Before they became Canadian stars, skating in front of more than 20,000 spectators and being stopped by dozens of fans in the supermarket, they were teenagers like everyone else. Teenagers who always ate the same types of cereal, who hated asparagus, and who loved to play mini hockey or video games in the basement.
But Nick Suzuki, Samuel Montembeault, Arber Xhekaj and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard had something else.
Arber
They had a big dream that they pursued with determination, even if they themselves sometimes did not seem to have the certainty that they would achieve it.
“When I told him he would make it to the NHL one day, he smiled at me and told me he hoped he would too,” says Debbie Ayres, who, along with her partner Ken Busman, hosted Xhekaj for three years the colors of the Kitchener Rangers in the Ontario Junior League.
In recent weeks, Le Journal spoke with boarding school families who opened the doors of their homes to certain Canadiens players when they were still in the junior ranks and who told us their story: which you can read below and in the coming days.
Guylaine Gauthier and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard pose with the Memorial Cup won by the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in 2019. Photo by Guylaine Gauthier
“It broke our hearts”
As privileged witnesses of their rise to the highest peaks, these hospitable people, who spend hours interacting with young hockey players every season, have painted the portrait of four humble and hard-working teenagers.
Good people with good values that they inherited from their family, they all say.
“When Nick left at the trade deadline, it broke our hearts,” said Sarah Rowe, the mother of the Canadiens captain's boarding school family when he played in Owen Sound. The full statement can be found a little further down.
Phil Rowe (left), Sarah Rowe (center) and their son Scott pose with Nick Suzuki and Sean Durzi, December 10, 2022. That evening, Suzuki and Durzi had invited their former retirement family to watch the game between the Canadian Kings ( for whom Durzi played). Photo provided by Sarah Rowe
On the other end of the line, his voice cracks for about thirty seconds.
“He was such a good young man,” she adds, finally managing to hold back her tears. We don't build such a close bond with every player we take in, but it was difficult to let him go.
The boarding school parents we spoke to agree: What we see in the newspapers or on television about Suzuki, Montembeault, Xhekaj or Harvey-Pinard is true.
Samuel Montembeault eats a piece of chocolate cake at the time he was on board with Manon Doucet and Marc Bergeron. Photo provided by Manon Doucet
In their eyes – and most people have kept in touch with the professionals since they left – they haven't changed since then.
“Samuel really remained himself. He amazes me,” smiles Marc Bergeron, who, along with his partner Manon Doucet, welcomed the Canadiens goalie into his home during his years with the Armada.
Tasty anecdotes, touching testimonials and examples of determination: This is what you will read in the following texts about four young players who had a dream and are now making it come true in the most successful team in the world. NHL history.
The humble captain who loved cereal
Sarah Rowe was preparing dinner when a conversation taking place further away caught her attention. So much so that she came closer to understand if she had heard what Nick Suzuki said, so much that in her eyes it seemed unlikely that it came from the young player's mouth.
Phil Rowe (left), Sarah Rowe (centre) and their son Scott pose with Nick Suzuki (second from right), Sean Durzi (left) and Alan Lyszczarczyk when they hosted the three players. Photo provided by Sarah Rowe
“I heard him talking about how confident he was of winning because he had a lot more talent,” she says. I said to myself, ‘Come on, that doesn’t look like Nick!’ It looks like he’s bragging.”
But Ms. Rowe quickly realized that the young player she was hosting had not suddenly become overbearing.
“His best friend, Sean Durzi, also lived with us,” she explains with a laugh. And Nick told him about his hockey pool. That he would beat him in their pool.”
“I think that describes Nick well, that he's willing to brag about his pool, but never about his own achievements!”
Not like the others
Suzuki spent three seasons with Sarah and Phil Rowe while playing for the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Junior League between 2015 and 2019.
Archive photo, AFP
At this point, the family had been hosting players from the team for 25 years. But Sarah Rowe quickly sensed that there was something unusual about this young person, who was just 16 years old in his first season.
Not just because of his skills on the ice. In fact, Ms. Rowe knew about these famous performances, which led to the forward being drafted in the first round by the Vegas Golden Knights, because she attended the games.
And that for the first time in all her years of hosting players, she consulted the statistics of one of her charges.
“He did things that no one had ever done before. And especially for a recruit, she remembers. And he didn't say anything about it. He was so humble.”
The most difficult mathematics
But Nick Suzuki wasn't just talented on the ice, says the teacher who serves as the team's educational advisor.
