BROSSARD, Que. — Zach Redmond can be found in a quiet corner of the Montreal Canadiens‘ dressing room on Saturday catching his breath after his second rigorous on-ice session and a post-practice workout.
At six-foot-two, 210 pounds, the defenceman is hard to miss. But since the early portion of the summer, all the talk has been about how newcomers Shea Weber, Alexander Radulov and Andrew Shaw are going to make their mark in Montreal.
No one is paying much mind to the 28-year-old Redmond, who signed a two-year contract with the Canadiens on July 1.
“For me, Montreal was a very easy pick,” Redmond said. “You never know how free agency is going to unfold. They were kinda the first team to come knocking, and for me you’re just hoping for a good fit and a good opportunity. I looked at everything, and for me to play in a city like this is just a no-brainer.”
Redmond has 114 games of NHL experience between the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche, but it hasn’t always been easy for the Traverse City, Mich., native.
He spent two years with the AHL’s St. John’s IceCaps before the Jets were willing to give him a serious look. Redmond played his first eight NHL games in 2013 before suffering an injury that nearly robbed him of a lot more than just his career.
Redmond got tangled up with teammate Antti Miettinen during a practise one day when Miettinen stepped on Redmond’s thigh.
“My pants had slid up a little bit so it was just kinda a freak accident,” Redmond said.
Redmond’s femoral artery was severed which caused him to lose a lot of blood.
It wasn’t the first bout of adversity that Redmond had faced in his life. At age 15, he suffered what’s known as a transient ischemic attack — a loss of blood flow to the brain, spinal cord or retinal, which is classified as a minor stroke. He had to learn how to walk and talk again and recovered in time to resume his junior career in short order.
A far less extreme example of Redmond’s perseverance is making it to the NHL as a former seventh-round pick of the Atlanta Thrashers.
Redmond will have to beat out Greg Pateryn and Mark Barberio to become one of Montreal’s top-six defenceman this season.
Head coach Michel Therrien acknowledges that he’ll have some hard decisions to make towards the bottom end of his defence corps. Redmond, Pateryn and Barberio are all virtually at the same stage of their respective careers, and each of them is in possession of a one-way contract.
“(Redmond’s) got some experience in the NHL and he’s a guy who can move the puck really well,” Therrien said. “But it’s still really early to make a judgment on our players.
“Performance will dictate our decision.”
Redmond plans to quietly go about his business until cuts are made and hopes his performance is noticed by the Canadiens brass.
“I’m just here to help us win,” Redmond said. “And whether I get praised for it or not doesn’t matter to me.”
