Combine: The CH is making headlines for its… very strange questions

Marc-Olivier Cook
Combine: The CH is making headlines for its… very strange questions
Credit: Capture d'écran/Twitter

Every year at the combine, NHL teams have the opportunity to interview the top prospects ahead of the draft.

Every club has its own way of trying to learn more about a young player's personality… and according to what's been going around for the past few years, the Canadiens always have some slightly odd questions to ask the young players.

It's no different in 2026.

Marco D'Amico discussed this on the morning show on BPM Sports: this year, the Canadiens asked some players to shoot a puck into a trash can.

The guys could stand anywhere in the room, and the goal was to get the puck into the trash can. And before the exercise, the Canadiens told the young player about to take the shot:

If you can get it in the trash can, you'll be on our draft list. But if you miss, we won't draft you… guaranteed! – Marco D'Amico

Once again, it's a bit of an unorthodox method: 

Obviously, the Canadiens do this to test the young players.

It allows management to assess a prospect's mental toughness: whether he stands close to the trash can to avoid missing, whether he stands even further back to show he's confident, how he'll react if he makes it or if he doesn't…

We agree that even if the young player misses, it doesn't mean he won't be drafted by the Canadiens. It's simply a mind game… but it's true that it's a rather unique technique for learning more about the mental side of prospects.

Again, let's remember that this isn't the first time the Habs have drawn attention for this kind of thing.

Last year, club executives asked certain prospects who were being interviewed the following:

If you ran into Nick Suzuki at 3 a.m. at the casino and Martin St. Louis asked you the next day if you'd seen him, what would you say?

The Canadiens have their ways… and it's always interesting to see how they choose to test the young players. And clearly, that's truer than ever given what Marco D'Amico shared this morning!


In a nutshell

– We've been treated to a great final so far.

– Insane.

– Good news for the Knights.

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