Nick Suzuki has his eyes on the Milan Olympic Games

Île-Bizard-Nick Suzuki is one of the 42 players who will be invited next week to the Canadian team orientation camp for the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games. For the Captain of the Canadian, winning a position in the Olympic team is a significant priority and motivation for the next season.

This is one of my big goals for this seasonsaid Suzuki on the sidelines of the Asista Foundation golf tournament, of which he has been an ambassador for three years.

I want to have played Olympics since I was very young, so it would be really cool If it happened.

After being ignored by the Canadian team during the confrontation of the 4 nations, the 26 -year -old center remembered the good memories of the leaders by finishing the season on an irresistible launched. Suzuki was the fifth pointer of the NHL From the resumption of activities with a picking of 37 points in its last 26 games.

The fact that he raised his level of play in this way in a context where the Canadian was fighting for his survival, and not in an environment without pressure, helped to raise his status among the first centers of the League.

But Suzuki remains aware that he has a place to win, and not to lose, and that there will be several contenders in the ranks.

I think I have a good chance, he believes nevertheless. Given the way they won the confrontation of the 4 nations, we will have to somehow take someone’s place in the team, and there are so many guys who think they can find a place.

This is the most difficult team to break into hockey, so I can’t wait to take up the challenge.

Knowing a strong start to the season will be essential, but Suzuki would perhaps see his chances increasing if he was successful in the Canadian’s numerical inferiority.

The team has undergone losses in this unit with the departures of Christian Dvorak and Joel Armia, and Suzuki-who was in a way the fifth striker asked in inferiority-could find braid according to the reshuffle of the troops that Martin St-Louis will perform.

In the second half of the season, last year, Suzuki was often employed during the two full minutes more digital. With this in mind, the distribution of his playing time could change.

It will be a marty to decide who he wants to sell the punishments, but I hope I can do it more, he said. This is something that I have always done and that I like to do.

It must be said that the Canadian may no longer need Suzuki so much on his second unit of digital advantage.

Kirby Dach should find his place there when he is ready to play – Hopefully he will be healthy from the training camp noted Suzuki – while the newcomer Zachary Bolduc may be a useful weapon with the advantage of a man.

Packed by the arrival of Dobson

No offense to Bolduc, who was to play in the same golf quartet as Suzuki, Thursday, it was the acquisition of defender Noah Dobson who aroused the most runaway from the captain.

Imagine the scene: Cole Caufield and he are in Scotland, they are in a bus after the marriage of their former teammate Joel Edmundson, and they see the rumor that Dobson has just passed to the Canadian.

Cole and I were completely excitedsaid Suzuki, who then sent a text message to Dobson in order to be confirmed by the news.

Although they have not stayed in touch in recent years, Suzuki and Dobson have had some familiarity because they were a beaming during the team Canada Junior training camp in December 2018.

We got along very well throughout the tournament, remembered Suzuki. I think we have similar behavior. I would say that he too is a rather discreet guy.

But Suzuki is above all happy to see a player disembark in this caliber. The Canadian has lost a few players and at the moment he trained the youngest team in the national league, but the arrival of Dobson is exactly in the construction of the CH management team.

Ken’s plan was not bad [Kent Hughes, directeur général] and Gorts [Jeff Gorton, directeur des opérations hockey] That to try to find players from the same age group, he recalled. It is difficult to find a right -handed defender who has so much experience by still being as young. Concluding this exchange was very important to give us a momentum for the season.

Even summer together

Suzuki spent most of his summer in Montreal, the place he now considers his home for the year. It was also in Montreal that he married his spouse Caitlin.

As he had done last year, he often patinated Brossard, with the difference that a larger number of team’s regulars accompanied him.

Suzuki frequently trained in the company of Patrik Laine, Ivan Demidov, Jake Evans and Joe Veleno, and several other players went to the training center.

The Canadian is already formed a tight woven team, but to see several of its members spend so much time together during the inter-season cannot harm.

I think the guys took advantage of the fact of training here, says Suzuki. Obviously, we are very well installed with the gymnasium, the ice training sessions and everything else. It is special to have so many guys who stayed, and it is the fun to spend time with them during the summer too.

Two of his teammates in particular attract attention this summer.

There is a beautiful craze around Demidov, whose supporters expect great things. According to Suzuki, the young Russian did not spare the efforts this summer to improve.

It’s a bit of a clown, he’s a young man who likes to have fun, but when he works, he is very focused, and it’s pleasant to see with a young person like him. It was impressive to see it at work this summer. He finds something to work on and he devoted himself to it for several days. He just wants to master his art. So it was something to see, and this summer, I tried to help him as much as possible with small things.

I imagine that he already feels ready to start the season. People will have fun watching it this year.

As for the enigmatic wool, it has a summer of training without any obstacle for the first time in years. Wool does not hide his wish to stay with the Canadian and his diligence in Brossard suggests that he will begin the next training camp in good arrangements.

He looked really well in the gymnasium and on the ice, noted Suzuki. He really looks happy to be in Montreal, to have spent the summer there and to train with us. Hopefully it is in a very good state of mind as the season approaches. We all know what he is capable of. He is looking forward to being able to come back to the ice and show what wood he heats up.