Saint John Sea Dogs captain Anthony Boucher has travelled from arena to arena in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League long enough to realize how important it is to make good use of time spent on the team bus.
The 20-year-old forward, who’s in his fourth season in the league, and his Sea Dogs will travel over 18,000 kilometres this season on the roads, making a stop in all 18 QMJHL cities at least once to play a total of 34 away games.
At times it can feel long, but it doesn’t have to be wasted time for major junior hockey players.
“I’m getting used to it, for me now a three-hour bus ride is a short trip,” said Boucher. ”I’ve been learning to use the time to my advantage, working on school stuff (he’s taking CEGEP, pre-university courses), reading, sleeping, some recovery.”
“He just plows through homework and it sets the tone with the younger guys,” added Sea Dogs general manager Trevor Georgie.
Saint John will have two road trips through Quebec this season, a six-game stroll in November at 2,700 km., and a five-game trip in January at 3,500 km — including a 1,700 km drive from Rouyn-Noranda, Que., back home.
The players are typically allowed to do their own thing on the Sea Dogs bus, with most choosing to chat or listen to music. Technology has led to many more options than simply playing cards, watching a film or staring out the window into the night.
“The days of everyone sitting on the bus watching the same movie, it happens sometimes, but it’s not what it was 10, 15 years ago before the exposure of mobile devices,” said Georgie.
Boucher believes his education is a top priority and is often studying on the road, with his laptop, wifi and data supplied by the team to help him obtain his school goals.
The team has also an app the players can connect to on their phone or computer that gives them instant access to video and highlights from their games. With coaches typically not taking bus time away from the players to coach, being able to do it on your own is a huge positive for Boucher.
“You can see all your shifts on the ice, and you can watch whatever you want and if you are not sure if you did something good or wrong, you can rewind and keep watching,” said Boucher. “It’s a great tool for us as a player, but also as a person. Instead of fooling around, you can improve on getting better on the ice.”
While technology has its advantages, some coaches are concerned it’s affecting the socializing and bonding that used to happen before every player had a personal screen.
“Really with cellphones, kids do not talk to each other as much, they’re not as engaged,” said Saginaw Spirit head coach Troy Smith. ”It’s kind of sad because gone are the days where they’re really communicating with each other.
“The bonding hasn’t gone away, but it’s not the same.”
Still, Barrie Colts forward Ryan Suzuki says he tries to use the bus rides to learn more about the fresh faces, especially early in the season.
“Start of the year it’s a great way to get to know your teammates,” said Suzuki, a 2019 NHL draft prospect who leads the Ontario Hockey League in scoring with 15 points in seven games.
“I like the bus rides personally, but it can be gruelling on the body. It’s a tough league and the bus rides are just part of it.”
Smith, who rode the bus as an OHL player from 1995 to ‘99, has seen how things have changed.
“As cellphones became more prevalent, we’d get (text) messages at the front of the bus to turn up the heat or to turn up the volume on the movie,” said Smith.
Despite his concern about the individual devices, Smith says he believes in treating the players with respect and hasn’t banned anything from the team bus, including gaming devices.
“We expect them to prepare properly like they’re trying to be a pro hockey player. If they want to stay up and play video games all night, then it’ll show in their play and that will affect their ice time,” he said.
Georgie, however, has taken a different approach on gaming.
“We don’t take a hard stance on no gaming, but we look at it in moderation. When we’re on the road, we’re not allowing players to bring their systems with them. It’s about team time.”
Bus rides have improved over the years, but every team across the CHL still has its own situations to deal with when travelling.
The Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League, the only Manitoba-based club, often have to drive six hours to play, and will eventually make a 2,000 km trek to Victoria for a matchup. Meanwhile, eight of the 60 teams in the CHL are U.S based and have to take the Canadian-American border into consideration when planning.
Smith’s Spirit found that out last Saturday when his team was heading from Kitchener, Ont., to Erie., Pa., and was at the border for more than two hours on a busy Thanksgiving weekend.
“The nice thing now is the game’s evolved so much that the owners have invested in things like travelling a day early, proper meals, things like that,” he said. “(Travelling’s) not easy but it’s not an excuse either.”
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AROUND THE CHL: Saskatoon Blades defenceman Dawson Davidson was named CHL player of the week. The 20-year-old from Moosomin, Sask., produced one goal and seven assists in four games and leads all WHL blue-liners with 12 points in eight contests. He’s riding a five-game point streak into the weekend.
— Trent Miner of the Vancouver Giants earned CHL goaltender of the week honours after stopping 54 of 56 shots to win back-to-back starts, extending his team’s win streak to four games. The 17-year-old rookie from Brandon, Man., picked up his first career shutout, making 21 saves in a 5-0 win over the Kelowna Rockets.
—As of Wednesday, the top 10 teams in the CHL rankings are: 1. Baie-Comeau (7-0-1); 2. Prince Albert (8-1-0); 3. Halifax (5-2-0); 4. Victoria (6-0-0); 5. London (3-2-0); 6. Rouyn-Noranda (7-1-0); 7. Vancouver (6-1-0); 8. Sudbury (6-2-0); 9. Guelph (4-1-1); 10. Rimouski (6-2-0).
Kyle Cicerella, The Canadian Press