When the Montreal Canadiens were looking for a goaltender to help out at practice last week, Concordia’s Maxime Joyal was more than happy to answer the call.
The plan originally called for Joyal to serve as a personal netminder to forward Guillaume Latendresse as he completed his injury rehabilitation at the Canadiens’ new practice facility in Brossard, Que.
However, after Habs’ starter goalie Jaroslav Halak was sidelined with a case of the flu, Joyal was asked to stick around as the rest of the Canadiens took to the ice for team practice.
Joyal, 22, spent a week with Latendresse and two full practices with the entire team.
“It was a great experience,” said Joyal. “The guys were really great and I had a lot of fun.”
Joyal’s time with the Habs provided him with a wealth of experience and memories. He used a locker beside right wing Tom Kostopoulos, and spent some one-on-one time with star netminder Carey Price, assistant coach Kirk Muller and Canadiens goalie coach Roland Melanson.
The Châteauguay, Que. native also stood between the pipes for a series of shots from all-star Alexei Kovalev. Joyal is proud to say the showdown was about 50/50.
In his first full campaign as a Stinger, Joyal posted a 12-10 win-loss record, a .921 save percentage and a CIS best five shutouts.
