Guillaume Asselin really wanted to play professional hockey. To touch his dream, when he was tired of seeing “tough» move ahead of him in the ECHL, the Quebec forward made the choice to go to Europe. A decision that he never regretted, on the contrary, and which turned out to be even more enjoyable a few weeks ago, when a certain Joe Thornton, now general manager, called him to ask him to wear the colors of Team Canada.
“The first thing I said to him was a big: “Yes!” Then we talked about other things, about family. It was a really cool moment,” he tells Newspapera big smile in his voice.
This is how Asselin, his wife, his two boys and his mother spent the end of December in Davos, Switzerland, so that the hockey player defended the Canadian flag at the Spengler Cup, the second oldest hockey tournament in the world after the Stanley Cup playoffs.
William Asselin, the son of Guillaume Asselin, in the arms of a mascot during the Spengler Cup in December.
Photo provided by Guillaume Asselin
The memory of a lifetime
We could say that it’s a dream come true for the tenacious forward, who had a good career in the QMJHL before going to the Canadian university circuit, not really being able to carve out a place in the ECHL ( the caliber under the American League) at 20 years old.
After all, as soon as he crossed the Atlantic in 2017-2018 to play in Slovakia, Asselin said to himself that it would be “really cool” to one day be able to play in the famous Spengler Cup, which Canada won. on 16 occasions.
And yes, he did it, in the legendary Davos arena that looks like an old church, in front of a crowd so noisy that it prevented the North American players less accustomed to playing in Switzerland from hearing each other speak on the ice.
Photo provided by Guillaume Asselin
He will “remember it all his life,” he assures us. Even if in his eyes, Canada, which was eliminated in the semi-finals, should have taken top honors.
He savored everything. The presence of loved ones, strongly encouraged by Hockey Canada, which wants to make the tournament a family happening. The mission to defend the maple leaf. The gang of guys, made up of former NHL players – like Nathan Beaulieu or Jordie Benn –, players from the American League, but above all hockey players who, like him, now play in Switzerland.
Guillaume Asselin, center, in front of the Davos arena, surrounded by his wife Catherine, on the left, his mother Caroline, on the right, his sons Lucas and William, in front, during the Spengler Cup in December.
Photo provided by Guillaume Asselin
The Nordiques jerseys, seen in the stands. The chant “Bruce there it is”, sung by Canadian fans in honor of coach Bruce Boudreau.
But he was already living a dream
But the dream has come true, Guillaume Asselin has already been living it for seven years, playing among the pros, despite the major detours he had to take to get there.
Because even if he amassed quite a few points in the junior ranks (including 82 in 2010-2011, with the Saguenéens), Asselin was not necessarily ready to immediately make the jump to the professionals at 20 years old.
He did not yet have “physical and mental maturity”. There was also a question of “timing”, he believes, in addition to the fact that his “style of skating was quite funny” (those are his words).
He therefore opted for the Canadian university circuit. And with hindsight, we see that Asselin agrees with the growing number of voices calling for the professional leagues to take a look at what is happening there.
The striker knew Marc-Étienne Hubert well, who had managed him with the Saguenéens before making the jump behind the Patriotes bench at the University of Trois-Rivières.
“He told me: ‘Come study, come get your diploma. I also know your goal of returning to the pros afterwards,” says Asselin. […] It went really well, it was really good fit.”
“They were really important years,” he adds. We played few games, but we practiced a lot on and off the ice. It’s really there, between the ages of 20 and 24, that I acquired my physical maturity.”
At the Canadian camp
With a degree in finance and the title of MVP in Canadian university hockey in hand, the right winger tried again in the pros. The Canadian also invited him to his rookie camp in 2016.
The organization also gave him a two-way contract, between the American League and the ECHL. He trained with the St. John’s IceCaps, but never wore their colors.
He also played seven games with the Brampton Beast in the ECHL. Then three more with Wichita.
And that’s when it happened.
Tired, as we wrote from the outset, of playing little and seeing “tough» pass in front of him despite his skating greatly improved since the junior ranks (“it’s no longer a shortcoming today”, he emphasizes), Asselin said yes when an agent offered him to accept the offer from a Slovak team.
In Banska Bystrica, a town of 75,000 inhabitants, it was an instant favorite.
The beginning of the dream: Slovak teammates who welcomed him with open arms, passionate fans who drank a lot of beer and who bought the players dinner, and other Quebec exiles to integrate well.
And above all, two championships in as many seasons, “his coolest years in hockey”.
The high life in Switzerland
But Asselin also dreamed of Switzerland. In the premier league, the A League, the caliber of play is higher than in the American League, some veterans of the two circuits told him.
There is also “good money” to be made, since a foreign player receives between $235,000 and $630,000 net, per year, in addition to having quite a few of his expenses paid, apart from gasoline and grocery store.
The high life, yes. Because Switzerland is also Switzerland, with its breathtaking landscapes.
The attacker, joined by his wife Catherine, first headed for Sierre. A mountain town, in fact, where a second division club plays and which they adopted. This is where their eldest, William, was born, and they return there a few times a year.
“I love it, playing hockey”
But during a loan for a few matches in Geneva, Asselin gave himself the chance to make the jump to Ligue A. In four games, he scored six goals.
The following season, he signed a two-year agreement with Ajoie HC, which he has since renewed for another campaign.
He was the team’s top scorer last year, with 18 in 44 games. And at 31, he doesn’t see himself stopping anytime soon.
“All of this is the fruit of a lot of effort and decisions that you made work in your favor,” we point out to him.
He nods. Because if Guillaume Asselin sometimes wonders if he should not have been more patient, if he should not have waited to have his chance in the American League, he affirms “having thought about everything he did “.
Because, he continues, “finally, I am here and I am happy with the decisions I have made in my career”.
“I love it, playing hockey. It’s my passion,” he smiles.