

I’d be curious to know whether this was an official session booked by the Habs, or something more informal requested by Pezzetta himself.

Pezzetta will have to fight for his place in the line-up come October, as no fewer than 16 forwards will be competing for 12 positions in the line-up (and 13 or 14 in total in Montreal). If Pezzetta manages to carve out a place in the line-up, it will clearly be thanks to his physical game. Hence his little session with Georges Laraque this morning…

There was Elon Musk and Georges St-Pierre, Mark Zuckerberg and Israel Adesanya… and now there’s Michal Pezzetta and Georges Laraque.