He was an excellent student and took, for example, the most difficult mathematics classes.
“His parents always encouraged him, even though they believed their son could have a career in hockey [dans ses études]so he has a plan B if plan A doesn’t work,” praises Ms. Rowe.
When he came to the clan from his native London, Suzuki was a mature and quiet teenager. But that didn't stop him from integrating well, she explains.
Walking dead, NHL and vector
When he wasn't on the ice, the young hockey player could be found watching The Walking Dead with the entire Rowe family (which all ended when Glenn's character died).
“But he wasn’t much of a card player, unlike my husband Phil, who loves playing with the hockey players we host,” adds Sarah Rowe.
Suzuki preferred video games, especially NHL (“He was excellent, he was actually one of the best on the team at that game,” the mother recalls).
And even though she went to great lengths to prepare eggs and bacon when her hockey players played afternoon games, the future Canadiens captain — who also served in that role with the Attack — preferred what she ate: It was… Vector cereal.
“I can’t look at a box of Vector cereal without thinking about Nick,” she said, laughing. I've never seen anyone eat so much in my entire life. He ate it EVERY DAY!”
“I don’t know which company he has signed an endorsement deal with since then, but I remember asking him on Twitter after that announcement that I was waiting for him to reach an agreement with Vector as well.”
“He laughed and said, 'Me too!'”
A thank you that makes her cry again
The Rowes have formed an unbreakable bond with Suzuki, his girlfriend Caitlin, with whom he has been in a relationship since he was 17, and his friend Durzi, a Los Angeles Kings pick who now plays for the Arizona Coyotes.
Nick Suzuki and his girlfriend Cailtin Fitzgerald. Photo from Instagram account @caitlinfitzgerald
The two players also invited Sarah and Phil to the meeting between the Canadian and the Kings in November 2022 at the Bell Center and then to dinner. It was the first time that the two former residents of the family faced each other in the NHL.
“I think Nick values the relationships he built on his journey to the NHL and the people who supported him,” congratulates Sarah Rowe.
“He was such a good young man,” she adds, before taking a long pause to hold back tears. When he played for the attack, we were in a box directly above the dugout.
“In his last game we all knew he and Sean were going to be traded. As he left the ice, he looked at us, waved in greeting and breathed a “thank you.”
“It makes me very emotional, even five years later. He was so nice.”
Waiting all day with his friend
Sean Durzi, Nick Suzuki's best friend, in a Coyotes uniform. Photo Getty Images via AFP
Sarah Rowe was keen to share this anecdote, which she believes perfectly captures Nick Suzuki's personality:
“When Nick was drafted, his family invited me to Chicago to attend the party. They paid me everything. My husband couldn't go because he was working. Nick was selected in the first round by the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday. And Sean [Durzi, son meilleur ami, qui restait aussi chez la famille Rowe] should be voted on Saturday [lors des rondes de 2 à 7].
So on Saturday Nick and I went together to attend the day to stay with Sean while he waited his turn. But in the end, Sean wasn't drafted that year, but the following year in the second round.
Even though Nick had been selected in the first round the day before and he had many, many things to do for the Golden Knights, many commitments, he sat with Sean at every round throughout Saturday, like a good friend.
Nick did everything the Knights asked of him, but spent every minute of Saturday alongside Sean.
He never brought that back to himself. He never said, “I was drafted in the first round, I have to do this and that.” He said it was Sean's day and he had to be there for him.
As if nothing had happened an arena in panic
Photo AFP
Sarah Rowe believes it's not blood that runs through Nick Suzuki's veins, but ice water. This, she believes, explains her rise to captaincy of the Canadian.
“He’s so calm. And he plays hockey in the spirit of hockey, without jealousy, without wanting to take anything away from anyone. He plays hockey because he loves it.”
Ms Rowe remembers one moment in particular when she was struck by the young player's calmness:
“During a game he was seriously injured by another player's skate. Our dressing room was above the attack bench. He returned to the bench normally despite his injury, because he is Nick after all, but he held his leg.
And when he got there, our assistant coach was screaming because Nick was losing so much blood. He kept saying, “He severed an artery! He severed an artery!”
They stopped the game and Nick left the bench with a towel on his leg.
He ran to the tunnel for treatment without panic and was back at the start of the next period. Luckily in the end it was a pretty superficial cut, there was nothing substantial to it. Everyone in the arena panicked, except… Nick. He skated as if he had simply broken a nail or lost a blade from his skate.