Canadiens Hire Former Hab As A Consultant
We reported earlier this season that former Montreal Canadiens player and faceoff specialist Marc Bureau had been holding faceoff clinics with the team's centers, and yesterday Radio-Canada's Marc-Antoine Godin reported the team has officially hired him as a consultant.
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For the rest of the season, the former pivot will be working with the Canadiens' centers and the Laval Rocket's as well. Godin reports that prior to Bureau's involvement, the Canadiens were 25th in the league at the faceoff dot with a 47.6% success rate. Now, the team is 19th with a 50% success rate which is a significant improvement.
Godin spoke to team captain Nick Suzuki who told him Bureau shared his experience as an NHL player and how faceoffs are first and foremost a state of mind. It's about treating each and every draw as if the end of the world depended on it, but once it's done, it's done you forget about it and you move on.
Christian Dvorak's success rate stands at 57.4% since Bureau's arrival and he mentions winning faceoffs is of pivotal importance, but when you lose some you cannot let it frustrate you.
It will be interesting to see if the positive trend observed since Bureau arrival continues, and if it does, if the Canadiens will give him a longer term contract next offseason.
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