Defenceman David Reinbacher signed his entry-level contract with the Montreal Canadiens earlier this week.
On Wednesday, the team shared a video of the moment the 18-year-old Austrian put pen to paper. And even those who were against Montreal taking him with their fifth overall pick have to admit how wholesome it is.
“Can I call my family?” Reinbacher asked a Canadiens staff member. He then surprised his parents with a FaceTime call.
quel moment incroyable š„¹
who's chopping onions?#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/OYODwCVLLb
— Canadiens MontrĆ©al (@CanadiensMTL) July 5, 2023
“Congratulations,” his father said over the phone after his son signed the three-year deal. “Thank you,” Reinbacher replied, wiping a tear from his eye.
Emotion then overtook the young blueliner. “Crazy, crazy,” he said to himself, overwhelmed. “Oh my god.”
It’s been quite the week for Reinbacher. While being drafted by the Canadiens on June 28, goalie Carey Price was tasked with announcing the pick and flubbed Reinbacher’s name.
Price later apologized to the young player, poking fun at himself in the process.
Then, in the days following the draft, he received an array of hateful messages and threats from fans on social media who were upset that he was taken fifth overall.
Luckily, a Habs superfan, who asked her Twitter followers to share words of encouragement for Reinbacher, hand-delivered a book of positive comments to him at the Canadiens’ development camp.
It worked out guys! ā¤ļø 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 ā¤ļøš«¶š» #GoHabsGo https://t.co/ophd90Jv08 pic.twitter.com/PG1ERrmEZF
— āļø šššššššš (@suzukipizza) July 2, 2023
Despite the ups and downs, Reinbacher seems to have remained positive through it all. He even thanked Montreal in a recent Instagram post.
View this post on Instagram
āMerci MontrĆ©al for an unbelievable last seven days! Honoured to sign my first NHL contract as a Hab,ā he wrote in the caption. āNow the real work starts!ā
Reinbacher will soon go back home to Austria but is expected to return to Montreal for training camp in a few weeks.