« I am Pezzetta, I am entering the coach’s office » – Antoine Roussel

The big news of the day with the Montreal Canadiens is the last-minute recall of Owen Beck.

Since Michael Pezzetta returned to the lineup, his ice time has been very limited, and he is the one who gave up his spot for the young right-handed center.

We know that Pezzetta is not the one who will play 15 minutes per game, obviously. But in his last seven games, his highest total ice time in a game was 5:49 against the Blackhawks in Chicago.

Recently, he was part of the lineup to replace injured or absent players.

Yesterday, against the Toronto Maple Leafs, his usage was worse than ever: less than three minutes…

Clearly, Pezzetta does not hold a significant place in Martin St-Louis’s heart, but it’s ridiculous… Why have him play?

Following this game against Toronto, Antoine Roussel greatly lamented the situation by defending #55 during the post-game show on TVA Sports.

He even said that if he were Pezzetta, he would have gone to see MSL after the game to tell him that it doesn’t make sense.

“Martin says he deserves to play. Excuse me, but 2 minutes 58 seconds is not playing. Give me more, because you’re messing up my career, because I’m a proud guy and this is not acceptable.” – Antoine Roussel

As can be read in the TVA Sports article on this subject, Roussel even suggested a sort of ultimatum to support his point.

“Next game, you make me play 10 minutes and if I have a bad game, send me to the stands, send me to Laval.”

That’s quite an ultimatum, but if that’s what it takes for Pezz to play more than five minutes per game, he has to pull out all the stops.

The agitator of the Tricolore is not there to put the puck in the net. He is there to go into the corners, in front of the net, rattle and disturb the opponents, but with so little ice time, he is not of much use.

Seeing Owen Beck being recalled to take his spot against the New York Rangers, one can understand that Pezzetta probably did not go see the coach. Or maybe St-Louis took it very poorly and wanted to make him pay for his harsh words.

In brief

– Very nice goal from the CH prospect.

– Matt Murray is having quite a stretch in the AHL.

– Worth reading.

– Incredible.