Quotes of the day: Allard

MONTREAL - Getting players ready for a shortened and condensed schedule presents a challenge for the League's 31 clubs - and helping returning players continue their training regimen in jurisdictions requiring a quarantine is an added hurdle for some teams. Sports science and performance director Pierre Allard joined the media via Zoom to give more insight into how he and his staff are navigating the realities of the pandemic as a potential January start to the season gets closer.
Here are some highlights of what he had to say:

On ensuring players returning from abroad are able to continue their training regimen while in quarantine:
"Many of our players have a lot of equipment at home. Some basically have a whole fitness center in their house. Some have less equipment, so we try to go piecemeal and individualize every player's physical preparation. For players coming back from Montreal, we want to ensure they have the necessary equipment in their hotel room to continue their training. We'll send them an exercise bike, weights, elastics, etc. What we've realized is that we can do a lot of things with very little equipment, so we adapt their training plans to their situations.
"If a player can't get on the ice, there are exercises they can do which replicate the impacts they'd be facing - by using plyometrics, for example, by going out and doing jumps and changes in direction, etc. The current situation has allowed us to put a range of exercise options in place for the players, and all digital training platforms have really been used to their full potential."

On how the sports science and performance department used data to inform the players' practice and rest schedules in the bubble this summer, a process Allard says will be used again in the event of a shortened and condensed 2020-21 season:
"We collected data that we used to make recommendations for workload in practice. We were familiar with the different levels of practices in the past and we know how the players responded to that workload. So, we used that formula during the last return to play to adjust our practices and rest days. With the medical personnel and the coaching staff, we were constantly reevaluating our plan to ensure we were always headed in the right direction. We've been much more precise in our work with the players and in our recommendations to the coaches."
On prospect Cole Caufield's progression in his training:
"We try to stay proactive and to stay in touch with our young players and the training staff who follow them. Cole Caufield is following the typical progression of a player coming out of Junior; we have to ensure his strength training is done right and that if the player wants to gain weight, it's done the right way. Young players aren't really familiar with what it's like to play three to four games per week and to perform well every time; we can prepare them as much as we want, but until they experience it for themselves, they'll just have to use their imagination."
On asking Tomas Plekanec to mentor the organization's prospects:
"When we held our virtual training camp, we thought of inviting Tomas Plekanec to speak to the young players in the organization, largely because he had to go through the AHL and he went through all the steps to make it to the NHL. The things he talked about with us were very interesting: when a young player arrives, he thinks he can immediately make a difference and carve out a spot for himself on the team. Tomas eventually realized that he had some work to do first. That's when he was able to get going and learn how to think the game and understand what the coaches were expecting of him. Tomas' work was exemplary, both in the gym and in terms of his consistency on the ice. And having played 1,000 games in the NHL, we wanted the young players to benefit from his experience."
Allard's impressions of Alexander Romanov, whom he got to observe in the bubble this summer after previously seeing him in Montreal:

"His attitude is outstanding. We saw him at development camp here in Montreal; he stayed with the prospects and attended the seminars that we were holding in Brossard. Physically, he's working really hard. And he wants to understand. That's what I liked about him: not only are we telling him what to do or we're giving him programs, he wants to understand why he's doing different types of training. In the gym, he's someone who works really hard. Physically, for me, he is right where he needs to be. He's a strong player."