Quotes of the day: Edmundson, Toffoli, Anderson & Julien

MONTREAL - The Canadiens skated at the Bell Sports Complex on Wednesday.

Following their on-ice session, defenseman Joel Edmundson and forwards Tyler Toffoli and Josh Anderson met the media.
They were followed at the podium by head coach Claude Julien.
Here are a few highlights from their Zoom-based Q&A with reporters:
Acquired in a trade with Carolina, Edmundson brings 337 games of regular season experience to the Canadiens, along with solid playoff experience as well, including a Stanley Cup title with the St. Louis Blues in 2019. He knows what ingredients are necessary for team success:
It's not easy to win, especially in this league. Every team's good. There's a lot of sacrifices you have to make to win. It might be a big block, a big hit, you just have to be a team player and you've got to do that throughout the whole season. This season's a little bit shorter, so you've got to be doing that stuff every night, and if one guy's doing it, it's contagious. It'll get the younger guys doing it, and I think that's a big key to winning. Everyone has to buy into the system and the game plan.

One player who quickly caught Edmundson's attention at training camp has been 21-year-old Russian blueliner, Alexander Romanov:
He's good. Smooth skater, good hands and he puts in the work. You can tell. He's in the gym every day. He puts in extra time in there. He's a young kid that's got a lot of skill and he's hungry, so I'm excited to see what he does this season.
Toffoli has also been impressed with Romanov's game as well:
He plays at 100 percent every single time. Even like the little drills, you can see he's going hard, he's finishing his checks, and you have to earn every piece of ice with him.

Toffoli had high praise for his brand new linemates - Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Joel Armia - too:
They're two really good players. I think they're players that are coming along. I've been in the West, so I haven't really seen them play a whole lot, but seeing them here in practice, it looks like they came into camp in really good shape and they both look really confident with the puck, so I expect that we'll make plays and score goals.

Likewise, Anderson sees good things ahead for his line alongside Jonathan Drouin and Nick Suzuki:
I got the opportunity to play with Drou in the World Juniors. You can just see the skill on him. He's just so smooth and silky and I'm excited to play with him. With Suzuki there, you could just see the speed and the work ethic. He's a pretty quick player out there and works hard at both ends of the ice. He's really smart, too. He makes some nice plays, so I'm looking forward to the opportunity to play with both of those guys. It should be a good line.

And like Edmundson and Toffoli, Anderson fully appreciates the way Romanov goes about his business both on and off the ice:
He plays games like he does in practice. He's pretty physical, he's strong. You just see this guy in the gym every day and see how big his legs are. That's one thing that stands out. He's a really strong kid and his work ethic is pretty incredible for a young guy, so he's looking pretty good out there.
For his part, Julien is giving his group solid reviews through the first few days of practice:
As a coaching staff, we really like what we see. The guys have been practicing hard the last three days. They're really focused, they work hard, they're serious, but they're also having fun together. I think there's good respect between all of them. It will only get better when we start the season. The guys will spend more time together on the road. It's a good way to build team chemistry. It's fun for a coach because it gives me a lot of options and tools to work with.

He also appreciates the fact that his roster includes players with Stanley Cup rings in their souvenir collections:
You can definitely get benefits from that all year round. Those guys experienced stuff. Winning is one thing. You don't just get to the playoffs and say: "By the way, I've won a Stanley Cup and this is how it's done." First of all, you've got to get there. Getting there is tough. Those guys that have been through it can certainly share some of those things with the players that have less experience and haven't been around as much. This is where that comes in handy.