SAN JOSE | At one end of the SAP Center rink, Éric Raymond worked with the team’s three goaltenders, Samuel Montembeault, Jake Allen and Cayden Primeau. Juraj Slafkovsky and Jesse Ylönen were also there to take photos.
• Also read: Rotation comes before merit: Primeau will start against the Sharks
There was nothing unusual about this scene. But at the other end of the ice there was a player who was taking a lot of shots into an empty net. It was Josh Anderson.
Still looking for the first goal after 19 games, Anderson, on his own initiative, invited Adam Nicholas, CH’s director of hockey development, to a nearly 30-minute session.
* WATCH MAIN VIDEO: Renaud Lavoie looks back on Josh Anderson’s training efforts during his “check” at JiC.
Before team practice in San Jose, Anderson worked on his shooting and secondly, his confidence.
“I don’t know if it’s mental,” admitted the number 17 in the opposing team’s locker room. It’s frustrating of course, but I feel like I’m still in the right place. I just have to put my head down and work hard every day to try to be the player I know I can be.”
“Adam [Nicholas] “He’s a very positive guy, he always has a lot of energy in the arena no matter what day it is,” he continued. It doesn’t matter if you have problems and are really in crisis or, on the contrary, if you are in a good phase, it shows you what you need to improve and what moves you can make. There are little things you need to change. It helps.”
Another floor?
If he talks about a little thing, there is the stick, which remains an essential element for every hockey player. In practice, Anderson swapped bats with defenseman Justin Barron, another right-hander.
“I talked to Josh,” Barron said. We have similar curves, but a little different. I wanted to try out his stick and change his mind a little!”
Anderson, meanwhile, hasn’t talked about changing his racquet.
“To be honest, I’m not happy with the way I’m placing the puck at the moment and the precision of my shots,” he explained. Throughout my career, I’ve always been good at hitting the targets I’m going for and getting the puck exactly where I want it. In this league it’s all about centimeters. On some of my chances to score, I couldn’t get the puck where I wanted and that’s enough to make the shot miss.
A drought
Anderson, who is considered a scorer in the NHL, still has zero after 19 games. This is his worst dark period since the 2019-2020 season, in which he failed to find the target in his last 21 games. At that time, his final season with the Columbus Blue Jackets, he suffered a shoulder injury.
Photo AFP
“I would say: Yes, this is my worst drought,” replied the tall winger. But I just have to keep working.”
Martin St-Louis had the same message for him.
“He can’t lose his identity by trying to score a goal,” said the head coach. He needs to continue doing the things that got him into this league, like his skating, his toughness and his shooting. He can’t just think, “I have to score a goal, I have to score a goal, I have to score a goal.” He has to take positive actions on the ice to ultimately score. It’s a bit like that. He’ll get through this.”
“I watch videos with him,” he continued. But it’s more about the details of his game. I don’t want him to lose the details of his game because all he thinks about is scoring a goal. He can’t wait to score an easy goal near the net or in the open net. You might score one point, but after that you won’t score two, three, four, five or six points. You’ll have to wait a long time again for your next one.”