It’s unclear what Tyler Thorpe was most excited about between being drafted and meeting former assistant coach Alex Burrows.
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The tall forward grew up in Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver, and therefore watched Burrows, who played mainly with twins Henrik and Daniel Sedin for the Canucks from 2005 to 2017.
“It was surreal meeting him. It was basically a dream come true,” he admitted with stars in his eyes, as if he were six years old again, right at the time to tell the anecdote.
This is a great way to welcome Burrows to the CH development team, who left his position as assistant to Martin St-Louis earlier this week.
He misses his draft
Thorpe is a young man who is both smart and shy and enthusiastic, a teenager after all. He had a good anecdote about the draft he didn’t attend, despite being in talks with the Canadiens all last season and again a few weeks before the draft.
He explained that he missed his selection twice despite following the selection session at home. He was temporarily absent when the Canadian called his name with the first selection of 5 on Saturdaye round, a pick by the San Jose Sharks.
“I was at home with my dad and we were watching the draft. There was a commercial break [et je me suis levé] When my name was called, my father called me to tell me the news.
“My father was very nervous, he invested a lot of time and money [en moi] So of course he was very happy that I was selected by a team like Montreal, it’s just fantastic,” he said with infectious youthful enthusiasm.
Big guy
Thorpe fits well into a clichéd category favored by hockey analysts: that of the big guy who can move his feet well. His 6’1″ and 220 lbs. weight are arguments that tend to confirm this good impression.
The right winger scored 44 points, including 23 goals, in 51 games for the Vancouver Giants of the WHL last season.
“I want to be a big power forward who can also skate well and who likes to hit. I have to work on my consistency now because I hope to join the Canadian. Then we’ll go from 68 games in the junior ranks to 82 games, that’s a big change, but I’m looking forward to it.
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