Latest news with #TheRebuild:Inside
Edmonton Journal
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Edmonton Journal
Cowan: Former Canadien David Savard plays large role in The Rebuild
Season 2 of The Rebuild: Inside the Montreal Canadiens will be a very special one for David Savard. Article content The six-part series, which will launch Thursday on Crave with the first two episodes, provides a behind-the-scenes look at the 2024-25 season, which turned out to be the last of Savard's 14-year NHL career. The 34-year-old defenceman decided midway through the season that it would be his last, but didn't make it public until the Canadiens had clinched a playoff spot for the first time in four years. Article content Article content 'I think if I put myself in four or five years when my youngest one is a little older, it's going to be cool to be able to watch back the last few moments I played in the NHL,' Savard, a father of three young children, said during a news conference Monday about the Crave series. 'I think they did such a good job in the first season of just our life. They see the meetings, the ups and downs we go through during a season and stuff like this. Sometimes you don't see it from the outside. I think it's cool for the fans to get to see this — and even our family. They live it through us, but they're not in meetings, they're not in all those hard practices and everything. They don't see all the stuff we do at the rink.' Article content Article content Episode 1 begins with captain Nick Suzuki addressing fans at the Bell Centre at the end of the 2023-24 season, when the Canadiens finished 28th in the overall NHL standings. Article content Article content 'I think you can all see that we got a special group here and all the seasons in the future are going to be a lot better,' Suzuki says. 'Thank you so much. Merci beaucoup! See you next year.' The Patrik Laine trade — and the forward's pre-season knee injury that would sideline him for the first 24 games — are a big part of Episode 1. General manager Kent Hughes says he spoke with Suzuki before pulling the trigger on the deal that brought Laine and a second-round pick at the 2026 NHL Draft to Montreal from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for defenceman Jordan Harris. Article content 'You talk with your captain and make sure that this is something that is the right move,' Hughes says. 'We know hockey-wise what (Laine's) capable of doing. But just making sure our room was good with it.' Article content Article content The Crave cameras also go behind the scenes for a team meeting led by assistant coach Trevor Letowski during training camp in which he introduces a new system for rush coverage and stresses how important it is for team defence and how it was a weakness the previous season.
Montreal Gazette
a day ago
- Sport
- Montreal Gazette
Cowan: Former Canadien David Savard plays large role in The Rebuild
Montreal Canadiens Season 2 of The Rebuild: Inside the Montreal Canadiens will be a very special one for David Savard. The six-part series, which will launch Thursday on Crave with the first two episodes, provides a behind-the-scenes look at the 2024-25 season, which turned out to be the last of Savard's 14-year NHL career. The 34-year-old defenceman decided midway through the season that it would be his last, but didn't make it public until the Canadiens had clinched a playoff spot for the first time in four years. 'I think if I put myself in four or five years when my youngest one is a little older, it's going to be cool to be able to watch back the last few moments I played in the NHL,' Savard, a father of three young children, said during a news conference Monday about the Crave series. 'I think they did such a good job in the first season of just our life. They see the meetings, the ups and downs we go through during a season and stuff like this. Sometimes you don't see it from the outside. I think it's cool for the fans to get to see this — and even our family. They live it through us, but they're not in meetings, they're not in all those hard practices and everything. They don't see all the stuff we do at the rink.' Episode 1 begins with captain Nick Suzuki addressing fans at the Bell Centre at the end of the 2023-24 season, when the Canadiens finished 28th in the overall NHL standings. 'I think you can all see that we got a special group here and all the seasons in the future are going to be a lot better,' Suzuki says. 'Thank you so much. Merci beaucoup! See you next year.' The Patrik Laine trade — and the forward's pre-season knee injury that would sideline him for the first 24 games — are a big part of Episode 1. General manager Kent Hughes says he spoke with Suzuki before pulling the trigger on the deal that brought Laine and a second-round pick at the 2026 NHL Draft to Montreal from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for defenceman Jordan Harris. 'You talk with your captain and make sure that this is something that is the right move,' Hughes says. 'We know hockey-wise what (Laine's) capable of doing. But just making sure our room was good with it.' The Crave cameras also go behind the scenes for a team meeting led by assistant coach Trevor Letowski during training camp in which he introduces a new system for rush coverage and stresses how important it is for team defence and how it was a weakness the previous season. The Canadiens opened last season with a 1-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs despite being outshot 48-27, with goalie Samuel Montembeault standing on his head. 'The locker room after … it was epic,' head coach Martin St. Louis tells Jeff Gorton, the executive vice-president of hockey operations, during a post-game meeting. 'Crave caught it. I'm sure it will go in.' It did go in Episode 1, in which Gorton also expresses his concerns following the victory. 'As a player, emotionally after the game you're really excited and you're not really focused on anything but you just won a game,' Gorton says. 'You're excited and you're moving on to the next one. As a manager or somebody in charge of a hockey team, you're like: 'Huh, we better be better than that.'' Gorton had reason for concern and Episode 2 focuses on that with the Canadiens sitting in last place after 15 games with a 4-9-2 record after six straight losses. After a 6-3 loss to the Capitals in Washington — the second loss of the slump — St. Louis bag-skated his players at practice. 'We all knew it was coming,' Brendan Gallager says. 'It was the right thing to do. And for our group, it didn't necessarily maybe give us the best chance to win the next night. But over the long course of a season, we're better off for it. Our group fully understood that. Guys showed up, put the work in, and then you remember a day like that.' Savard said after watching an advance screening of the first two episodes he had forgotten a bit how tough the start to last season was. His playing days are over, but Savard is hoping to stay with the team in some kind of coaching or player-development role and said he has had some conversations with management about that. He said the goal this season will be for the Canadiens to start the way they finished last season and understand right from the start how important it is to play tight defensively. St. Louis has talked in the past about how a rebuilding team needs veterans who are 'willing to plant trees knowing they'll never sit in the shade.' Savard was one of those players. 'I'm really proud of where the guys came from,' Savard said. 'Three years ago, not many people thought we were going to build something really solid and I think right now it's starting to show.'
