It’s safe to say Jiri Sekac is exceeding expectations in his rookie National Hockey League season.
The Canadiens knew they had a prospect when Sekac selected the Canadiens over 10 other interested NHL teams and the 22-year-old signed as a free agent during the off-season after spending parts of three seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League. Sekac had 11 goals and 17 assists in 47 games with Lev Praha last season, and after a slow start with the Canadiens he’s on a pace to better those numbers during his first season in the NHL.
As the Canadiens prepare to meet the Carolina Hurricanes at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night (7:30 p.m., SNE, RDS, TSN Radio 690), Sekac is on a three-game point streak after scoring two goals in the Canadiens’ 6-2 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings on Friday night.
“Well, I was hoping that I could score over here, too,” Sekac said Sunday after joining his teammates for an off-ice training session in Brossard. “I always needed a lot of confidence to settle down a little bit in front of the net. I think I finally got that. You could see that in the last game. Hopefully, it’ll give me even more confidence and the goals are going to keep coming.”
Sekac’s first multi-goal game gave him six goals and six assists in 24 games after collecting only one goal in his first seven NHL games. But the 6-foot-2, 195-pounder said points are the measure of a players’ progress.
Everyone wants to prove themselves. In my case, I just have to keep working hard and I think everything else will come eventually.” — Canadiens rookie Jiri Sekac
“Everyone wants to prove themselves,” he said. “In my case, I just have to keep working hard and I think everything else will come eventually. You always think about your individual success. But it’s my first year and I just need to stick to working hard. I think if I do that, the points will be there.”
In coach Michel Therrien’s latest line shuffle, Sekac found himself on a line with veteran centre Tomas Plekanec and another rookie, Sven Andrighetto, whose NHL experience stands at three games. When Sekac was asked if playing with two newcomers might be putting added pressure on Plekanec, he noted Plekanec — whose 22 points have him currently tied for the team scoring lead with Max Pacioretty — had success earlier this season with youngsters Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk.
“Every game, (the chemistry) on the line is getting better and better,” Sekac said. “Hopefully, we’ll keep up the good work and the goals are going to be there. Sven is pretty skilled and fast. He has a lot of hockey sense. Pleky played with Chucky and Gally, so he’s probably used to having these types of young players on his lines. He’s a mentor. He’s good at it.”
Plekanec and Sekac are both from Kladno in the Czech Republic. Sekac said he goes to Plekanec when he has questions, but most of the time he likes to figure things out for himself.
Montreal Canadiens prospect Jiri Sekak takes part in the Montreal Canadiens development camp at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard on Monday, July 7, 2014.
Andrighetto, who was called up from the American Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs last week, said he has received advice and encouragement from Plekanec. Andrighetto, a 5-foot-9, 183-pounder, has points in each of his first three NHL games and is the first Canadien to accomplish that feat since Pierre Mondou in 1977.
But Andrighetto also said points aren’t as important as becoming a complete hockey player.
“I want to stay up here, but I’m taking it day-to-day,” said the 21-year-old, who left his native Switzerland in 2011 to play junior hockey with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.
Andrighetto was selected in the third round of the 2013 NHL draft and when someone noted not many players in that class have reached the NHL, he put the achievement in perspective.
“I was passed over twice in the NHL, so I’m a little older than many of the players who were drafted that year,” he said.
While the Canadiens worked out in the gym Sunday, defencemen Bryan Allen and Mike Weaver hit the ice.
Allen has missed the past four games — two as a healthy scratch and two because he was under the weather. Allen said the Canadiens were cautious with him because of the recent mumps outbreak in the NHL.
“They couldn’t tell whether it was or wasn’t the mumps,” Allen said. “I was vaccinated when I was in Anaheim so there would have been traces of the virus if they tested. But my face wasn’t swollen or anything, so I think it was just a flu.”
Weaver suffered a concussion when he was hit Ryan Garbutt in a Dec. 6 game in Dallas. Weaver skated about 40 minutes Sunday without experiencing any ill effects.
