Back in 2009, Louis Leblanc was the 18th name called in the NHL draft, taken in the first round by the Montreal Canadiens. A little more than four years later, the former Ivy League Rookie of the Year heard his name called again, this time to tell him that he’d been called back up to the NHL squad.

After a year in the developmental AHL league playing for the Hamilton Bulldogs, Leblanc will get another shot with the Canadiens after being cut early in training camp. The 6’0” right-winger/center played in 42 games for the top pro squad two seasons ago, but a high ankle sprain in October of 2012 kept him out of action and off the Canadiens roster.

Cut to this season, where in his two week stint playing for Montreal in late October and early November, Leblanc did not notch a point in five games. Though he was sent down on Nov. 5, it seems as though the Canadiens management is taking another chance on the former first-rounder, who had scored nine goals in 36 games for the Bulldogs.

The Habs sit in third in the Atlantic conference and hope Leblanc can fill the spot vacated by 19-year-old third-line center Alex Galchenyuk, who is out for at least another four weeks with a broken hand. In the meantime, Leblanc projects to get his fair share of shifts as long as Galchenyuk is out.

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It’s a big time of year for pro sports, with Super Bowl XLVIII just around the corner. The Back Page takes a look at a trio of former Harvard athletes now playing professionally, starting with a product of football coach Tim Murphy’s high-flying offense.

The Improving Draftee: Kyle Juszczyk ‘13

Mouthful of a name aside, Juszczyk had the NFL in his blood even before he was drafted – his great uncle, Dickie Moore, played for the Green Bay Packers. After a long and successful career for the Crimson, it was no surprise when the Baltimore Ravens took the 6’1” Juszczyk in the fourth round of the NFL draft.

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With a precious nine days left until the school year begins, The Back Page previews the five games that Harvard students should keep their eyes on as the winter break winds down.

Men’s Hockey v. Colgate (Bright-Landry Hockey Center, Jan. 18)

After consecutive losses to rivals Yale and Cornell, the Crimson will look to bounce back at home against Colgate. The focus for the team will be on playing defense until the end of the period and not giving up the late goals that it did against the Big Red on Friday, when lapses at the end of the first two periods sunk the Crimson.

Wrestling v. Cornell (Ithaca, NY, Jan. 18)

In its first Ivy League contest of the season, the wrestling team will travel north to take on the sixth-ranked Big Red. So far, the team has struggled in the New Year, dropping three of five decisions since the turn of the calendar. After traveling to Ithaca, however, the Crimson will be at home for the next three matches.

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While the other members of the Harvard squash teams took the week off, senior Ali Farag and junior Amanda Sobhy did not take a rest over the weekend. The number one players for the men’s and women’s squash teams, respectively, Farag and Sobhy competed against the world’s best squash players in the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions.

Farag battled through the qualifying round and into the main draw with two Friday wins over top-50 opponents but ultimately fell in his first main draw match, losing to world no. 26 Chris Simpson in four sets. On the women’s side, Sobhy won her first qualifying match and will have a chance Sunday to qualify for the main draw.

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In 'Quotes of the Week,' The Back Page will look each weekend at the five best quotes of the week, providing context for the five most important moments from the past seven days in Crimson sports.

“You know you can’t just walk away from this one. Those are points that we need right now.” — Freshman forward Sean Malone, men’s hockey

After starting the break with a three-game unbeaten streak, including a 7-4 victory over Boston University, the men’s hockey team (5-9-3, 2-7-3 ECAC) has struggled in recent losses to rivals Yale and Cornell. The team dropped to 2-7-3 in conference after the Cornell loss, leaving the Crimson 12 points out of first place.

“It makes logical sense to me that we are always trying to judge ourselves on controllable factors and though I care very, very deeply about the outcome in golf, namely the outcome of ‘the score,’ unfortunately it is a couple of steps removed from what we can actually control.” — Kevin Rhoads, men’s and women’s golf coach

In a Crimson feature in which Rhoads discussed the way that he instructs his golfers to approach the game, the golf coach illustrated a philosophy that focuses on the process and not the outcome. In a mentally strenuous game like golf, Rhoads keeps his players grounded by focusing on the lead-up to every shot, not the result.

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