I hear that Ivan Demidov is faster than he used to be

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
I hear that Ivan Demidov is faster than he used to be
Credit: Cook

This morning, our colleague Marc-Olivier Cook went to check out Brossard.

There were still quite a few Canadiens players there. And with guys like Josh Anderson and David Reinbacher in town, you can tell that training camp is getting closer.

Brendan Gallagher and some defensemen from Concordia University were also there.

Of course, as has been the case for most of the offseason, Ivan Demidov was there. The Canadiens forward, who organized the team's summer training sessions on the South Shore, was in great shape.

How fit?

So much so that my colleague Cook, who hadn't seen the Russian skate in a few weeks, took a step back to put what he saw this morning into perspective.

And what he saw was that Demidov is faster than before.

The young man, who recently signed a contract to stay in town through 2035, didn't take the Alex Ovechkin approach during his time off.

On the contrary: he took his summer training seriously. He worked twice as hard to get ready.

Demidov wasn't slow last season when he hit the ice, but you couldn't exactly call him a speed demon either. He had some things to work on—which is normal.

And he did just that… which is very encouraging.

If Demidov, who has lightning-fast hands, can learn to handle the puck while accelerating, he'll be absolutely unstoppable heading into next season.

And if his GM can find him a guy to finish his plays, Demidov is going to become a superstar.


In a nutshell

– Speaking of practice: Jakub Dobes was with Marco Marciano, who hasn't yet been officially confirmed as the goaltending coach for next season. But it's going to happen.

– The Rocket is keeping its goaltending coach.

– Note.

– Ouch.

– Interesting.

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