On Thursday, TVA Sports broadcast something that hadn’t been seen in 26 years in Quebec: an interview with the Montreal Canadiens’ captain in French. The last time that happened, the captain was Vincent Damphousse, who was born and raised in town.
How did that come about? Suzuki told members of the media on Friday that he was asked during the media day in Vegas on September 9 by TVA and replied that he’d be happy to do it during media day in Brossard. Since then, he had been given the questions and spent days learning not only the answers but also the correct pronunciation. He didn’t have a cheat sheet during the interview either.
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While some may wonder what the big deal is, for some fans, it is a big deal that the Montreal Canadiens’ captain, a man who gets more media exposure than the Prime Minister, can speak the language. Nobody’s asking Suzuki to be able to do hour-long interviews in French; that just wouldn’t be realistic, but the fact that he was willing to put in both the time and the effort to put this short interview together already is a significant gesture, and one that the French-speaking fans have highly appreciated.
In case you’re wondering, no, Suzuki is not taking French lessons through the team, but he’s picking it up a little at a time from teammates, members of staff, and adds that Chantal Machabee has been a tremendous help to him in that process. He confesses that the most challenging part for him is listening to French and translating it in his head, but he’s working on it in his day-to-day life, for instance, when he’s food shopping or running errands.
Suzuki is not the kind of guy who will coerce his teammates into doing something, but he has and will always be a leader by example. This interview is just the latest example of his brand of leadership.
We’ve seen another example earlier this summer with Canadiens players flocking back to the nest early to practice together. Suzuki didn’t ask his teammates to do that, but the truth of the matter is that by staying in town and working hard, he is once again leading the way.
Asked if he had a hand in the players coming back to town earlier, he explained:
It just kind of happened naturally, I wasn’t chatting to get guys to stay, but I’ve helped build a place in the summer, you know, where it makes it very easy for guys to train. We’ve got full-time chefs in the morning and lunch, and you don’t have to worry about any of that stuff; you just come to one place and get your training and your skating done at the same time. Obviously, Adam Nicholas and Dale in the gym were also willing to spend their whole summer here and help us train all together.- Suzuki on why players all came back early to train
It's been three years since the London, Ontario native became the team’s captain, and the way he plays and behaves every day is a reminder that the organization made the right choice.
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