CROMWELL, Conn – Jonathan Audy-Marchessault might be the smallest player in Connecticut Whale training camp, but he certainly has made some big-time plays and impressions the past few weeks.
It started when Dean Stork, coach of the ECHL’s Greenville Road Warriors, recommended Audy-Marchessault to the New York Rangers after the speedy forward had a standout season with the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League that was coached by Hall of Fame goalie Patrick Roy and included speedy, gritty left wing Ryan Bourque, son of Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque and a top Rangers prospect.
“I knew Roy and talked to Audy-Marchessault’s mother,” Stork said Monday as he began a three-day stint watching the Connecticut Whale practice and scrimmage at Champions Skating Center. “I was hoping to sign him for my team.”
Well, barring something unforeseen, Stork can forget that idea. After the 5-foot-8, 175-pounder from Cap-Rouge, Quebec, showed well in the Rangers’ prospects camp after the NHL draft in late June, he was invited to participate in the prospects tournament two weeks ago in Traverse City, Mich. After starting on the fourth line, Audy-Marchessault advanced to one of the top lines and played on the power play and killed penalties. In four games, he tied for second in team scoring with two goals and two assists as most of the Rangers’ top young players finished runner-up in the tournament to the more experienced Buffalo Sabres.
“I played good and just worked hard,” Audy-Marchessault said Monday. “I was disappointed to start on the fourth line, but I wanted to prove to them that I could be better. So I just worked hard, and finally they knew me and knew what I was capable of doing. I played in all situations and am good at draws, and it was a really good experience going to the finals because there were a lot of good players. Me, Bourque and Christian (Thomas) played against (AHL Rookie of the Year) Luke Adam, (Marcus) Foligno and (Matt) Kassian. They were a pretty good line, so hopefully I’ll have an important role with the Whale.”
Off the strong showing in Traverse City, Audy-Marchessault got an invite to the Rangers’ main camp in Greenburgh, N.Y., and continued to show well.
“He went head-to-head with some pretty good centers like (Kris) Newbury, (John) Mitchell and (Erik) Christensen and didn’t take a step backward,” Whale coach Ken Gernander said. “He held his ground defensively, so that’s a pretty good sign. He was a solid, two-way player.”
“I’m used to playing against good guys because when you have better players in front of you, it inspires you to get better and keep pushing in that direction,” Audy-Marchessault said.
Then in a prospects game Friday in Newark, N.J., Audy-Marchessault made a brilliant play to set up Bourque’s 5-on-3 goal, the first of the game, and scored 16 seconds into overtime off a speedy rush through the neutral zone and a pin-point shot for a 5-4 victory over the Devils’ prospects.
In the Whale’s first scrimmage Sunday, Audy-Marchessault made the artistic play of the game, racing down left wing and around defenseman Tomas Kundratek before circling into the slot and beating Jason Missiaen with a 25-foot shot to the glove side.
“The cut back and wrist shot from the slot was great,” Gernander said.
Monday, Audy-Marchessault was robbed in close on a nice save by Missiaen but had two assists, including a nifty pass to former Remparts teammate Kelsey Tessier in the left circle for the Blue’s third goal in a 6-4 victory over the Red. While forwards constantly rotate in scrimmages, Audy-Marchessault, Tessier and Kale Kerbashian was the line of day, combining for 11 points. Kerbashian had three goals and an assist, and Tessier had one goal and four assists, including an unselfish pass to Brendan Connolly for a clinching empty-net goal.
Tryout Connor Shields scored the other goal for Blue, which got shutout goaltending from Chad Johnson for the second straight day. Jordan Owens, on a tryout after playing parts of two seasons with the Hartford Wolf Pack, had a goal and an assist for the Red, which also got goals from Jeff Prough, Jason Wilson and Tommy Grant.
“He has been real good,” Gernander said of Audy-Marchessault’s play since the prospects tournament. “He just puts his nose to the grindstone and is an all-business kind of guy. He played with Bourque in juniors but never on the same line, but whenever we’ve thrown them together, they’ve had pretty good chemistry.”
Audy-Marchessault said Roy didn’t play him and Bourque together because “we were running all over the place everywhere.”
“We always wanted to play together because we knew we had a connection together,” Audy-Marchessault said. “We played together in Traverse City and in Newark and had a very good connection together, so I hope we’re going to start together and push in the same direction.”
But for now, Bourque is still with the Rangers, who were leaving Monday night for Europe for the team’s final four preseason games before they open the season Oct. 7 against the Los Angeles Kings in Stockholm, Sweden.
