There was a really nice scene at the end of the Canadiens’ 5-4 overtime win over the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night at the Bell Centre.
After scoring the winning goal, Nick Suzuki went and got the puck — but it wasn’t to keep as a souvenir for himself. Instead, the Canadiens captain presented the puck to referee Éric Furlatt, who had worked his 1,500th career NHL game. The 53-year-old Trois-Rivières native worked his first NHL game on Oct. 8, 2001, when the Philadelphia Flyers played the Blue Jackets in Columbus.
It was a class move by Suzuki, who continues to grow nicely into his leadership role after becoming the youngest captain in franchise history at age 23 ahead of the 2022-23 season.
Jean Béliveau will always be the epitome of what a Canadiens captain should be — a great player and leader who always carried himself with class on and off the ice.
There will never be another Béliveau and, after he died 10 years ago at age 83, I wrote a column on how Canadian universities should teach a class titled “What Would Jean Béliveau Do?” It would be a way to teach young people about important life skills in different situations and how to make the right decisions.
Retrieving the puck for a referee who had just worked his 1,500th game is something Béliveau would have done. If he were still alive, Béliveau would have been proud to see Suzuki do that.
Being captain of the Canadiens comes with a bright spotlight and Suzuki is shining with the “C” on his sweater — on and off the ice. He scored the winning goal in overtime again Friday night as the Canadiens beat the Capitals 3-2 in Washington, giving him 13-29-42 totals in 41 games to lead the Canadiens in scoring.
“I feel like every player’s got a spotlight on them when they’re here,” Suzuki told me after the Canadiens practised Thursday in Brossard before flying to Washington. “For me, it might be a little bit more. I just try to do the right thing all the time and be a good person. It’s just how I was raised. It’s just kind of natural for me.
“That was a big game for him,” Suzuki added about getting the puck for Furlatt. “It was nice to see the crowd and the players give him an ovation. It’s a big milestone and I just wanted to congratulate him.”
Lessons in leadership
Suzuki learned a lot about leadership from his parents, Rob and Amanda.
Rob operates his own dentistry clinic in London, Ont., while Amanda is a senior manager for the Ontario Ministry of Finance.
“He’s run a business since I was born,” Suzuki said about his father. “The way he handles his employees and the business side of it, I’ve learned from that over the years. He’s the leader of the dental clinic, so I’ve learned a lot from him. My mom’s in a management role, too. They’re both leaders in their field and it was good to learn from both of them.”
What’s the best advice Suzuki received from his parents?
“There’s been so much,” he said. “Just the way me and my brother (Ryan) were raised. The focus was on being good brothers and doing well in school. Hockey came second after school my whole life. We didn’t really know if we were going to become professional hockey players so we had to have something else. I’m really grateful to have my parents, the way they raised us. There’s so many things I learned from them.”
Both Suzuki boys were selected in the first round of the NHL Draft. The Vegas Golden Knights picked Nick 13th overall in 2017 before trading him to the Canadiens as part of the Max Pacioretty deal a year later, while the Carolina Hurricanes selected Ryan 28th overall in 2019. Ryan, 23, has yet to play in the NHL and has 3-20-23 totals in 29 games this season with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.
Having two boys playing high-level minor hockey while growing up posed some challenges for the boys’ parents.
“We were never really in the same spot on the weekends,” Nick said. “My dad was usually with me and my mom was with my brother. It was tough. Sometimes our tournaments would align, but sometimes you’d be in two different places every weekend. It was just the way it was.”
If hockey didn’t work out, what would Nick have done instead?
“Probably something in business,” he said. “I’m pretty passionate about starting a business or being involved on that side. With my love of hockey, I thought maybe I’d be an agent or something if hockey didn’t work out. We’ll see … maybe after my career is over.”
Is his personality more like his father or his mother?
“Probably more of my dad,” Nick said. “My brother’s more like my mom, probably. But I guess it’s a mixture of both.”
Leading the way
Suzuki is a big reason why the Canadiens are now “in the mix” for a playoff spot in Year 3 of their rebuilding process, which was management’s goal when the season started.
After Friday night’s victory over the Capitals the Canadiens had a 20-18-3 record and were one point out of a wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference after going 9-2-0 in their last 11 games.
“I think when you start winning games that confidence builds and you see ourselves climbing in the standings and being in a playoff spot and being around it that belief starts to kick in a bit more than when we were in the bottom of the East,” Suzuki said Thursday. “It’s just like a learning curve for us in being in those positions to fight for big points in games and it’s been fun.”
