Defenceman David Reinbacher’s time in Montreal seems to have gotten off to a rocky start overall.
From Canadiens goalie Carey Price forgetting his name upon selecting him in last week’s NHL Entry Draft to reportedly receiving a cavalcade of hateful messages and threats from fans on social media, it’s been a whirlwind past few days for the 18-year-old.
Luckily, the Austrian prospect is finally getting some love from the Canadiens faithful, and it’s all thanks to one fan.
Upon hearing that fans were being unkind to Reinbacher, Patricia Néron took to Twitter in the hopes of spreading positivity.
That’s when the idea of filling a book with supportive messages for the young prospect hit her. Soon after, Néron, a Habs superfan, asked her followers to share words of encouragement for Reinbacher.
It didn’t take long for the pages to fill up. The next step was getting it to him.
On Sunday, Néron showed up at the Canadiens development camp in the Brossard practice facility, and thanks to a little help from the team’s communications department, she was able to meet the prospect and hand-deliver the book.
“He kept saying ‘wow!'” Néron wrote on Twitter. “He was really happy, thank you to everyone.”
It worked out guys! ❤️ I gave the book of comments to David Reinbacher, he kept saying "WOW!" By looking at the comments, he was really happy, thank you to EVERYONE ❤️🫶🏻 #GoHabsGo https://t.co/ophd90Jv08 pic.twitter.com/PG1ERrmEZF
— ☁️ 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂 (@suzukipizza) July 2, 2023
The Canadiens later shared a video of the heartwarming moment.
Merci à tous nos partisans qui ont préparé cette compilation de messages de bienvenue pour David! 🫶
Your messages for David have been received!#GoHabsGo | @RBCfr | @RBC https://t.co/fs9vU0xu39 pic.twitter.com/KDSNLQyIt9
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) July 2, 2023
As for what is in the book exactly, Néron shared photos of some handwritten pages and printed tweets that include messages like “Can’t wait to see you at the Bell Centre. The city is behind you” and “We’re rooting for you!”
@suzukipizza / Twitter
@suzukipizza / Twitter
After the meeting, Néron thanked the online project’s participants again.
“I hope you realize that love is always stronger than hate, and none of this would’ve happened without you,” she wrote. “You’re all legends.”