Jonathan Drouin gets with Halifax Mooseheads’ program of being a more defensive-minded team

The days of the Halifax Mooseheads scoring four goals in the first period and then slowly pulling away are past, which is fine by Jonathan Drouin.

Saying that last season was play and this season is work for the Tampa Bay Lightning's No. 3 overall draft choice is a bit of an all-or-nothing statement. Yet it sums up how circumstances are evolving now that Drouin is the 18-year-old offensive leader for Mooseheads team that is still associated with winning the Memorial Cup last May, but only retains some elements of from that championship season. Staying up with the Lightning next season will entail proving that he's not a defensive or physical liability.

"Obviously, we're not going to win games 7-2 or by scores like that," Drouin said earlier this week as the Mooseheads embarked on a three-game swing through western Quebec. "We have to be more focused on the little things defensively and win those 4-2 games.

"It's good for me," adds Drouin, who has three goals and 16 points in 10 Quebec League games since his return from the Lightning. "That's what they want me to work on, the all-around game. We're a little more defensive than we were and that's going to help me."

Point being, no one should fret if Drouin's statline loses some of its gaudiness. That first power play Halifax had last season — with Nathan MacKinnon operating down low, Konrad Abeltshauser working the point, Martin Frk pulling the trigger, Stefan Fournier depositing the loose change behind goalies — was on another plane.

Now Halifax (.600 point pct. through 20 games, which is eighth in the 18-team QMJHL) is reassembling its attack with new parts. For starters, Drouin is now working the point on power plays. The Quebecer is also now playing centre with a capable set of wings, impressive Danish import Nikolaj Ehlers and speedy overage Darcy Ashley. Each is in an adjustment phase, what with Ehlers being a newcomer and Ashley having missed eight weeks after breaking his right thumb (on his power hand, as a righty) after only one day in training camp. Yet their chemistry is coming. It might have simply been a touch off on Wednesday, when Drouin was held to a single loss in a 5-2 loss at Gatineau, where the well-coached Olympiques built a solid house around goalie Robert Steeves.

"He knows I'm not Nathan [MacKinnon] and I'm going to miss more plays than what Nathan missed," says Ashley, who was named CHL player of the week last week. "But I can go on the ice every shift and give 100 per cent. He expects that."

"He sees the game at an elite level. You just got to make sure that you're ready for pucks in all situations," the Prince Edward Island native adds. "It could come through two sets of skates and be on your stick and you just got to be ready to put in. It's like I have to be more of a goal scorer than I was last year."

'Still got something to prove'

Seeing whether the remnants of the 2013 Mooseheads and the newcomers congeal into a contender will be appointment viewing all season long in the Q. It's often presumed that there's an emotional letdown for the holdovers who experienced the high of winning the CHL's year-end tournament.

"We got a lot of proud veterans on this team," Ashley says. "And even though we won last year and had a successful season the year before [coming within two wins of making the President's Cup final in 2012], nobody likes to lose. We all still got something to prove. We lost a lot of guys. Now it's our turn to step into different roles."

Recent major junior history certainly has examples of teams that refused to go quietly. Take 2010-11 Windsor Spitfires, who lost teen stars Cam Fowler and Taylor Hall to the NHL. They still had the Ontario Hockey League's player of the year, Ryan Ellis, and reached the Ontario Hockey League semifinal.

"It's been a different start with 14-15 guys from last year and 10 new guys," Mooseheads coach Dominique Ducharme says. "It was like reforming a group and we had to go back to the basics and put our game back together.

"It's a great challenge and really excited to see the new guys coming in. They're on a drive to success."

Decision on Lewis' status looms

Twenty games in, though, Halifax hasn't had the greatest fortune with frontline contributors staying healthy. Ashley's start to his all-important OA year was pushed back by the broken thumb ("It's never going to be as strong as it was, so I have to find other ways to be stronger on my shot," he notes). Eighteen-year-old centre Ryan Falkenham, who spent last season waiting in the wings in anticipation of a top-six role after MacKinnon ascended to the NHL, has also been shut down to due to hip surgery.

Overage defenceman Trey Lewis has a similar ailment in both hips. Halifax will know in the next two weeks whether Lewis, who wore a letter for the championship team, needs rest or season-ending surgery. His absence further imperils their hopes of staying near the top of the Q.

"Trey's a huge part of our team," says goalie Zach Fucale, the Montreal Canadiens draft pick. "He always has those big plays — a blocked shot and a big sacrifice play, like taking a big hit for the team. I think that's really important to have. We need to get it out of other guys. We certainly know if Trey was in the lineup, he'd do it. It's unfortunate that he's out of the lineup."

Nineteen-year-old defenceman MacKenzie Weegar is also out 2-4 weeks after severely spraining an ankle during a fight with Gatineau's Derek Sheppard on Wednesday. Halifax still has a veteran bearing, though, and might be prepared to go with Ashley, centre Brent Andrews and defenceman Brendan Duke as its overages.

"We're far from our top potential and we have a lot of work to do and I think we're going in a very good direction," says Fucale, who has a 2.66 average and .894 save percentage while having played in 16 of Halifax's 20 games.

Getting back to Drouin, the gifted attacker is eyeing the challenge of being a returning player for Team Canada at the world junior championship. The oversimplified optics from the 2013 WJC are pretty obvious — the tourney went to Europe for the first time in six seasons and voila, Canada fell off the medal podium. Getting back to the top while playing in Malmo, Sweden would be vindication.

"It's harder there, it's different ice for us and they're more used to it," Drouin says. But it's something we can use to our advantage. We have a lot of good forwards and speedy forwards in all of three leagues we have. It might help us and we just got to get adjusted to it. It would be even bigger to win it in Sweden. When they come to Canada, I'm sure they want it just a little more."

There's a parallel between that challenge and the one cut out for Drouin and the Mooseheads.

"Once you get that taste of winning and success, you always want more," Ashley says.

"We're high-level athletes. There's no reason why we can't continue to get better every day and make a run at it again this year."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.