An embarrassing 9-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Bell Centre on Dec. 12 might have been a turning point in the season for the Canadiens. They have a 9-3-0 record since then.
“That game sucked,” Suzuki said. “I think we learned a lot and I think guys learned a lot about themselves with the way they played after that game. It was an embarrassing loss at home and we were able to grow from it.”
Increasing demands
Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis is becoming more demanding in what he expects from his players in Year 3 of the rebuild.
Benching Juraj Slafkovsky for most of the third period and overtime during a 2-1 shootout win over the Avalanche last Saturday in Colorado is an example. Slafkovsky had zero shots in 13:25 of ice time before getting benched.
“I think I’m more demanding on certain things because we’re further along and the stuff’s been talked about for a while now, so it should be engrained, processed,” St. Louis said after practice Thursday when talking about the team in general. “So I’m more demanding because we’re older. It’s been a progression. It hasn’t been like: Oh, I think you’re this age now, this is what I’m doing. No. You can kind of see how your team’s evolving and you got to evolve accordingly and you have to treat the situation, the stage we’re in accordingly and that’s what we’ve been doing this year.
“I didn’t come into the season that this month I’m going to be this way, after that month I’m going to be that way,” St. Louis added. “Your team talks to you. The way they play it speaks to you and I have to act accordingly based on what I see. In terms of my communication, when I talk I tell them my truth all the time. Is the tone the same way all the time? No. But it wasn’t set in tone that: Oh, when I’m going to say this I’m going to use this tone. You just act accordingly.”
Patience paying off
St. Louis’s patience with Kirby Dach after he returned this season following a major knee injury is starting to pay off.
Dach has four goals in the last seven games, giving him six goals in 41 games this season after playing only two games last season before requiring surgery to repair torn ACL and MCL ligaments in his right knee.
Even while he was struggling, St. Louis kept Dach in a top-six role and on the top power-play unit. In last Saturday’s shootout win over the Avalanche St. Louis had Dach shoot third and he scored the winning goal.
“It was nice,” Dach said about being picked for the shootout. “I definitely trust myself in those situations. I enjoy being put on those situations and kind of thrive in them sometimes. I think every shootout goal I have was a game-winner. I just seem to really enjoy those spots.”
Dach added his confidence level is really starting to rise.
“I feel good,” he said. “It’s been months of hard work. At the same time, just timing. I knew it was going to take a while with my leg and to feel free on the ice and feel confident. I’m starting to have that feeling now and taking it and run with hit.
“It’s belief from the coaching staff, belief from the support staff, the trainers, everybody in what they’ve done for me,” he added. “It definitely means a lot and it feels nice to kind of be rewarded for all that hard work.”
The mental game
UFC star Conor McGregor believes 100 per cent of the success he has had in the octagon is because of his mental strength.
“People say it’s like 90 per cent mental and 10 per cent physical … I just think it’s 100 per cent mental,” McGregor has said. “I think everything is an illusion. The mind is what makes these things. The mind is a powerful thing.”
Pete Fry is a goalie mindset coach who works with the Canadiens’ Jakub Dobes and he can relate to McGregor’s way of thinking. Fry started his business — Pete Fry Hockey Mindset Training — about eight years ago because he felt his lack of mental strength is a reason he was never able to play in the NHL as a goalie after being selected by the New Jersey Devils in the 10th round (191st overall) of the 1987 NHL Draft.
“When I was drafted by New Jersey, my first thought was I don’t have a chance … what are the chances?” Fry said in a phone interview this week from his home in Coquitlam, B.C., for a column I wrote about his work with Dobes. “I would always look at the glass half-empty, sort of speak. Guys will even have that same mentality when they’re in the American Hockey League and only one step away. Some guys are like: ‘I’m never going to get a shot.’ So I help them create a clear picture of them dominating at the National Hockey League level.
“We did that last year with Jakub when he was in Laval,” Fry added. “Even though you got to focus on the present and one game at a time, I think it’s important in the subconscious mind to know that it’s going to take you somewhere more powerful.
“I ask guys: ‘What percentage of your success is mental?’” Fry added. “And a lot of guys will tell me it’s 90 per cent. I’ll say: ‘OK, how often do you work on it.’ They’ll say: ‘I do a pre-game visual and that’s about it.’ I’ll say: ‘What about your skating and your skills and how much do you work on them?’ They’re like: ‘Every day.’ You need to look at the mental part as a skill.”
Dobes stopped 15 of the 17 shots he faced against the Capitals Friday night, improving his record with the Canadiens to 3-0 with a 0.97 goals-against average and a .959 save percentage.
