“I want to force them to keep me on the team” – Joshua Roy

Dose
Crédit: Joshua Roy of Montreal Canadiens scores goal against Columbus Blue Jackets.

Last season was full of positive elements for the Montreal Canadiens, especially given that for the first time since the start of the rebuild, the team was competitive all season long. However, if we overlook the fact that the Habs made the playoffs, that Lane Hutson was extraordinary, and that Ivan Demidov came to town, there were more negative elements.

And one of these was clearly Joshua Roy’s performance. Indeed, we all had pretty high expectations of the Québécois winger last season, after seeing him finish the NHL season in 23-24. We saw him making the team easily at practice, when he clearly had a position to lose.

In the end, Roy didn’t perform up to expectations, and worse still, he didn’t even do enough to keep a job that seemed predestined for him. So it was clear that the Habs’ #89 didn’t arrive ready for training camp, didn’t have the right mentality and didn’t have the knife between his teeth. But this year, things seem different listening to Roy talk, as he explained that he wanted to force the Habs to keep him in the NHL.

[content-ads] Indeed, as can be read towards the end of theabove article by Sébastien Deschambault, Roy seems to have a much better mentality ahead of the fast-approaching training camp.

This time around, Roy will arrive as an underdog rather than a guy with a job to lose, so the pressure will be off him, and he’s bound to surprise and make management think long and hard about him. And that’s exactly what Roy wants, when his goal is to play in the NHL and prove that he belongs there.

What’s even more striking about Roy’s comments is that he really does sound like a guy who will play in the NHL, or at least has a good chance of getting there, when yet, several guys have passed him by. Zachary Bolduc is the first name that comes to mind, when he was clearly acquired to fill the role that Roy failed to fill and keep.

[content-ads] Indeed, in the eyes of many fans, the Québécois has fallen in the club’s hierarchy, and he’s clearly not one of the names that comes to mind when we think of youngsters who could carve out a position with the Habs.And even in the eyes of management, we know he’s lost a lot of feathers, so it’ll be hard for him to force them to keep him after disappointing them last season.

Owen Beck, Oliver Kapanen and Florian Xhekaj are the guys we’re hearing a lot more about right now, not to mention Joe Veleno and Samuel Blais, two Québécois who’ll be desperate to carve out a place for themselves in Montreal. Nevertheless, Roy remains fairly confident that he has the same goal as his compatriots:

“All three of us want the same result, which is to play with the Canadiens. We’ve got competition, but we’re still chums in the same way.”

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Joshua Roy

In short, even if it’s going to be very difficult for the Québécois to make his mark in Montreal, it’s good to see him with a good mentality, which is still encouraging for what’s to come. Roy knows that this is his last year of contract, and he knows that it’s going to be a big year and that he’ll have to prove a lot.

Spacer title=’En Rafale’] – That’s for sure.

– Well said.

– Very good news for soccer.

– Very tough game for Sealy.