By Brian Ring
A player beginning his professional career after four excellent and high-scoring junior seasons could be expected to struggle and become frustrated when he faces the inevitable challenges that come with the different pace of the American Hockey League.
Whale rookie Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, however, has taken it as a learning experience, one that he has already made strides on. The Cap-Rouge, Que. native entered this season coming off of an outstanding final year for the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL, having tallied 95 points (40-55-95) in just 68 games with his junior club. Despite the fact that he went undrafted, Audy-Marchessault was readily recognized for his achievements, being named as a First-Team QMJHL All-Star and winning the Bud Light Cup as the league’s player of the year.
As a former teammate of both Ryan Bourque and Kelsey Tessier with Quebec, Audy-Marchessault attracted the interest of the Rangers organization, which signed him to a Whale AHL contract. Audy-Marchessault was brought in to both the Traverse City Prospects Tournament, and to the Rangers rookie camp and main training camp, to showcase his skills. He impressed enough to earn himself a spot with the Whale, and you would be hard-pressed to find a better fit for him than on a team with two of his prior teammates. Entering any NHL-style training camp can be intimidating, but one run by Rangers head coach John Tortorella could be especially daunting. Ryan Bourque’s prior camp experience, however, helped him to show his fellow rookie the ropes.
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“It’s been really good [having him and Tessier there],” said Audy-Marchessault. “When I went to Traverse City and to New York, I didn’t know what to expect and Ryan was teaching me a lot about what to do and keep my play simple and give me some confidence. It was really good for me to have Ryan there.”
Whale sophomore Kelsey Tessier went through a similar situation last year, entering his first pro season after spending three and a half seasons with the Remparts. Tessier, a New Brunswick native, helped Audy-Marchessault get accustomed to the Hartford area and as an added bonus speaks fluent French, making Audy-Marchessault’s transition from Quebec City to Connecticut’s capital that much easier.
“When I came to the Whale camp, with Kelsey the first day he gave me a little tour of the city and showed us some buildings that we could live in. They were really good for me,” said Audy-Marchessault.
On-ice production often does not happen instantaneously for players making the leap from junior hockey to the professional ranks, and other than a shootout game-winner against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the second game of the season, Audy-Marchessault failed to reach the score sheet. He broke out in a big way this past weekend, however, during a home-and-home set with one of the Whale’s biggest rivals, the Springfield Falcons.
With Connecticut trailing 1-0 to Springfield in Saturday’s game, Audy-Marchessault tapped defenseman Tomas Kundratek’s rebound past Falcons goaltender Dan Taylor for his first professional goal. That tied the game, which the Whale would eventually go on to win. Audy-Marchessault carried the confidence he gained from breaking his point-scoring drought into the next afternoon’s action, scoring on Springfield’s Manny Legace once and assisting on two other goals in Connecticut’s 4-1 win over the Falcons.
“It felt pretty good,” said Audy-Marchessault of his best weekend as a pro.”When I came here, my first games, I was kind of stressed a little bit and I didn’t know what to expect and I’m getting used to the game a little bit, so this weekend went pretty well for me and for the team. It’s a good weekend but we have to look forward now.”
The 5-9, 175 pound forward is not looking too far ahead, despite his recent success, instead choosing to work on one skill he knows he will have to improve in order to keep advancing in the professional ranks.
“I think it’s my speed,” said Audy-Marchessault. “You always have to improve your speed in your one-on-one battles because here, the guys are bigger and faster. The neutral zone is closing a lot, so you don’t have much space to make plays, but I mean you kind of learn that stuff over the years and with games of experience. It’s going better and better and I think I’m working on it and I think I’ll be good to go forward.”
He will have a wide selection of teammates to try and emulate this season, with the Whale boasting a large number of players that have had a great deal of success at both the AHL and the NHL level. In fact, another even more diminutive sniping forward has been a particular source of help for the rookie.
“There’s really some good examples,” Audy-Marchessault said of his veteran teammates. “When you look at them, they have some good skill, they work always in practice. Like a guy like, it’s only been one week he’s here, but Zuccarello, he’s a pretty nice guy. When I watch those guys that have had success in the past here and in the NHL, NHL games, they are good examples for me.”
Like his fellow rookies in the Whale dressing room, Audy-Marchessault has a unique opportunity this season to play with and learn from veterans like Sean Avery, Wade Redden and Kris Newbury. Unlike some of his teammates, though, he also gets to play with some of his junior teammates. The presence of Bourque and Tessier on the Whale can only help to improve the game of not only Audy-Marchessault, but of all three former Remparts stars.
