Tender no more.
Burly Canadiens winger Guillaume Latendresse ended last season with a reputation as a talented, if slightly enigmatic player whose skating stride was only slightly less graceful than the average beer leaguer's.
But when the Habs reported for camp last Friday, Latendresse drew approving nods by ranking among the team's five fleetest (and nimblest) skaters in the initial fitness test.
And as part of a split Canadiens squad that travels to Detroit to face the Red Wings on Wednesday night (the other half of the team plays against the Buffalo Sabres in tiny Roberval, Que., tonight), Latendresse has been rewarded for his off-season diligence with a spot alongside Alexei Kovalev and newly-acquired centre Robert Lang.
“I'm a playmaker on that line, I think. I'm pretty sure that's the role they want me to play,” Latendresse joked.
Though he's not expected to play with Kovalev on the Habs' top line this season, Latendresse could well see lots of time with Lang, and the team's coaches hope this might be the year he turns into a bona fide sniper.
The 21-year-old Latendresse – who is somewhat inevitably known as “Gui,” as in Lafleur, or “Tender”, because his surname translates to "the tenderness" – scored more even-strength goals than all but three Canadiens last year.
He has potted 16 goals in each of his first two NHL seasons, a commendable return from his limited ice time.
With his contract coming up this year – he will be a restricted free agent next June – Latendresse is looking to make the most of his considerable offensive talents: a blistering shot, soft hands and the size to deal with NHL defencemen in the corners.
To that end, Latendresse spent the summer working out under the guidance of Paul Lawson, an Arnprior, Ont., skating consultant who is friendly with Montreal scouting director Trevor Timmins.
Skating with his brother Olivier, a Habs prospect who is in camp this fall, highly-rated Canadiens defenceman Pavel Valentenko and Vancouver Canucks first-rounder Cody Hodgson, Latendresse undertook punishing 90-minute skating workouts four days a week for three months.
Lawson, a power skating guru who has also worked with Montreal forward Kyle Chipchura, especially helped Latendresse with his starts, acceleration and balance.
“He's really good, when we first talked I told him he had all my confidence, and he just asked me to work hard,” Latendresse said after practice at Verdun's
Denis Savard Arena. “And like he said at the end of the summer, he's happy with the progress we made, he said there's a lot still to do, we've just scratched
(the surface) a little bit and there's more to do, but I'm happy.”
The sessions were an eye-opener for Latendresse, a fan favourite since he nearly cracked the team as an 18-year-old draftee.
“The way I was skating, sometimes I was pushing for nothing because I wasn`t pushing the right way. I tried to change some things and it's a process that`s taken a lot of the summer, but I`m happy with changes this year,”Latendresse said, adding he expects his skating will continue to improve throughout the season.
And unlike goalie Carey Price, who reported to camp a shocking 28 pounds lighter than last season (when he played at an admittedly portly 250 pounds), Latendresse actually packed on weight this summer.
“I was 222 the last camp, now I'm 230, I've changed the way I was eating, the way I was training,” he said. “Pretty much everything I was doing wrong. It's a long process to change the way you are, but I'm in good shape, I feel really good.
“It's a big season, it's the 100th anniversary year, people want to see the team win, they want to see Quebec (players) try to have a good season, work hard.
It's my contract season, so everything put together, it's a big season. It's time for me to get a bigger role in the team and bring some offence.”
Oh, and a quick injury update from Habs camp: Montreal captain Saku Koivu skated with the Detroit-bound crew but left practice early because of swelling in his right foot.
Koivu suffered a hairline fracture on his instep after he was hit by a deflected slapshot during on-ice drills in Finland two weeks ago. He is expected to resume a full skating regimen later this week.
