Martin St-Louis may well say that it is the media that is causing a stir over Patrick Roy's visit to Montreal on Thursday night, but the Canadian head coach himself fueled the uproar by sharing a tasty anecdote about the former CH goalkeeper from his youth days told youth.
St-Louis believes he was 12 years old when he was on the ice with Roy and scored a goal against him during a promo at the old Montreal Forum.
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“I don’t think Patrick remembers it, but that’s not important,” said St-Louis, who wore the colors of the Laval Senators pee-wee team at the time. My team was on the ice and everyone was able to prevail against Patrick. Roy was having fun hitting the kids, but I lifted the puck over him to score.”
This is a memory that will stay with the Habs coach for the rest of his life, especially since his favorite player Mats Naslund was also present at this public training session
“When you're a kid dreaming of playing in the National League, finding yourself alongside your idol Mats Naslund and then playing with Patrick Roy in front of a full arena, that's something special,” said St-Louis. These are unexpected life experiences, you feel lucky to be able to experience them.”
The purity of hockey
Although he faced Roy a few times in the NHL, most of them in his debut with the Calgary Flames, St-Louis never scored a single point against the man who had become the goaltender for the Colorado Avalanche. The old number 26 [NDLR comme Naslund] the Tampa Bay Lightning will actually have had their best seasons after Roy's retirement in 2003.
“There are great moments in a career, but you can’t remember everything,” St-Louis said. But I have a lot of memories when I think back to my hockey childhood because there is a certain purity there.
No one will be able to take away that goal against Roy at the age of 12 on the Forum ice rink. Still, St-Louis could provide a fresher memory by beating its counterpart, the New York Islanders, on Thursday night in an atmosphere that could become something special at the Bell Center.
Watch Martin St-Louis' press conference in the video above.