BROSSARD - It is difficult to evaluate players from a scrimmage at training camp.

The biggest reason? Every single player has a different set of goals that they are trying to achieve at camp.

For a veteran, there is little to prove. So to evaluate a vet harshly for playing average hockey, or not impressing much on opening day, is harsh.

It’s a mark of a reporter’s inexperience if he or she is criticizing a player who has nothing important to do other than to get shape and stay healthy.

However for many other players, the challenge to make the roster and impress the coaching staff starts right from the opening face-off.

For the players on the cusp between Montreal, Hamilton or the juniors, the scrimmage is very important.

Players trying to crack the roster had better impress -  and quickly -  or they will not last long with a CH on their chest.

So evaluations of these players are vital and fair, so without further ado, here are the players who stood out - who needed to stand out -  on the first day in Brossard during a 50-minute scrimmage.

Louis Leblanc had such a terrible season last year in Hamilton that there were fears that he was all but washed up and that he would never play another good game.

But Leblanc was injured last year. And that ankle injury is tough to recover from and no player finds his game easily after this injury.

So let’s just write off last year except to remark that Leblanc did what he needed to last year in the off-season to recover.

He worked tirelessly on his skating and he spent time with psychologists trying to handle the mental aspect of the game better. For one session, we can say all of that work paid off. Leblanc was excellent. He scored once and that is a bonus. More important is that he showed that energy and buzz saw style that we saw for the Juniors in Verdun that we enjoyed so much. it’s the game that made him a Canadian National Team Junior and a first round pick.

Leblanc was hungry and engaged. He didn’t look slow. The ankle didn’t seem to be a problem.

A second player who is not likely to start the season in Hamilton but showed to me that he will one day be an NHLer is Charles Hudon. He’s a former fifth round draft choice and that’s okay. Just ask Brendan Gallagher who as a fifth rounder shows that you can be passed over about 130 times in the draft and still find an NHL career.

Hudon has had back issues but told me today that they are behind him. What is ahead of him is some sweet stick skills that Habs fans are going to love and a lateral motion that is going to confound defencemen. Hudon also said today that he likes to mix it up in the corners. If he can win the puck there, I think he’s going to be a good one. Hudon looked great today.

Another who looked good today, and who has to, is Gabriel Dumont. He has been on the verge of cracking the line up for a couple of years and he is in exactly the same position this year. He likely won’t make the team on October 1st when the Habs open at home against Toronto but you have to like the fact that if injuries hit Dumont looks ready to fill in well. Dumont had great jump today and was around the puck a lot. He seems to be in the right spot a lot.

The final player that stood out for me is Michael Bournival. He isn’t at the place yet where it is make-or-break but it is getting closer. He came over in the trade that saw Ryan O’Byrne go over to Colorado. It looks like a good trade now, considering O’Byrne is now playing in Europe but it won’t mean much if Bournival can’t take the next step. He is another player unlikely to crack the roster this year, but then again, coming in to camp last year, few thought Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk would both make the big squad.

And that’s why these camps are so fun to watch: for some there are no more important days in their lives than these two weeks now in front of them. These are two weeks that could change their lives.