La première étoile … the first star … Hudson Matheson!
The 3-year-old son of Canadiens defenceman Mike Matheson stole the spotlight Sunday during the team’s annual Skills Competition at the Bell Centre.
Hudson and his father led the players onto the ice to start the event and fans cheered loudly after Hudson took a pass from his dad and put the puck in the net.
It was a special and unforgettable moment for Matheson and his parents — Rod and Marg — who were watching in the stands along with Matheson’s older brother, Kenny, and his girlfriend, Stephanie Bianchini. Matheson grew up in Pointe-Claire on Montreal’s West Island and his parents still live there.
Where does watching Mike and Hudson on the ice together rank among the special memories for the Matheson family since the Canadiens acquired the 30-year-old defenceman from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the summer of 2022?
“No. 1,” a beaming Marg said outside the Canadiens’ dressing room after the competition ended.
Watching Hudson on the ice with his dad brought back memories for Marg of when Mike was a 3-year-old. Mike learned to skate when he was 2 on the family’s backyard rink and started playing ringette a year later with his sister Kelly, who is five years older, because he was too young to join West Island Hockey.
“At the time, he was only 3 and he went onto the bench and he’d flip his helmet up and suck his thumb and you couldn’t see him (behind the boards) because he was so small,” Marg recalled. “Then he’d put his helmet down and go flying out again. It was really special.”
So was Sunday’s Skills Competition, which has become an annual family event with lots of young kids and their parents in the stands. The Canadiens players were joined on the ice by members of the PWHL’s Montreal Victoire, including their captain Marie-Philip Poulin.
“It’s amazing,” Poulin said about watching Matheson and his son on the ice together. “Every time you get a chance to see him with his little boy … just the love that you feel right away.
“It’s always fun to join with our teammates and the Habs,” Poulin added. “It’s all about hockey, it’s all about community and seeing all the kids in the stands, I think it’s great.”
Poulin took part in the hardest-shot competition and had an impressive blast of 81.5 mph, but lost to her teammate and wife, Laura Stacey, who registered 81.6 mph.
“I’m not ready to talk about it,” Poulin said with a laugh. “I think it was funny. She has such a great shot, so I’m not surprised.”
It also wasn’t a surprise that Arber Xhekaj won the hardest-shot competition among the Canadiens for the second straight year with a blast of 101.2 mph to edge out Matheson at 101.1 mph. Last year Xhekaj won the event with a blast of 107.2 mph.
“Think I lost some power from last year,” Xhekaj said. “Have to hit the gym.”
Alex Newhook beat out Juraj Slafkovsky in the fastest-skater event with a time of 13.573 for a lap around the rink. Slafkovsky was timed at 14.758.
“Lighter made the difference in the end,” the 6-foot-3, 225-pound Slafkovsky said. “That’s all.”
Newhook is 5-foot-11 and 200 pounds.
Kristin O’Neill was the fastest skater for the Victoire with a lap of 15.086 seconds. The Victoire’s Jennifer Gardiner won the accuracy shooting event outright, hitting all four targets in 9.457 seconds.
Canadiens rookie Lane Hutson, who learned to skate when he was 3, loved watching little Hudson skate around the rink and also take part in the fastest-skater competition.
“I don’t remember ever being that good (at age 3) … at least in the videos I’ve seen,” said Hutson, who hit 94.1 mph in the hardest-shot event. “I’m sure it’s something that he’ll never forget and Mike definitely won’ forget it, either.”
It wouldn’t be a shock if Hudson Matheson is the first star of a future NHL game at the Bell Centre since he has some very impressive hockey genes. His mother, Emily, was a defenceman with the American team that beat a Team Canada that included Poulin 3-2 in a shootout for the gold medal at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. Matheson and his wife met when they were both playing at Boston College, but they won’t push hockey on Hudson or his sister, Mila Rose, who was born last May.
“Knowing that both of them have this huge background, they were both like: ‘We have to not push (Hudson) into hockey,’” Matheson’s father, Rod, said after watching the competition. “So they’ve tried to introduce him to other things. He’s the one locked on hockey. When any of us go over to their house it’s like: ‘Is it time to play (s)tick? Want to play (s)tick?’ So that’s hockey — (s)tick.”
Rod and Margaret babysat Hudson Saturday night while his father was helping the Canadiens beat the Senators 5-2 in Ottawa. They watched the first period with Hudson before it was his bed time.
“He’s locked onto the game, asking a million questions,” Rod said.
“We love that little dude!”