Stu’s Slapshots: Canadiens’ Cole Caufield almost blows roof off Bell Centre
You have to wonder what was going through Paul Caufield’s mind when he watched his son score his 50th goal of the season in the Canadiens’ 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night at the Bell Centre.
The father was in the stands as the sellout crowd of 20,962 erupted and almost blew the roof of the building when Caufield scored at 6:30 of the second period to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead. Caufield became the first Canadiens player to hit the 50-goal mark since Stéphane Richer scored 51 goals in 1989-90.
Caufield’s father was captured on video wiping tears from his eyes while wearing a Milwaukee Brewers ball cap. The family is from Wisconsin.
I reached out to Caufield’s parents on Friday, but they preferred not to be interviewed.
Caufield’s mother, Kelly, sent me a text saying this was their son’s time — not theirs — but did add this comment thanking Montreal fans:
“We are very proud and thank the fans for being so good to Cole. He is very fortunate to play for the Montreal Canadiens. This team is special. The way they support one another and enjoy each other is fun to see.”
It really is.
“It’s cool to have my dad in the building and to see his reaction,” Caufield said after Thursday’s game. “It’s pretty special. That means a lot, but it’s a huge win for us and I think one that I’ll always remember.
“I’m not going to lie, I was pretty stressed out the past couple of days,” Caufield added. “But that’s what makes this place so special and that’s why it’s so cool for me and my teammates and coaches and family to kind of take this in and enjoy it. It felt like it was never going to come there for a couple of days. It was three games (without a goal) and it felt like forever. But I’m just glad it’s kind over over with now and we can get back to work. We still got a couple of more big games left.”
When my Gazette friend and colleague Herb Zurkowsky asked if Caufield could now move on with his life and his career, the 25-year-old responded: “You guys, too,” with a big smile and a laugh.
“I was hoping to have it ASAP,” Caufield added about his 50th goal. “But I think the moment and everything, to take it in, it was meant to happen here. I’m sorry if it took a long time for the fans if they paid money for the games before. It’s a special building to play in and these fans, they’re passionate. It shows every night. They’re just so dedicated that nobody deserves it more than them. We’re all so lucky to be able to play here and play every night in front of these great people.”
It was definitely a night to remember.
How it started
I spoke with Caufield’s mother after he signed an eight-year, US$62.8-million contract three summers ago and she shared a story about his first hockey game as a 2-year-old after watching his 4-year-old brother, Brock, play the previous weekend at their home arena in Stevens Point, Wis.
“He played his first game — he’s going to kill me for saying this — in a diaper,” Caufield’s mother recalled. “That gave him a lot more padding if he fell, which was good. After the game, he was so tired that he went in his car seat and fell asleep. He has loved every minute of playing hockey from the first time he got on the ice.”
That has never changed.
Caufield’s father manages the Ice Hawks Arena in Stevens Point and his mother is a math interventionist at Madison Elementary School.
“My dad coached my brother and I and other young kids on teams when I was growing up and he would say: ‘Once your satisfied it’s time to quit,’ and that’s kind of stuck with me in life, in hockey and in kind of anything I do,” Caufield told me a couple of years ago. “That’s one for sure thing that I live by day by day.
“My mother’s personality’s kind of outgoing and energetic,” Caufield added. “I think that’s where I kind of get that side of things. She’s never had a bad day and even if she does she doesn’t really show it. It’s just the strong person that she is. Nothing really fazes her. Always brings a smile to her face and tries to lighten the mood with everybody around her.”
As they say, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
A long wait
Caufield’s teammate Mike Matheson is 32 and grew up in Pointe-Claire on Montreal’s West Island cheering for the Canadiens.
Until Thursday night, he had never seen a Canadiens player score 50 goals.
“I think that puts it in persepective, for sure,” Matheson said about Caufield’s accomplishment. “It’s really cool.”
I asked Matheson what he likes most about Caufield, apart from the fact he’s a 50-goal scorer.
“That’s a good part, for sure,” Matheson said with a big smile.
“I think just the energy that he brings to the rink every day, it’s contagious,” Matheson added. “It gets you up in the morning. I feel like it’s just such a great personality to have in the locker room.”
Remembering Richer
Hall of Fame defenceman Larry Robinson played with Richer on the Canadiens and against him after going to the Los Angeles Kings. Robinson also coached Richer with the New Jersey Devils when they won the Stanley Cup in 1995. Jacques Lemaire was the head coach and Robinson was an assistant coach.
“You know what, he is one of the only players that I ever played with or played against or coached who didn’t know how good he was,” Robinson said over the phone this week from his winter home in Florida. “He was that good.
