Corey Perry and Shea Weber's impact was much greater than you might think!
Dominique Ducharme was on Guillaume Latendresse and Maxim Lapierre's La poche bleue podcast on Tuesday to tell several anecdotes and not talk about the CH's miserable season. He seemed pretty comfortable and relaxed in a setting other than a press conference.
He talked about one topic that caught my attention in particular, the losses of Corey Perry (Tampa Bay) and Shea Weber (injury) during the off-season.
Both veterans are known to be great leaders on the ice and in the locker room, but they are also a coach's best friend. They were both very important to the CH head coach and played a major role in the locker room.
Ducharme met with both players individually every day last year to find out what was going on in the room. This is Ducharme's first full season in the NHL and he has lost two of his best leaders. A transition that has been difficult for him.
Add to that the absences of Joel Edmundson, Carey Price, Brendan Gallagher and Paul Byron for long periods of time. In addition, the departures of Phillip Danault and Tomas Tatar have certainly had a significant influence on the Tricolore's lack of leadership and success in 2021-2022. The contribution of Tatar and Danault was greatly underestimated, in my opinion.
When asked about Carey Price, Ducharme also praised the leadership of his starting goaltender. Price is a very straightforward individual who goes through the motions rather than divulging what he is thinking.
When Dominique Ducharme met with the players for the first time as head coach, Price came up to him and simply gave him a fist bump as a sign of respect and welcome. A gesture that may seem trivial to many, but it left a lasting impression on Ducharme.
