Like any young person who loves ice hockey, Stéphane Matteau had an idol in his youth. However, this player did not play in the National League. But he knew him personally. Even though he was the same age as his favorite player. You may have guessed that it was Pierre Turgeon, whom he met in Rouyn when he was about 5 or 6 years old.
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“Pierre is the best! says Matteau.
“He was my childhood idol and my role model in ice hockey. That was also the case with the professionals and it is still the case.”
That’s saying something.
Born five days apart
The two have known each other almost forever. They were born five days apart in 1969, Turgeon on August 28th and Matteau on September 2nd. Their mothers met in the maternity ward of the hospital.
A few years later, her sons skated together at the Jacques-Laperrière/Réjean Houle complex on Avenue Dallaire in Rouyn. The Turgeon and Matteau families lived about two miles apart.
At the age of 7 or 8, Pierre and Stéphane started playing for the same team. They also excelled at baseball.
In 1981, they were part of an all-star team from Abitibi that represented Quebec at the Canadian Little League Championship in Vancouver. The pitching quartet consisted of Éric Desjardins and André Racicot, who won the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1993, as well as the Turgeon-Matteau tandem.
The following year, the same team, without Desjardins and Racicot (they were over the age limit), reached the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Whether in ice hockey or baseball, Turgeon was distinguished by his great talent and his impressive size for a man of his age.
“At 12, he was a phenomenon,” Matteau said.
“He was 6 feet tall and weighed 180 pounds. He was taller than our baseball coaches. He was so far ahead of everyone else in hockey it was ridiculous.
“He also had a lot of maturity. He was very persistent.”
Matteau was 1.75 meters tall and weighed 57 kilograms. But he caught up with Turgeon within two years and morphed into a burly 6-foot-2 guy. In the National League he weighed 220 pounds.
Stronger than faith
The two became opponents in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, with Turgeon selected by the Granby Bisons and Matteau by the Hull (now Gatineau) Olympics.
Both have worn the colors of six NHL teams. They were teammates for two seasons with the Saint Louis Blues.
Did Matteau bring him great success when they were rivals?
“Even if I wanted to beat him, I wouldn’t have been able to,” he replies.
“He could see me coming from a mile away! During a series between the Rangers and the Islanders, my teammates warned me not to hit him or they would take care of it themselves.
“I tried a few times, but it wasn’t in my DNA to invest more. If Pierre had come with his head down, I would have done everything not to hit him.”
What good would it have done anyway?
Hockey is already a robust enough sport without players trying to kill each other. Matteau would like to comment on this issue.
“People said about Pierre that he didn’t play hard enough, but that wasn’t the case,” he says.
“It was difficult to play against him. He always came with the puck from the corners of the court.
Today, Matteau and Turgeon are spending happy days in West Palm Beach.
It’s happiness!
This weekend, Matteau will be in Toronto to attend his friend’s induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He is pleased that this moment has finally come for his idol and lifelong friend.