“I got to tell you a story,” Robinson added. “We were coaching with New Jersey and we were playing Boston. Near the end of the game — I think we were down by a goal — and Rich hadn’t played in a while. He had done something that Jacques didn’t like. So next thing you know, he’s jumping over the boards. I could see the guys were all talking to each other on the bench.
“There was a faceoff in our zone. Rich got the puck, went all the way down, went through the whole team, fired the puck top left-hand corner. Goalie never even moved, scored the goal, tied the game, and then came racing back to the bench, jumped over the boards and sat down. Everybody’s friggin’ laughing. So I said to Pepe (Claude Lemieux): ‘What the hell’s going on?’ He said: ‘Bird, Rich told us: Guys, watch this.
“Whatever he did on the ice, he said he was going to do and that’s what he did. He told them: ‘I’m going to go down, score a goal and come running back and sit on the bench.’ That tells you what kind of talent he had.”
A Russian F-bomb
Russian rookie Ivan Demidov has made an impressive adjustment to life in Montreal after the Canadiens selected him with the fifth overall pick at the 2024 NHL Draft.
The 20-year-old was leading all NHL rookies in scoring heading into Saturday’s game at the Bell Centre against the Columbus Blue Jackets (7 p.m., SNE, City, TVA Sports) with 18-43-61 totals despite adjusting to a new country, two new languages and the bright spotlight that comes with playing in Montreal.
Demidov’s English has become quite good, but there was a funny moment during an intermission interview Tuesday night when the Canadiens beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 in a shootout and he accidentally dropped an F-bomb.
There’s a good chance it was one of the first English words he learned.
“That was really funny,” said Lane Hutson, who is Demidov’s roommate on the road. “That’s probably one of the words he feels comfortable using.”
After Tuesday’s game, Demidov spoke about how much he loves playing for the Canadiens.
“I love Montreal,” he said. “Everything is hockey. I love being here.”
When head coach Martin St. Louis was asked about Demidov’s F-bomb he chuckled and said: “He apologized.”
St. Louis then added: “That’s as close to French as he can talk.”
St. Louis also noted the fact Demidov isn’t a French-Quebecer has made playing with the Canadiens easier for him as well as some of the team’s other young stars.
“I think they’re kind of shielded a little bit of actually what it’s like to play in Montreal compared to a French guy whose got family here, who they watch everything, the radio, the TV,” St. Louis said. “You go to a family dinner and it’s … I feel like some of these guys are a little shielded because they probably don’t listen to all the French stuff and they don’t have family here to listen to that, too. I feel that’s why sometimes it’s harder for a French guy to play here because of that.
“But I feel like some of our guys — you talk about Cole, Demi — I feel those guys are kind of shielded a little bit,” St. Louis added. “We all grew up playing in this market. The fans, the passion, we love that. For some players, though, it comes at a price sometimes and we’re trying to help them out.”
Demidov has impressed Hutson on and off the ice.
“He’s been great,” Hutson said. “He fits into the culture great. The city obviously loves him and embraces him. Same in here. We really love the energy he brings and, obviously, you see what he does on the ice. But off the ice, just a good guy to be around. Funny how he’s kind of adjusting to the media side a little bit, too. It was funny (the F-bomb).”
Hutson added Demidov is a great roommate on the road.
“We pretty much have the same exact schedule, sleeping wise, nap wise,” Hutson said. “We do pretty much the same stuff. Eat the same stuff, same time. We play some cards every once in a while. It’s good to be around him.”
Editor’s Picks
Veteran centre Phillip Danault — who knows all about the pressures of being a French-Quebecer playing for the Canadiens — had high praise for Demidov.
“I see a mature young player,” Danault said. “I see electric. Just outstanding skill, edge control, unbelievable. One of the most special players I’ve seen in my career.
“Soon enough, it will be an honour to play with him, for sure,” Danault added. “It already is. Sixty points at a young age like that and playing not many minutes every night and showing up and dedicated like he is.”
Dapper defenceman
The NHL changed its dress code this season and players no longer have to wear suits and ties to games.
Hutson is one of the few players who still wears a suit and tie.
“I tried maybe the first seven games no tie and I just felt too casual,” he explained. “I don’t know, maybe it’s just me. I’m so used to it and I just like it. I feel like I’m more ready — business as usual kind of thing. But I’m also open to what our guys are wearing. There’s some nice outfits.”
Do any of Hutson’s teammates tease him about still wearing a suit and tie?
