Delicate balancing act for Rocket coach Bouchard in unusual AHL season

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By the fourth game of a playoff series, Joël Bouchard explained on Thursday, the cream usually rises to the top and the better team takes control, because the element of surprise has generally been removed.

On Friday at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., RDS, TSN Radio 690, 91.9 FM), Laval will entertain the Belleville Senators for the fourth time in eight days of this hybrid, 36-game AHL season.

While this isn’t a best-of-seven playoff round, the Rocket has won two of the first three. A team that started last season with an 0-3 record, constantly chasing a post-season spot that never materialized thanks to COVID-19, would dearly love to jump out of the gate this time with a 3-1 mark. It would be good for the players’ psyche.

But this is no usual season, from the eight-game homestand that kicks things off — the Manitoba Moose are the next visitors, launching a four-game series next week — to the 33 players head coach Bouchard has on his roster, all of whom want to play.

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Last Friday night and Saturday afternoon, Bouchard went with mostly an experienced lineup, the Rocket producing successive 5-1 victories against a strong Senators team that was leading the North Division when the 2019-20 season was cancelled.

Last Tuesday, Bouchard sprinkled in more of the younger players as Laval suffered it’s first defeat, 4-1. But the Rocket held Belleville to three first-period shots before the visitors broke the game open with three third-period goals in slightly more than four minutes.

“I have to switch,” Bouchard said. “I can’t stay with that same lineup (from the first two games). I need to play a lot of guys. I need to try guys, put them in situations more than ever. It’s a good challenge. Now, a lot of guys know they’re not going to be playing the next game. You play with that cloud over your head.

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“Which coach in his right frame of mind would have changed the lineup the way we played last weekend? Did you ever see that? But I have to do that. And I’m going to do it again Friday. What am I going to do, sit young guys for weeks and weeks? I can’t. It’s a developmental league.”

Bouchard frequently says he’s a teacher more than a coach. While he doesn’t coach to lose games, he also has many moving parts this season because of the roster size. Sam Vigneault departed this week to play in Europe, while veteran Alex Belzile and rookie Kaiden Guhle are injured and have yet to play.

At least Bouchard has some experience at this game of bingo, as he likes to call it, having used 92 players, he said, through his first two seasons behind the bench.

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But what a disjointed group he has, from numerous veterans with NHL experience — Jordan Weal and Michael Frolik being the latest additions — to those launching their pro careers. Joël Teasdale hasn’t played in nearly two years. Rookie Rafael Harvey-Pinard is 5-foot-9 and weighs 173, but plays much bigger. Jan Mysak is 18, and destined to be returned to Hamilton whenever the OHL season begins, while Arsen Khisamuldinov has KHL experience, but speaks virtually no English. Bouchard communicates with him through an electronic translator device.

Somehow, Bouchard must make it all work, getting every player to buy in.

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“Joël is such a passionate coach that you’re excited to come to the rink and work on your craft,” said Weal, the 28-year-old veteran who played 49 games with the Canadiens last season.

“There are guys that scored 30 goals in the AHL every year that aren’t even playing,” he added. “I’m just fortunate to be able to play hockey this year, no matter what league it’s in. You don’t want to be sitting around, not playing.”

While Bouchard has juggled his forwards, continuing to roll four lines, he has kept his defence core largely unchanged, several of them still seeking their first games. And although there are three goaltenders at his disposal, Bouchard has alternated between Cayden Primeau and Michael McNiven, while Russian Vasily Demchenko has yet to play.

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“I feel good, the best I’ve ever felt,” said Primeau, who has allowed five goals through two games. “I feel strong. The first couple of games, you’re trying to get the timing down. I’m pretty happy with how things have started.”

And even with somewhat of a revolving door in front of him, Primeau didn’t complain.

“You have to be ready for anything, especially as a goalie,” he said. “That’s stuff you can’t control. It’s part of the reason I wanted to be a goalie — to give the team the best opportunity to win and bail out some guys if need be.”

Understanding every player’s at a different juncture in their career, Bouchard must remain patient. He credits the players for understanding his challenge this season.

“That’s their career on the line,” he said. “There’s contracts. They need money. They need to go to the NHL. There’s a lot of pressure on them.

“This is the weirdest league in the world. And now, in the weirdest time. With the weirdest concept.”

hzurkowsky@postmedia.com

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