Canadiens Hockey

Johnny Gaudreau filled his knickers with pucks at the NHL Combine
Manuel Sperandio-Lemay
Johnny Gaudreau filled his knickers with pucks at the NHL Combine

Johnny Gaudreau no longer needs to prove himself. He's shown everyone that his small stature doesn't slow him down and that he's capable of dominating in the NHL. But at the 2011 draft, he was so small that several teams refused to draft him.

The Calgary Flames took a chance by drafting him in the 4th round, and they hit the jackpot… at least until 2022.

Gaudreau weighed about 130 pounds and measured just 5 feet 6 inches in his draft year.

Speaking on the Spittin' Chiclets podcast last January, Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery revealed his best anecdote about the diminutive forward.

While at the NHL Combine , Gaudreau wanted to give himself a chance before embarking on the scale. According to Montgomery, he taped eight pucks to his underpants to make himself heavier on the scale. One washer is equivalent to about 170 grams. Multiplying that by eight adds up to three extra pounds.

In the end, the strategy wasn't worth it.

He stepped on the scale, in front of an official NHL employee, and the pucks started falling out of his pants! Luckily for him, the employee was kind and told him he'd add a few pounds to his real total. His official draft weight was finally 137 pounds.

Today, Johnny Gaudreau weighs 165 pounds and measures 5 feet 9 inches, according to official NHL figures.

Hard to believe. Maybe he found better tape to hold the pucks in place this time!

Jim Montgomery and Johnny Gaudreau teamed up in the 2010-11 season, when both were with the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the USHL. Montgomery also explained in the podcast that he was always impressed by Gaudreau in training, so much so that he would often ask him to do a drill longer than the others so he could see the extent of his talent.

Johnny Gaudreau will soon begin his second campaign with the Columbus Blue Jackets. In 74 games during his first season in Columbus, the American collected 74 points, including 21 goals.

You can listen to the entire podcast on YouTube.

Credit to Habsolumentfanwho also wrote about this news.


In a row

– Keep your fingers crossed if you're going to the LASSO festival. You just might run into two giants.

– These are reasonable expectations.

– Superb goal from the Montreal CF prospect.

– That would be very weird.

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