If you couldn’t tell by the seemingly permanent grin on his face, Cole Caufield loves playing in Montreal.
The young Canadiens forward was the most recent guest on former Habs enforcer Chris Nilan‘s show, The Raw Knuckles Podcast. On it, the two American Montrealers discussed the pros and cons of playing for the Habs and living in the city they now both call home.
“I love it. I think I loved it from day one,” said Caufield, who was drafted by the organization in 2019.
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The food, of course, is one of the Wisconsin native’s favorite parts of living here. “I don’t think I’ve been to a bad restaurant yet,” he told Nilan. “I know everybody says that but it’s unbelievable.”
The 21-year-old is also a fan of Montreal’s urban design. ‘The layout of the city is great,” he explained. “You’ve got Mount Royal in the back just looking over everything, and you’ve got the buildings, the river.”
As for getting around by car, Caufield seems to share the same sentiments as the majority of locals. “The bridge looks nice,” he said, jokingly adding that “it’s not always nice to drive on.”
But when it comes to walking around, the local celebrity admits that he has been feeling the love from fans. “There are special moments that can happen anytime walking down the street,” he said. “They’re so passionate about the team. It’s just really cool to see and I don’t think you’re getting that anywhere else.”
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Caufield, who made his NHL debut at the height of COVID-19 restrictions, got a proper taste of Bell Centre electricity for the first time last season and admitted that he had to pinch himself a few times. “It’s honestly just crazy that it’s real,” he told Nilan.
While the Canadiens had an incredibly disappointing season last year, new faces on the ice and behind the scenes have Caufield hopeful for the future. A large factor for that sentiment is having former NHL All-Star and Stanley Cup champion Martin St. Louis behind the bench as head coach. In their short time together, Caufield says he has already benefited tremendously.
“All of a sudden it was like a switch went off or something,” said Caufield who scored 22 goals and 35 points in 37 games under St. Louis. “For me, growing up, I wore 26 because of the guy… Just playing for the guy, you want to do well just to impress him.”
“There’s a lot of things last year that we kind of introduced. Now it’s all about executing that plan.”