Audy-Marchessault’s strong start as a pro is a continuation of his final junior season as assistant captain of the Remparts, when he finished sixth in regular-season scoring with 40 goals and 55 assists in 68 games, with his 10 first goals and 11 game-winners tops in the QMJHL. In the playoffs, he led the league in scoring with 11 goals and 22 assists in 18 games even though the Remparts were eliminated in the semifinals. The 11 goals were third in the QMJHL, and the 22 assists were the most, as he became the first player to lead the QMJHL in playoff scoring despite not playing in the finals.
Audy-Marchessault was named a QMJHL First Team All-Star and received the Bud Light Cup as Quebec’s player of the year despite moving from center to right wing for the first time.
“We had a big center, (6-4, 215-pound) Joel Champagne, who was good on draws and signed with Nashville, so I told Patrick that I didn’t care if I went to right wing,” Audy-Marchessault said. “I don’t find it different playing right wing or center. Center is better for my speed, but I felt I did a good job on the wall when I was on right wing. Maybe I’m better at center here because I have more space to skate, and when I have the puck, I’m in movement so I have my speed going up.
“I had a good year last season, so I have to keep doing that because that’s my role, put pucks in the net and produce offensively. I want to keep doing that, and I hope the coach will give me my chance to play on the power play and one of the first three lines.”
Audy-Marchessault will get his first shot at the AHL level Tuesday night at 7 when the Whale opens their preseason schedule against Albany at the Koeppel Community Sports Center on the campus of Trinity College in Hartford. It’ll be a continuation of his quest to land a spot in Hartford rather than Greenville since he signed his first pro contract with the Rangers on June 23 after turning down offers in France and with other NHL teams. He also demonstrated faith in himself when he signed a one-year, two-way deal in the AHL and ECHL when he could have had two years
Audy-Marchessault has had to have confidence since joining the Remparts as a 16-year-old for the 2007-08 season after being drafted in the 12th round. In his third season (2009-10), he won the Gaetan Duchesne Trophy as Quebec’s best defensive player and finished the regular season with 30 goals and 41 assists and then added three goals and 11 assists in nine playoff games.
Tessier sat in the locker stall next to Audy-Marchessault for 21/2 seasons before being traded to Moncton late in the 2009-10 season, when he had seven goals and five assists in 15 regular-season games with the Wildcats before exploding for 14 goals and 16 assists in 21 playoff games, earning a free-agent shot with the Rangers. Audy-Marchessault and Tessier continued to talk and text message after Tessier was traded, and now they could be linemates, especially off their showing together Monday.
“We’re good friends and connect well because we communicate easy on the ice,” Tessier said. “He’s a small player, but he has always been a real skilled guy who can score and give a pass. He’s a really offensive player who’s a hard-working guy and been my buddy for so long as my stall roommate and spending time together in the summer. He’s a good guy on the ice and a good guy off the ice and plays hard. He got a lot of points last year on the power play thanks a lot to good vision.”
Audy-Marchessault also called Tessier “one of my good buddies.”
“It was hard for us when he got traded, but I was happy for him because he had a good year,” Audy-Marchessault said. “But we keep in touch, so I was happy when I came here because it wasn’t like I was coming here alone. I was meeting Tess and was with Ryan (in New York).”
Audy-Marchessault talked to Stork during the summer and finally met the Greenville coach Monday.
“I’m happy to meet him, but I want to stay here,” Audy-Marchessault said. “I was really happy to play well in Traverse City because my objective this year was to go to New York camp and then do the AHL all year. I’m on the path to doing it, and I’ll keep pushing in that direction.”
The Whale-Devils game Tuesday night benefits the Ryan Gordon/Connecticut Whale Community Scholars Fund, with donations accepted at the door in lieu of an admission charge. The fund memorializes longtime Wolf Pack fan Ryan Gordon, who died in 2006 from cancer and asked that the money set aside for his college education be donated to three charities, including the Connecticut Whale Community Foundation.
The Whale also will play at the MassMutual Center in Springfield on Wednesday at 7 p.m. against the Falcons and then host the Worcester Sharks at the TD Bank Sports Center on the campus of Quinnipiac University in Hamden on Friday at 7 p.m. ($5 admission benefits Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford) and on Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. at Champions Skating Center ($5 admission benefits Junior Wolf Pack youth hockey). The entire AHL preseason schedule is available at www.theahl.com . … Whale defensemen Wade Redden and Pavel Valentenko and right wing Chad Kolarik have cleared waivers. Valentenko and Kolarik are recovering from injuries, haven’t been skating and are doubtful for the preseason games.
Story by Bruce Berlet o the Connecticut Whale
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