After six difficult years with the Montreal Canadiens, forward Jonathan Drouin is undoubtedly looking forward to a fresh start with the Colorado Avalanche.
Part of that optimism comes from reconnecting with former QMJHL teammate and close friend Nathan MacKinnon more than a decade after winning the Memorial Cup with the Halifax Mooseheads.
MacKinnon, who was instrumental in getting the Avalanche and Drouin to come to an agreement, agrees that a change of location is just what the Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec, native needed, especially after playing in a high-pressure market like Montreal.
“Montreal is a heavy, heavy place for a French Canadian,” MacKinnon recently said to The Athletic‘s Peter Baugh. “I think he loved it there, but it was time for a change, and I think it’s a great spot here.”
And while he thought he was prepared for the Montreal microscope when he was traded to the Habs from the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2017, Drouin recently told Yahoo Sports that “until you live it, no one’s ready for it.”
“You want to be welcoming and understand that this is a privileged set of circumstances that you are living under, yet at the same time, when things are not going well, it’s just grinding you down every day,” Drouin’s agent Allen Walsh explained. “There’s no getting away from hockey off the ice.
Now 28, Drouin, who reached a career-high 53 points in one season on two separate occasions, is hoping to get his game back with a little help from his old friend.
“I’m not going to lie, it was weird at first to come back on the ice ten years later and be his teammate again, but it was pretty comfortable,” Drouin told the Journal de Montreal back in September. “Now it’s very exciting to play with a player of this calibre and a team like this.”
A whole 10 years may have passed since MacKinnon and Drouin last played on the same line, but the productive duo actually crossed paths before joining the Mooseheads. As a youngster, MacKinnon came to Montreal for tournaments and played with Drouin. They also played against each other at the 2011 Canada Games in Halifax.
Now on his third NHL team, Drouin appears determined to make the best of this new yet familiar opportunity.
“I’m not 22 anymore. I’m 28,” Drouin said. “Time goes by fast, and you don’t want to waste those chances.”
- You might also like:
- "I tried to force their hand": Primeau puts Canadiens in tough goalie situation