The Canadiens have a player who could surprise more than one
Corey Schueneman's name is not common, but we are slowly starting to remember him because of his performance with the Laval Rocket. On Twitter, the voice of the Rocket, Anthony Marcotte, often praised the game offered by Schueneman. Before his recall, Marcotte indicated that he deserved one.
Schueneman was never drafted by a National Hockey League team and he never initialled an NHL contract until the Canadiens dropped one off on April 2, 2021. If Marc Bergevin offered him this one-year pact, it was thanks to Scott Mellanby, who strongly suggested that he signs him*.
*Note that he has been with the Laval Rocket since July 2020 with a contract from the American League.
In short, the 26-year-old American defenseman stood out thanks to his perseverance, who had two big facets to improve to allow him to climb the ranks. He took notes and then implemented the homework that was asked of him. His agent Ryan Ballard pointed out exactly the two shortcomings to be improved:
"He needed to improve on two things. First, his defensive play. He was very offensive up to junior ranks. So in college, they insisted on it. And he had to learn to raise his head when he was controlling the puck. Because by playing with his head down, he could not succeed in high-speed games as he should in professionals. He had the good fortune to be very well managed. But the player must not only receive the teaching; he must also have the will to apply it!"
This is not the perfect example of an inspiring individual who has managed to play three games in the show so far. Perseverance tastes much better.
Without saying that he is the seventh wonder of the world, he has an interesting potential and Jean-François Houle loves working with him:
"He can continue to improve his skate and pivots. He is aware of his shortcomings and is working on them. He has to get the pucks faster in the back of the territory. And he has to keep his game simple. It's when he's trying to complicate things that he gets into trouble. As soon as he sees a stick, he has to pass!"
In short, in his first match, many found him bad, but in the next two, we saw an adaptation and a more confident young man.
