It was a 45-minute breath of fresh air, with the words flowing out of Alexandre Burrows clearly and deliberately.
The 39-year-old’s Zoom press conference provided a perfect explanation for why he was taken off the Laval Rocket bench, after just one year in the AHL, and promoted to replace Montreal Canadiens associate coach Kirk Muller on Feb. 24.
It was one thing for general manager Marc Bergevin to repeat on that day that both Dominique Ducharme (taking over as head coach for Claude Julien) and Burrows would offer new voices to a Canadiens team in need of them, but it was another to hear Ducharme’s voice for ourselves over the last couple of weeks and to finally, on Tuesday, get a sample of what the players are experiencing beyond what we see on the ice with Burrows.
It is there where he bounces from drill to drill with the energy of a 10-year-old who just chugged six Pixie Sticks, but it was in some backroom of Rogers Arena, with the Canadiens’ makeshift backdrop behind him, that Burrows gave us a glimpse of the serious and measured guy who’s also spending his time crafting power-play schemes and conducting video tutorials off-ice.
He spoke for a long time, but made it clear within seconds why he was the precise person chosen to join Ducharme’s bench. He told us what this opportunity means to him as a lifelong Canadiens fan who caught a lot of flak from his Vancouver Canucks teammates for never losing his allegiance to the team of his childhood, the team he would ritually watch play the early games while the Canucks were preparing to play the late ones.
But Burrows also talked about how the last season in Laval prepared him for this and how 998 NHL games (regular season and post-season combined) gave him all the insight he needed to make this transition. He then shared how long-time Canucks assistant coach Newell Brown inspired the mentality he’s brought to reviving a Canadiens power play that struggled immensely under Muller but is suddenly clicking under his guidance.
“He was always open,” Burrows said. “You could talk to him, share ideas, plans. We could comment on some stuff, so it was really working as a group.
“He always had a plan, made sure it was clear, and there weren’t any grey areas. And there’s plans on the breakouts, on the in-zone, on 5-on-3s, 4-on-3s, faceoffs, so it made it easier for players to play instead of always think, so it kind of became second nature going on the power play.”
That’s what it’s looked like for one unit of Montreal’s power play since Burrows took over.
Now Burrows has to get the other unit going. The one with Jonathan Drouin and Shea Weber rotating from the top of the point to the flank, with Nick Suzuki and Tyler Toffoli switching off with each other in the bumper position, and with Josh Anderson in front of the net.
It’s a unit filled with cerebral players in Drouin, Suzuki and Toffoli — crafty playmakers not unlike Henrik and Daniel Sedin, with whom Burrows enjoyed the greatest success of his career.
When asked how he could lend some of what the Sedins did so successfully to this trio of bright Canadiens, Burrows pointed to simplicity.
“I think we don’t have to force plays,” he said. “Even with the twins, they were efficient by being the experts at simple plays… It wasn’t always the crazy, between-the-legs saucer pass and back door and tic-tac-toes. The way they had success was by keeping it simple over and over and becoming experts at that. It comes down with execution.
“It comes down with knowing where teammates are going to be on the ice, because the game is so fast now [that] if you take that extra second to hope that, or you’re wishing or holding onto the puck for an extra second to find a lane or find a guy and hoping that the guy’s going to be there, it’s going to be too late and you’ll be breaking out once again. So, we try to keep it clear, simple, efficient and direct.”
But the challenge with that is avoiding being predictable.
The Canadiens have been particularly predictable on this unit — certainly in the way they break into the zone and attempt to set things up from there, but mostly with Weber’s shot being habitually overused. It’s part of the reason Weber’s got just two power-play goals this season despite producing 102 over his previous 15 seasons in the NHL.
When Burrows was asked if it was time for the Canadiens to remove Weber from the power play and opt for someone more mobile in his place — Alexander Romanov wasn’t specifically brought up, but he’d be a logical choice for such an assignment — he explained why he wasn’t going to do that.
“Shea’s got one of the best shots in the league or the best one-timer I’ve seen,” Burrows said. “He’s a weapon, for sure, on your unit. Team’s PKs are going to shadow him as much as they can so they don’t let that shot come out. For me, I have different [formations] and Shea, when he’s on the flank, I’d love to see him tee it off every time he has a chance. If we’re able to tee it up for him, that would be a great play. If he’s at the top and we have Jo on the flank, it’s different looks.
“But sometimes he might be a decoy and we’ll run another play knowing that they’re going to shadow him. A lot goes into it. I’m not worried about Shea. I know how he prepares, I know how he cares about this team. He’s the ultimate captain, I’ve seen only good things about him so far — the way he acts and conducts himself, the way he cares about his teammates, the way he cares about [how] the team does, so I’m not worried about him at all.
“But as we move forward, we’ll need him to shoot that puck and we’ll need to find for him or create lanes for him to let that shot go because it’s one of the best weapons in the league.”
When asked what this unit, presumed to be the top unit by this reporter, can borrow from the one that’s actually clicking, Burrows revealed much more about what he’s trying to establish with both units.
“I think for both units we’ve kept it pretty simple since Day 1,” Burrows said. “We have a different plan, and we have this wolf-pack mentality that we can strike from anywhere. We can strike from the low plays, we can strike from shots from the top, we can shoot from the flanks, we converge towards rebounds, and that’s the way I see it.
“I know both units can do the job and we’ll keep getting better. It’s a work in progress, it’s going to take some time. You look around the league, the best units have been together for four, five, six years of the same guys in the same spots doing the right things over and over. That’s how I got taught to play the game. I think if we can be direct, keep it simple and efficient, that’s how we’re going to have some success when the game’s on the line and we need a big power-play goal late in the game or it’s playoff hockey and the game’s on the line and we need to score a goal.
“If we keep the same mentality, I think the odds are on our side that we’ll be able to shine when the light’s the brightest.”
Burrows said it with passion and conviction and communicated it directly, which is at the heart of why he was given this job.
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
