Battles: Georges Laraque confirms that he gave Michael Pezzetta several lessons

Yesterday, a video of Georges Laraque and Michael Pezzetta made the rounds on the web. In it, the former Canadiens strongman, wearing a Canadiens practice jersey in Brossard, helps Pezz fight better.

Clearly, the young man knows he’s playing in a tough division and wants to be prepared.

Does this mean Pezzetta will still be fighting next season? No, not necessarily. What it does mean is that he wants to add tools to his trunk.

And who better to help him than Georges Laraque?

In the last few minutes, Georges confirmed our news of yesterday, saying that he had indeed been training with Pezzetta to help him defend himself and fight.

Here’s his post.

In it, we learn that this isn’t the first time he’s done this not only with Pezz, but also with other players. He’s been doing it for a few years now, but it’s been behind the scenes.

When asked about the identity of his other clients, he laughed and told us we’d have to look them up.

He doesn’t want to do it full time because of his busy schedule, but when a player (be it Pezz or another) asks him for help, he does it for free.

I wonder if he has “clients” anywhere in the NHL other than Montreal… and I especially wonder if Arber Xhekaj is one.

After all, he’s really tough (as we saw last year) and physically very strong: time with Laraque could clearly help him get to the next level and become one of the NHL’s toughest.

Georges, who would have liked to have had a veteran do the same with him when he was young, says that Pezzetta has made good progress in this area and that even if he’s not the biggest, he plays big.

Extension

Playing in what promises to be a very tough division, Michael Pezzetta won’t always have to fight, but he’ll clearly have to play very, very physically. So he’s preparing himself accordingly.

It’s going to be a bumpy ride next year.