Habs minor-league coach rips players for not standing up for injured teammates

Joel Bouchard was looking for a response that never came.

The bench boss of the AHL's Laval Rocket, the Montreal Canadiens' minor-league affiliate, handled the coaching duties for the Canadiens as part of the NHL Rookie Showdown this weekend.

But the first two games of the tournament, which precedes main camp and included the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs, left Bouchard seeing red after two of his players were carted off the ice.

Canadiens prospect Jake Evans was stretchered out of Friday's contest after taking a hit from the Senators' Jonathan Aspirot. A similar incident occurred Sunday when defenseman Jarret Tyszka was wheeled off the ice after he was driven into the end boards by Maple Leafs forward Hudson Elynuik.

A lack of response from teammates to the first hit left Bouchard upset, while the second incident in such quick succession is seemingly forcing him to take action.

"We didn't do anything both times," Bouchard told Kelsey Patterson of The Canadian Press. "Enough is enough. I gave them a chance the first time, now they're going to learn. The guys on the ice, nobody went to see the other team. Unacceptable. My players were warned.

"I'm not asking for my players to fight, but you have to stand up for one another. This is the Montreal Canadiens. I'm not promoting violence, but we're not going to get walked all over either."

Both players were hospitalized following the hits - Evans has since been released from care - while the incidents became the focal point of the tournament for the Canadiens, who dropped both contests by a combined 8-2 score.

Bouchard, a Montreal native, is entering his first season with the Rocket after spending the past three years as head coach of the QMJHL's Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.

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