With his first career goal in the National Hockey League regular season Saturday night, San Jose Sharks forward Thomas Bordeleau passed the feat to the third generation of the same family.
“I never really felt the pressure to score,” said the young Bordeleau, quoted on the NHL website, who had collected seven assists in his first 17 games on the Bettman circuit.
Before him, his grandfather Paulin scored 33 times in the Vancouver Canucks jersey in the 1970s before he experienced his most productive years in world professional ice hockey with the Quebec Nordiques.
Sébastien Bordeleau, Thomas’ father, played with the Canadian from 1996 to 1998, among others. He scored his first NHL goal on January 26, 1997 in Montreal in a 5-2 Habs loss to Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In a lost cause
Despite young Bordeleau’s goal, the San Jose team lost the game 2-1 to the Colorado Avalanche after penalty kicks.
“Of course it’s fun to score goals here and there, but I have to develop my game beyond that,” commented the 21-year-old striker, who was a second-round pick by the Sharks in the 2020 draft. I was happy too, but I wished we would have won. I would have felt better.”
The success of the Bordeleaus is truly a family story. Thomas was also coached by his grandfather Paulin at the Midget AAA level at Phénix du Collège Esther-Blondin in the Lanaudière region from 2016 to 2018.