You know it's hockey season when our friend Becky comes knocking with new translations from a Max Talbot blog (hint: she also tells me there is a Marc-Andre Fleury one on the way).
After the jump, Max talks about the big impression that Simon Despres made in Pittsburgh camp.
Due to copyright laws and whatnot, this is only an excerpt. If you want to read the rest about Consol Energy Center, Sidney Crosby and other highlights from camp and the offseason, you can load the link into Google Translate or, should you know French, read it on RDS.
You have probably heard about the defenseman Simon Deprés, who was cut at the end of training camp so that he could continue his career at the junior level with the Saint John Sea Dogs.
I have nothing but good things to say about him. I spent a lot of time with Simon during camp, taking him a little under my wing. He is truly a very good young guy and you can see right away that he comes from a good family. … His head is in the right place. I am convinced that he will be an excellent player in the NHL. I wouldn’t want to put too much pressure on him, but he’s got big things ahead of him. I nearly forgot, he has quite a pair of hands, which one doesn’t expect in a player of his size. Moreover, he’s very intelligent with the puck. Even though he is a shy fellow, he wasn’t at all intimidated out on the ice, and he really looked good. In fact, if he had been drafted by a team with less depth, he would certainly have had a spot in the NHL starting this season.