The life of a Switzerland-based Quebec coach was changed last December during a routine training session with hopefuls from Geneva-Servette club. Victim of a lost puck, he nearly lost his right eye.
Sébastien Beaulieu didn’t think December 15 would end dramatically. At first everything went as planned.
He was on the ice with the young goalkeepers to work out technical details with them. Then the tragedy happened.
The coach receives a throw directly to the right eye.
“I work with two nets that face the two points of attack,” says Sébastien Beaulieu. I worked with one of the prospects and another goalkeeper [Murat Shiyanov] made a big save from the blocker.
“I was about 30 feet from him and I was sure the puck had hit the bar. I got the puck in the face.
“I found myself completely knocked out on the ice. It’s like I took a vicious blow.”
Sebastian Beaulieu
Sébastien Beaulieu with his new work tool for a few months. (Photo: Sebastien Beaulieu)
The worst scenario
Coming to his senses, the Quebec native realizes the puck did a lot of damage. Pure and simple bad luck.
“I felt like I had my eye on the puck. I crossed my fingers that it was the cheek or the teeth. Eventually I had a broken cheek, a gouged out eye, and a cut above my eye. I got the puck at an angle and it hit three spots at the same time.
After that everything went quickly. Beaulieu went to the Geneva University Hospitals to find out the severity of his injuries. After an ophthalmological examination, he is operated on site. The forecasts are not very encouraging.
Doctors have raised the possibility of removing his eye. A message that seemed like a blow to the former coach of the Séminaire Saint-François in the midget AAA.
The operation of great complexity, which lasted six hours, aimed to reconstruct the capsule of the pierced eye. The surgeons performed a small miracle and saved the trainer’s eyesight.
He underwent one more operation before being discharged from hospital after a three-week stay. Concerned about the rest of his career, he returned to the ice exactly a month after the accident. An inconclusive test.
“I’m shooting from the right and wanted to know if I can still shoot the puck from that side. It was complicated.”
Hope
A few minutes before the interview, Beaulieu had just received good news. With the help of a special lens and goggles, his vision is now 60% restored.
“It’s super encouraging. After the accident and the two surgeries I saw at 10%. I’m at 20% now. It’s a little bit better.
“My lens has been removed. In order for the retina to be repaired, they put silicone in my eye. You have to take it off so I don’t see anything blurred for the rest of my life.”
In late 2023 or early 2024 he will have to undergo another major operation.
“It will be to cure my eyesight. At the moment I can see straight ahead and my peripheral vision is impaired. I have to be very alert in the car and I often have to repeat people who are in my blind spot.
He’s been back at work for a few weeks. He jumps onto the ice wearing a full face shield accompanied by his goaltenders. He is still dedicated to his profession, even if this unfortunate incident forced him to reconsider certain aspects of his life.
“It’s a message of life”
Sébastien Beaulieu’s accident allowed him to achieve several important things
Before he was hit by a lost puck, Sébastien Beaulieu worked a lot. Too much. He had been in a state of overwork for several years. His accident put some priorities in the right place.
Beaulieu is employed full-time by Club Geneva-Servette. He has been leading the organization’s Guardians for several years.
Alongside this job, he realized a dream by founding BKP Hockey in 2010. A company that gives private lessons to Geneva goalkeepers. Shortly after opening the first premises, he expanded his know-how to Lausanne. A hellish hurricane followed.
“I’ve done too much,” Beaulieu analyses. I’ve been overworked for years. My business was big, popular and recognized in Switzerland.
“The accident allowed me to put many things into perspective. First of all, it wasn’t me who should have been on the ice on December 15th. Another person had to work.
“It’s a message of life. Over the past few years, due to small personal concerns, I had begun to ask myself questions. I was in good shape and received a blow to an important organ.
Eventually, Beaulieu stopped enjoying working in the field that was close to his heart. Although his business was good.
“It had become an economic burden. It was no longer my passion that ruled me because I worked too much. It’s the same in all areas.”
Ongoing Changes
The 47-year-old has made great sacrifices to build an enviable reputation among the Swiss. He didn’t count his hours and the answer “no” wasn’t part of his vocabulary.
“I sacrificed everything, including my family life,” says Beaulieu frankly. The gear I was in had grown too strong.
“Now I have to do things differently, and not if I can’t afford it. Even before the accident, I told myself that I could no longer concentrate on work and that I had to live differently. That’s the wake-up call I had to change.
“During my reflection, one question kept coming back to me: what do you want to prove? And who?”
The one who grew up in Beauport plans the rest of his life and career.
“I make decisions and change everything to not live the way I used to. I no longer want to chase a puck between four walls in a room. We sold about 30 private lessons per week. It took a lot of energy.
“That time is over for me.”
Huet, a leading apostle
The former CH goalkeeper has increased Beaulieu’s profile in Europe
Cristobal Huet, the former Canadiens goaltender, enabled Sébastien Beaulieu to gain significant notoriety in Europe.
“I received Cristo a few years after he came back from the NHL [saison 2012-2013 avec Lausanne], explains Beaulieu. I coached Lausanne in League B and Geneva in League A. We worked together for a few seasons.
“Then we also worked with the French national team. I was able to revive it and at the same time it gave me a lot of credibility.
Under his leadership, Huet achieved success with Lausanne. He found his bearings. The stats are there to prove it.
The Quebecer also received a big boost from Chris McSorley, brother of former Los Angeles Kings defenseman Marty.
The two men worked together for fifteen years. This long working relationship took place in a special context.
“He also helped me to get known. Chris also owned and coached the team in Geneva. He had players sign contracts while he directed them. He was never threatened with dismissal.
Thanks to the Matte brothers
If Beaulieu moved to Switzerland twenty years ago, it was because of the brothers René and Louis Matte.
“Back then, being a goalkeeping coach in Quebec or anywhere else didn’t always pay well. In particular, I worked in Midget AAA with the Séminaire Saint-François.
“In 2006 I switched to the other side and it all started there. It went strong. I was the first full-time goalkeeping coach in Switzerland.”