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Alex said his father has been a great support for him during his NHL career and they can be seen together chatting outside the Canadiens’ locker room at the Bell Centre after most games.

“We talk like father, like son mostly,” Alex said. “Sometimes we don’t even talk about hockey. But he definitely enjoys watching me play. Sometimes he gives me advice and sometimes he just lets me do my thing.”

But no matter what kind of advice Alex gets from his father or what kind of stick he uses or what colour of tape is on it, it takes a special kind of talent to score goals the way this 22-year-old can. It has been something special to watch in what has been a disappointing season for the Canadiens as a team.

“First off, everybody in the league can shoot the puck,” Canadiens goalie Ben Scrivens said after Thursday’s morning skate. “Fans watch games and they say: ‘Aw, this guy can’t shoot the puck.’ Everybody in the league can shoot the puck — they can shoot the puck hard and, within reasonable expectations, they’re all pretty accurate, first line to fourth line. The difference between the elite shooters is how effectively they can get releases off. The guys who can pick their spots without giving any tells to the goalies about where they’re putting it. The less movement you can have pre-shot.

“The big windup is a fossil in today’s game, except for on rare occasions,” Scrivens added. “It’s pretty difficult to beat guys with a big windup or the big stretched out wrist shot. What Chucky does so well is that he’s in a shooting position almost all the time that he has the puck. So he doesn’t tell when he’s going to shoot, so his release starts from the same place that his stick-handling starts and his passing starts. So you never know which one he’s going to do until the puck’s coming down on you.