Joël Bouchard made his debut on Tuesday on the show Les pendules l’heure. JiCon TVA Sports, the day before Montreal Canadiens training camp begins.

How important are the results to decision makers knowing that Day 1 will focus on physical exams? According to the ex-Laval Rocket pilot, the data reflects “the dedication” of players, both hopefuls and veterans.

“It’s important to build muscle mass, gain weight and be physically stronger. You just don’t want to get out of your physical development. I’ve seen this error many times on both sides.

“A youngster who comes in and definitely didn’t do his homework or definitely didn’t work hard enough. I’ve been a lot harder on that than the Canadiens members at times because they’d say to me “he didn’t know” or “he’s young”. I, I’m telling you, I had the leash a little shorter.

“It’s his ‘job’. He’s 18 or 19 years old. We could give him a pair of running shoes and a playpen and he would be fit if he really wanted to!”

St-Louis: “clear message”

Asked about the challenges of head coach Martin St-Louis, who will headline his first NHL camp this week, Bouchard believes he needs to be a clubman first for the 74 players to grow in the same direction.

“Of course the message has to be clear. No gray area. How important it is to him to get everyone on board, even American League players, he said.

“The reality is he has to get his message across, be very clear and have time to do video sessions with a specific group of players and then work on his special teams.”

According to Joël Bouchard, there will also be “logistics” on the part of the trainers, which must be observed with the players. The reason? collective agreement.

“There is an agreement between the National League and the Players Association that players cannot stay (on the ice) for more than three hours. You try to stretch the sauce a little so you can teach her, but when she starts checking the time…

“Usually the guys are cool and they know that’s part of the process. I know Martin can sell his project.”

Listen to Joël Bouchard’s first intervention on “JiC” above.