The Laval Rocket kicks off its second-round LAH series on Wednesday evening, when it takes on the Rochester Americans, the Sabres’ training club.
Once again, the series will be a 3-of-5 affair, with the Rocket playing two games on the road before three at home.
And of course, the subject of goaltending is currently the talk of Laval. Pascal Vincent told the media this afternoon that he already knows who his goalie will be for the first game… but he won’t say just yet. Expect to see Cayden Primeau and Jacob Fowler play during the series, that said.
That said, there’s another interesting aspect that’s been a little less talked about since the start of the playoffs: the fact that Filip Mesar is being left out. The young Slovak played in the last game of the regular season… and hasn’t played since.
At practice again this morning, Mesar was with the extras.
And that says a lot about how the Habs see Mesar. After all, we’re talking about a first-round pick in the current administration: usually, this is the kind of player you go out of your way to get him playoff experience in the AHL.
The club is doing everything in its power to allow David Reinbacher to play despite his health problems, after all: if you really saw Mesar, who is healthy, as a piece of the team’s future, it would be easy to do everything possible to give him ice time, wouldn’t it?
Remember that this season (his first full-time in the AHL), Mesar played 42 games, collecting 18 points. He’s had to deal with health problems, but even on the ice, he hasn’t been particularly convincing.
Right now, he’s not playing because he’s not one of the best options to help the Rocket win games. And if the Habs aren’t putting their fist on the table to force the Rocket to play Mesar, it probably means they’re well aware that Mesar probably isn’t part of their future.
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