Shutout for Primeau
Cayden Primeau stopped all 16 shots he faced Friday night as the Laval Rocket beat the Monsters 5-0 in Cleveland, improving their record to 21-10-2, good for second place in the North Division.
In two games with the Rocket since being sent down to the AHL by the Canadiens Primeau has a 2-0 record with a 0.50 GAA and a .977 save percentage. With the Canadiens this season Primeau had a 2-3-1 record with a 4.70 GAA and a .836 save percentage.
Fry has also worked with Primeau on his mental game.
“There’s a lot of similarities,” Fry said when asked if there was a big difference between Primeau and Dobes. “I guess the difference would be maybe Jakub’s a little bit more aggressive. Cayden hasn’t played bad this year, he just hasn’t had any exceptional games (with the Canadiens) and that’s really what you have to do as a goalie when you’re breaking in. You have to go and steal those games.
“Jakub went in there and played exceptional,” Fry added. “It’s almost like when Patrick Roy broke in with the Habs from the American Hockey League. He just took over.”
A star behind the scenes
Alex Case is one of the hardest-working people with the Canadiens, but most fans probably have no idea who he is.
Case is the director of team services, meaning he handles all the travel needs for the Canadiens and basically anything else players might need away from the rink. This is Case’s third season with the Canadiens, hired by Jeff Gorton, the executive vice-president of hockey operations. Case held a similar role with the New York Rangers when Gorton was GM of that team.
While on a road trip with the Canadiens a couple of years ago and watching Case almost constantly plugged into his computer or his cell phone, making sure everything would run smooth for the team, I asked him about doing a column about him and his job. He politely turned down the request, saying he wanted the focus to remain on the team.
So I had a smile on my face when St. Louis praised Case after the Canadiens returned home from their five-game, post-Christmas road trip with stops in Florida, Tampa, Las Vegas, Chicago and Colorado, finishing with an impressive 4-1-0 record.
“When the puck drops, nobody cares how much you travelled, nobody cares what’s your record,” St. Louis said. “You just got to go and do it all over again. Some nights are easier than others, but I got to say that we’re very calculated with when we travel. We stayed in Colorado … we didn’t travel at night. We came back (Sunday) afternoon (after playing Saturday night). We didn’t come to the rink (Monday for a morning skate before facing the Canucks). So we’re trying to be very calculated in how we can give ourselves the best chance to have the most energy.
“It doesn’t guarantee we’re going to have it,” St. Louis added. “But we feel that we have the science and technology to help us make decisions for what’s best for the group and our energy and I feel like we’ve done a very good job. Obviously, there’s things you can’t control in terms of if there’s a malfunction on the plane you’re going to be late and you’re going to be held back. But, honestly, it’s been very smooth this last trip. I got to give it to Alex Case because he’s going to appreciate that. We were able to get to Colorado at a decent time from Chicago with all things considered. We had good energy there. You see the schedule come out early in the season and you try to be calculated, try to build it and stuff. Make sure your team has the best chance to have energy because when the puck drops nobody cares.”
Mean streak
The Canadiens’ Kaiden Guhle is one of the nicest young men you could meet off the ice.
On the ice, the 22-year defenceman can be nasty with a mean streak.
That was on display in the first minute of Monday’s game against Vancouver when Guhle flattened Jonathan Lekkerimaki with a bodycheck as he left the Canucks’ defensive zone. Shortly afterward, Cole Caufield opened the scoring for the Canadiens.
Guhle developed his mean streak while playing junior for the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders in Saskatchewan. He has described Prince Albert as a “hard-nosed town” with a 3,000 seat arena and fans who like the “Rock ‘em, Sock ‘em kind of hockey and hard players.”
“It’s just something that got me here,” Guhle said after the Canucks game about playing physical. “Something I wanted to have in my game … not that I never wanted to have it in my game again. It’s just there’s other things I was worried about. The game’s fast (in the NHL), there’s good players, it’s tough to catch guys. I think it’s just something that I want to have more consistently in my game … not that I’m going to run around and try to blow guys up every game. It’s just a nastiness that I want to have more consistent in my game and I just had opportunities to do that more tonight.”
St. Louis describes Guhle as an all-around defenceman with a good balance between physical play, defensive play, skating and offence, and noted he doesn’t run around looking for a big hit. Instead, Guhle waits for the right moment and then lowers the boom.
“It’s something that’s important,” St. Louis said, adding Guhle will continue to get better as he gains more experience.