Habs77 Posted August 19, 2003 Share Posted August 19, 2003 Michaud has one thing on his mind: stopping pucks(15/08/2003) Roland Melanson, assistant coach, gave some advice to Michaud during of the camp of development in July. MONTREAL -- Olivier Michaud will be 20 years old next September, his juniors years are behind him. With the teams of Shawinigan and Baie Comeau, he dominated in the LHJMQ and it brings with him a multitude of individual honors. In the junior, he gained the title of goalkeeper of the year, the title of the player-student par excellence and that of the personality of the year during the season 2001-2002. Without being drafted, the young man succeeded in attracting the attention of the organization of the Canadiens to be invited to their camp two years ago. Michaud did well and he obtained a contract with them in September 2001. Michaud wants to be ready for the next camp of the Canadiens "I have my personal trainer during the summer. I increased my speed in my movements and my endurance is better. The fact of having improved these two facets of my play will be beneficial for me ". So much that the young man does not close doors for the next hockey campaign "I will give all that I can with the camp of the Canadiens. I know that I can play on a high level, it do not matter the place ", affirms Michaud. In Hamilton, the Bulldogs' camp, he knows that a fight will be waged between him, Éric Fichaud and Jean-François Damphousse. For two years, Michaud has had experience of the camps of the organization of the Canadiens. He believes that this experience will be extremely useful for him "I am accustomed more for what awaits me. I have a good idea of the level of play in the pros. Roland Melanson has helped me a lot for two years, he is an excellent trainer with the goalies. I took confidence in my abilities ". "/It's up to me to prove what I can do. I see it as a great challenge to take up. It is what keeps me motivated with hockey ". For Michaud, one of the most important values is to work hard in every day life "I like those who give it all they have, that work hard". It is what's important to him. Thus useless to say that he will giving his best effort in the next training camp. To work hard, is not done solely in sports. Michaud is a person for whom education occupies an important place. He will finish his cégep the next year and even foresees to take courses at the university by correspondence once his career will be on solid footing. "When I was traded with Bay-Comeau, the studies became almost impossible. All happened in December and I could not make my final examinations because I had started from Shawinigan. In January, it was too late to register me with courses. I thus lost my year. There remains to me only five courses and I plan to finish them because I want my diploma. I need more in my life than just hockey. The studies make me acquire new knowledge, it's a nice change of pace. To take courses by correspondence at the university is something which I foresee to do during my career ", Michaud says. Olivier is quite conscious that the studies will enable him to open doors on the labour market, once his hockey career is over "I always wanted to work in sports. If I did not play hockey, I would undoubtedly have been tried by sporting journalism or the player agent", believes Olivier. He does not want to hear people to say that he will begin the season in the American League. He will not be satisfied to come to Montreal as a tourist. Michaud aims at a job with the NHL club as soon as possible... I think Michaud is taking things seriously, I wish all our prospects had a head on theirshoulders like that. Bringing in J-F Damphousse has certainly livened things up in Hamilton... I like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huzer Posted August 19, 2003 Share Posted August 19, 2003 LOL, I had just read the press release on Canadiens.com about Michaud, only to see that apparently JF Damphousse and Pierre Dagenais have merged into a single player: <i>He’s confident he has progressed to the point, however, where he can successfully challenge Eric Fichaud and Jean-Francois Dagenais for the starting spot in Hamilton, home of Montreal’s AHL affiliate, the Bulldogs. </i> I wonder who performed the surgery. http://www.canadiens.com/english/presse/co...dex.cfm?id=1815 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.