Louis Leblanc is proving to be the type of person that can handle the spotlight in Montreal.
Louis Leblanc's career is all about balance.
Two months after undergoing the most disappointing moment in his hockey career and two weeks after suffering through his biggest slump, the 20-year-old forward learned to retain an optimistic view on his career.
It's more than just a message preached by his head coach, Pascal Vincent, a veteran behind Quebec Major Junior Hockey League benches. Leblanc is just one of many high-profile junior players that thrived under Vincent's tutelage, a list which includes Marc-Andre Fleury, James Sheppard, Angelo Esposito and Jake Allen, among others.
Given his experience, Vincent knew his star would experience an emotional let-down following the mental and physical toll of a world junior championship. He was just surprised it took so long.
Leblanc picked up 11 points in the seven games after re-joining his team following Canada's heartbreaking loss to the Russians in the gold-medal game. It was as if Leblanc was taking out his frustration from having the gold slip through his hands in every league game thereafter.
That was until he finally hit the wall. Leblanc followed his seven-game scoring exploit with an eight-game pointless streak.
"It's only normal you're going through some kind of a down," Vincent said of players returning from the high-profile tournament. "Louis didn't go through this right away - just a little bit later and that could be a coincidence with him not being able to score goals or get points."
Leblanc's struggles weren't as clear cut as the bottom line might indicate. Although his pointless drought reached a staggering eight games, he was still creating chances. Leblanc fired 46 shots on goal in those eight games, including 11 in a game against P.E.I.
"Usually if you have nights like that you can get at least a goal, but the puck wasn't going in," Leblanc explained. "Every game was adding more frustration and pressure."
That pressure seemingly lifted off his shoulders after breaking through on Feb. 17 with his first goal to end the drought. Since then, Leblanc scored a goal in each of the last six games, including a hat trick Sunday in a game televised on Rogers Sportsnet.
Vincent often preaches maintaining a level of fun for his players. In Leblanc's case, it was a matter of reaffirming that notion during the slump.
But, in spite of the frustrations and pressure Leblanc felt during his drought, his coach knew it was a necessary evil for his star to reach new heights.
"I think it was just a very good thing for him -- dealing with that kind of adversity," Vincent said. "He never saw it before. It just made him a better hockey player and a better person."
Pressure is nothing new to Leblanc. There's nothing quite like having 20,000 fans chanting your name in your hometown with your hometown team hosting the draft.
Leblanc, somewhat resembled a deer in the headlights when the crowd chanted his name after the Canadiens chose him 18th overall at the 2009 draft. He has since learned to live in a fishbowl. His popularity and spotlight grew much bigger after he left Harvard University to play for his hometown Montreal Juniors this season.
"It's great to see fans recognize you and support you," said Leblanc, who acknowledged the end of his anonymity since his face has been plastered all over newspapers and television as a Montreal Canadiens prospect. His newfound celebrity only helped increase expectations.
"Not only from the media," said Vincent, "but from the fans (and) from the sponsors. They want an appearance, they want an autograph, they want picture-taking. It's taking a lot of his time to start to deal with all this.
"Even though he's a very mature kid and very intelligent, it's quite an adjustment becoming, all of a sudden, somebody that everyone knows on the street."
After accomplishing one of his goals by representing Canada at the world juniors, the new trending topic for his career is to lead his QMJHL team to a league championship and berth in May's MasterCard Memorial Cup.
Some expectations dictate Leblanc should not only lead his team offensively, but figuratively carry them on his back to a championship this season.
"It's just not the reality," Vincent said. "It's not the Montreal Louis Leblanc's - it's the Montreal Juniors."
But in saying that, Vincent's goal was always for Leblanc to reach new heights as the season progressed.
"I've been saying since he's decided to come play major junior that we would get the best out of him at the end of February, March and April and the playoffs," Vincent said.
Now that he regained his scoring touch and between autograph sessions, media commitments and his on-ice success, it seems Leblanc finally found a healthy balance.
