Montreal Captain Nick Suzuki Is Taking Steps on and Off The Ice To Lead his Club To Success

Nick SuzukiDavid Kirouac-Imagn ImagesGive Nick Suzuki credit: At least he’s making an attempt. Yet his attempt at translating French words for change and trade into English caused quite the stir when trying to tell Tim Hortons employee about changing his drink preferences.”What? ” Suzuki Was Traded!” an employee exclaimed in French, setting off an unexpected chain reaction of panic throughout the restaurant that reached Chantal Machabee from Habs PR as she placed her order from drive-thru window:”What?!?!?!?!?!?!?” Machabee had asked Machabee as part of an advertisement designed to poke fun and honor Machabee’s ongoing journey toward mastery of French. Most Quebecois can appreciate such efforts! Suzuki, who has made many commercials speaking a language other than his mother tongue, has done all he can to integrate and win fans as he enters his sixth year in La Belle Province. “My French is actually pretty good,” Suzuki noted during September’s NHL/NHLPA Player Media Tour in Las Vegas while Machabee smiled from across the table. However, “it can be challenging having conversations; unfortunately my French skills still need improvement due to how quickly people speak.” “Throwback Hockey News’ Annual Goalie Issue covers Marc-Andre Fleury’s legacy as well as cost/benefit analyses of Reverse VH Features with Joseph Woll, Yaroslav Askarov, Charlie Lindgren and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen features”. Now on sale! Go here: https://t.co/smKk3NQL6o pic.twitter.com/LWU4e1W006 for sale Suzuki, generally recognized for his two-way centering abilities on both teams’ top players, proved himself as an effective threat on defense as well, scoring 33 goals and 77 points to finish tied 30th overall in scoring race last season. But among centers, only six had more goals and points than Sebastian Aho – Auston Matthews, Leon Draisaitl, J.T Miller, Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos and Sebastian Aho were these six names. “I thought my game went pretty well this season,” Aho stated afterward. “Every year is another learning experience.” Last season I felt as if both sides of my game were where I wanted them and continue developing in those positions, giving me confidence that my abilities can only get better over time.” Last season the Habs finished last in Atlantic Division play but are hoping for improvement this year with 2022 No. 1. With former No. 1 overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky having just registered an impressive 20-goal season and Suzuki having assembled top prospects like David Reinbacher, Ivan Demidov and Michael Hage in his pipeline, Suzuki no longer talks rebuild. “Personally,” said Suzuki, “you cannot keep stockpiling prospects.” “Not every prospect that you draft will turn into what was anticipated when they joined your team; not everyone survives to the second round, so our job as coaches and managers is to keep pushing those individuals towards improvement and make sure we do everything necessary to keep winning games.” “Kent Hughes made an important statement this summer when he acquired Patrik Laine from Columbus – giving them access to a player capable of scoring 50-goals.” Now it is up to coach Martin St-Louis and Suzuki themselves to unlock that potential after some difficult seasons for the 2016 Draft’s No. 2 overall pick. “I was really glad when we got him on board!” Suzuki noted. “Bringing Patty on strengthens our top six and puts players into positions to succeed whether on the third or fourth line. Now I think we will have four really strong lines at forward with plenty of depth.” “Unfortunately for Suzuki and the Habs, their scoring depth will take longer to emerge due to Laine’s injury in pre-season which will sideline him until at least December. Meanwhile, Suzuki remains one of the league’s premier versatile players.” How many skaters have the skills needed to kill penalties as well as anchor the power play? And who among us could play first-line minutes while matching up against an opposing top line? His ability to play both sides of the puck has made him an outside candidate to join Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster as one of its depth players. “I want to play on that team,” said Williams, and added that Montreal serves as host for this February event. “I have given much consideration to wearing the Canadian jersey in Montreal. That would certainly be something exciting! So hopefully that can become reality soon enough.” “As far as playing is concerned, my versatility allows for any situation imaginable – be it fourth line centering or playing an essential defensive role on my team every night. So yes, I do like being put in that role – especially penalty killing and playing less minutes; obviously the forwards who already make up my team are fantastic so if I make it onto their squad my role should help the team win more often than not. Suzuki remains confident Montreal could reach the playoffs this year despite most pundits writing off any future runs like those seen previously. His previous playoff runs weren’t expected either! Suzuki helped lead his rookie Montreal Canadiens team to an unexpected postseason berth during an otherwise subpar 2019-20 season due to pandemic-shortened games; when they defeated Pittsburgh in best-of-five qualification round for Toronto bubble. Next year, Montreal went undefeated against Toronto, Winnipeg and Vegas to claim a spot in the final. Unfortunately for home games played under these unusual conditions, most arena seats remained mostly empty during most home matches. “I want to play in the playoffs again,” Suzuki lamented, noting he has already experienced two separate post-season appearances under less-than-ideal circumstances. So far this season I haven’t gotten to play at the Bell Centre before a packed house; that is definitely something I hope for this season. “All is possible!” would be French but this article appeared in The Hockey News Oct 7 2024 edition. In this edition, we explore goaltending with special focus on three-time Stanley Cup Champion Marc-Andre Fleury during his last NHL campaign. Additionally, this issue looks into which teams possessing effective or ineffective tandems within their rosters. As well, we will look at all six newly revealed PWHL team names and logos since its inaugural season. 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