“No, they don’t bother because some of them have some pretty funny outfits,” he said. “So I don’t know if they can bother me.”
Bulking up
Hutson will never be big, but the 5-foot-9, 162-pound defenceman has added some noticeable muscle since the Canadiens selected him in the second round (62nd overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft. Hutson was listed at 5-foot-8.5 and 148 pounds at the time.
The 22-year-old is now built like former Canadiens forward Paul Byron, who was listed at 5-foot-9 and 164 pounds, but looked like if you shot a bullet at him it would bounce off.
“I haven’t gotten a ton of weight up … maybe a couple of pounds,” Hutson said. “But just feel like I feel better overall. We burn so much (calories) playing that you just try to maintain it. But I feel good.
“Training here, lifting (weights) whenever you can,” he added. “You don’t want to overdo it, but try to maintain the muscle, for sure.”
Dealing with The Worm
The Lightning’s Corey Perry showed again during Thursday night’s game against the Canadiens why he earned the nicknamed “The Worm” during his 21-year NHL career.
The 40-year-old is a pest — which is putting it politely — to play against.
After Thursday’s game Hutson had a cut on his nose and a scrape on his chin thanks to altercations with Perry.
“Just from punching me, I guess,” Hutson said when asked what happened to his face. “That’s what he does. He’s good at it.”
When asked what was said between him and Perry during their altercations, Hutson said: “It’s just stuff that stays on the ice, I guess. But you could imagine.”
Canadiens defenceman Arber Xhekaj took a roughing penalty against Perry in the first period and challenged the veteran to a fight later in the game. Not surprisingly, The Worm wasn’t interested in dropping the gloves with Xhekaj.
“Corey’s done that for 20 years — drawing guys into taking penalties,” St. Louis said after the game. “I think (Xhekaj) fell for it on the first one. Our two penalties in the first period (including a high-sticking penalty by Demidov) we could avoid those two penalties easily. Sometimes that’s the difference between winning and losing, so you got to be careful.”
Hutson appreciated Xhekaj having his back.
“He would do anything for the team, so it’s pretty impressive,” Hutson said. “He was toeing the line of wanting to take out his anger and helping us out. He did a great job. He did what he needed to and he played great, too.”
Hutson was also asked about the possibility of him one day getting in a fight.
“If the game asks for it … I sure hope not,” he said. “But you never know what could happen.”
Josh Anderson has been playing against Perry for years and they were teammates when the Canadiens advanced to the Stanley Cup final in 2021 before losing to the Lightning.
“You know what he’s trying to do out there,” Anderson said after Thursday’s game. “Sometimes it was frustrating not to be on the ice when Pears was on the ice. He knows exactly what he’s trying to do and how the linesmen and the refs were just kind of letting him do that. If it’s Arber and I the linesmen are probably on us, for sure. When you play in the league for a long time they let that go.”
Playoff Josh
Playoff Josh Anderson showed up against the Lightning.
The 6-foot-3, 226-pound forward had a big physical presence and picked up 11 penalty minutes, including two for roughing on Nikita Kucherov (who was also penalized for slashing), two for roughing on Nick Paul, two for cross-checking Charle-Édouard D’Astous and five for fighting Declan Carlile.
It’s impossible to be Playoff Josh for all 82 regular-season games, but he’s fun to watch when he does show up for big games like the one against the Lightning, which might have been a playoff preview.
“I loved the atmosphere in the building,” Anderson said. “You love to be in those situations (playoff-type games). It fuels you. Coming into tonight you know how important of a game it was. You knew that you have to bring your best and be as physical as you can be.”
Anderson’s father, Gary, was at the Bell Centre for the game and must have loved what he saw. Gary grew up in Dollard-des-Ormeaux on Montreal’s West Island as a huge Canadiens fan and always told his son if he wasn’t scoring in a game to do something else to get noticed.
After not getting selected at the OHL Draft, Anderson got the same message from brothers Dale and Mark Hunter when he joined their London Knights team following a free-agent tryout.
“You put up decent numbers (in junior), but then you have the Hunters breathing down your neck and saying: ‘You’re not going to get to the NHL scoring goals because there’s way too many guys that can do that. So you need a different asset to bring to the game,'” Anderson said about the brothers who run the Knights franchise. “I’ve certainly played that way pretty much my whole life, so I’m not going to change.
“He loves these kind of games,” Anderson added about his father. “He’s here tonight, so I’m sure we’ll have a talk about it.”
Editor’s Picks
The post Stu’s Slapshots: Canadiens’ Cole Caufield almost blows roof off Bell Centre appeared first on Montreal Gazette.