Podcast highlights: Cole Caufield

MONTREAL - Elite goal scoring doesn't happen by accident.
Team USA sharpshooter Cole Caufield has spent years honing his shot, which helped him leave the USNTDP as the organization's all-time scoring leader. While he's known for his sniping, there's more to the 2019 first round draft pick's game than just lighting the lamp.
Caufield joined host Marc Dumont on the Canadiens' History in the Making podcast to dish on how his play has evolved, his work on the defensive side of things, his mathematical approach to beating college netminders, and how the Habs have been working on his development since his Draft day.

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Read on for a few highlights from the discussion, which is available in its entirety wherever you get your podcasts.
MARC DUMONT:What's the secret to your shot? It seems to defy the laws of physics; the whip you get on it, the pre-shot motion, it's quick, but it's accurate. What's the secret? How do you get so much force? It almost looks like you're not -- this isn't an insult, but it almost looks like you're not trying. It almost looks like you're not giving it a full whip, but you still get so much velocity on it. What's the secret to your shot?
COLE CAUFIELD:Um, I don't want to give it away. (laughs)
MD:Which is fair enough. It's a strength of yours, but do you go crazy practicing it, even though it's your strength?
CC:Yeah, I think you can never get enough shots and it's not just about reps, in my opinion. It's about the quality of how you're doing it. I think there's many different ways to shoot a puck, and there are a lot of different ways to score goals and you can't just be one-dimensional.
So when it looks like I'm not trying, I think that's because I'm trying to not let the goalie see it or I'm trying to not let the defenseman react as quickly. At this level, you're trying to read the defenseman's stick rather than trying to pick a corner with the goalie, because if the goalie can't see it, your percentages go way up. So a lot of the stuff I worked on last year in the summer was just being able to shoot off both legs and making the defender do what you want, so you can know what foot you're going to shoot off of and know when you're going to shoot and how you're going to shoot through him.
There are a lot of different things that I worked on this summer, just to shoot through screens and time it out so when you make your move, you know what the defenseman is going to do based on his hand positioning, and how much time you have, and how much other guys are coming in late.
There are a lot of different things I look at when I go into shooting drills or even when I'm just shooting pucks after practice. Even during practice, I think drills are the most important part, even when you're doing warm up drills. You're not just shooting it to shoot, but you're changing the angle and your blade and stuff like that. I'm kind of a nerd about this stuff, but it all comes with practice and it's just something I fell in love with.

MD:You're obviously one of the team's prime prospects, rated number one by every single metric in terms of Canadiens prospects. How often do the Canadians check in with you throughout the season? How's that process? Obviously, there's Rob Ramage, Francis Bouillon, and Martin Lapointe. How often do they check in with you, what's the process like, and do they give you advice during the season?
CC:Yeah, I'd say it's weekly. I'm just kind of checking in right now, I think last year was probably after a weekend, and we'd just kind of go over how things went. I talk to Rob a lot more than anybody else. He's taught me a lot about the D side of things and that's something I really wanted to work on. So it was nice to learn from him, and get to go over some stuff to get a head start on that. There's a lot of stuff I worked on this summer, just with defense and how to work with your stick and stuff, because you're not going to play in the NHL if you can't play in the D zone.
I think that's a big part of my game right now. Even in our small area games at practice, I think I have more fun playing defense right now. It's a lot of fun taking pucks away. I mean the offensive part is just a bonus, but I think just competing on the D zone side is something that I've taken a lot more seriously and I'm proud of how far I've come just this summer.
MD:Who did you cheer for growing up? I'm sure I read it somewhere but I can't remember right now. Who was your favorite team?
CC: I liked the Avalanche growing up.
MD:Okay, so which era was that? Was [Peter] Forsberg still playing?
CC: My favorite player watch was Sakic. I mean, I know he's a lefty -- my dad hates lefties for some reason. [laughs] He says they're not goal scorers, which I thought was pretty funny.
MD:Wasn't Mario Lemieux a lefty? I mean, come on...
CC: He has this funny theory that he thinks is true.
MD:You know what? He's not the first guy to say that. There are a lot of coaches who think lefties can't score. I'm a lefty...and I can't score so...
CC: Yeah, my dad was a Nordiques fan growing up, so he just liked the Avalanche.
MD:So Sakic was your guy. He was your favorite player growing up?
CC:Growing up, yeah. Once he retired from the League, I think Nathan MacKinnon was my guy. I just loved watching him and now I don't really have a favorite player, I just like watching specific guys that I can kind of learn from.

MD:Are you active on social media? Do you read your mentions?
CC:If I see them, yeah. I don't really look stuff up, but there's some stuff I don't want to see. Sometimes it will just come up on a page.
MD:How intense are Habs fans?
CC: I love it though.
MD: Yeah?
CC:Yeah, I love it.
MD:Is it mostly good? Or is it like, say you open up a tweet and it's from Jim, you know, @JimHabs699? And he says something like, "Why aren't you taller?" How do you react to that? You know, because there's a lot of garbage out there. Let's be honest.
CC:Yeah, I mean, I think it's just because they're so passionate about the team and about hockey as a whole, and that's kind of how I am. Obviously, you know you're going to a place where there are a lot of critics and the fans are just crazy. Some people shy away from that stuff and kind of get nervous. But I love it. I think if you really love pressure that much, it's a great place to be.
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