Nick Suzuki will be a good captain for the Montreal Canadiens.
At least that’s what Michel Therrien said during his segment on the show “La Poche Bleue le midi” on Tuesday.
“I saw Nick Suzuki evolve a bit when he started out in the NHL. I think it’s a very good appointment and it was a good time to announce it. I hear a lot of good things regarding his maturity and the way he behaves. When we played the Flyers once morest the Canadiens in the bubble in Toronto, he was their best player. I think it’s a great decision by the Canadians.”
The former coach was lucky enough to experience several such appointments in his career. That of Max Pacioretty had been particularly significant for him.
“In the case of Pacioretty, we wanted to avoid distractions. Everyone was talking regarding it during the summer because we hadn’t had a captain the year before. We were being criticized by fans and the media at the time for not having a captain. We had a dinner, before the first day, where we brought together all the players. In the end, we kept everyone who was there the year before and who knew the locker room to vote them in a secret ballot. Max Pacioretty had won 98% or 97%. Only two guys voted for PK Subban.”
A tasty anecdote had also occurred during this announcement.
“Marc Bergevin had Max Pacioretty’s address. He remained in Brossard. I didn’t have his address but I was following Marc. We land in front of the house. A gentleman opens the door and he recognizes us right away. We ask to speak to Max Pacioretty, but we didn’t have the right address. The guy was surprised when he saw us with the sweater. When we finally found the right house, it was really a beautiful moment. He was very emotional with his wife and children. It was truly a special moment.”
Therrien is also the one who had the chance to name Sidney Crosby as captain of the Penguins. The Quebecer remembers that the young prodigy had shown great maturity at the time.
“Not many people know this, but when I came to Pittsburgh, my first captain was Mario Lemieux. I coached Mario Lemieux for one game, his last in the NHL. I have some nice pictures of that. After that, I wanted to give the team back to the young people. I wanted us to go from Mario Lemieux to Sidney Crosby. I mightn’t see myself keeping Crosby waiting for four or five years, even if we had good veterans like Mark Recchi. I spoke to him at the end of the season and told him to think regarding that over the summer. He replied that he did not feel ready. He didn’t think he had earned the respect of teammates and other NHL players yet. It shows his maturity. He finished as NHL scoring champion the following season when he might still have played with the Rimouski Oceanic. After that, I spoke to him once more and he told me that he was ready.
Watch the segment in question in the video above.