Jonathan Marchessault and the summer of all emotions

(Quebec) On September 21, Jonathan Marchessault will have to accomplish “one of the most difficult things of [sa] life “.

Not on the ice, since his new team, the Nashville Predators, have already given him the day off. In fact, yes, a little on the ice, that of the Videotron Centre, where he will be before a Remparts game, who will retire the number 18 jersey that he wore for four years in Quebec.

That night, he will have to address the crowd, which, as we can imagine from here, will be large and noisy. If there is one person who has never backed down from a fight in his life, it is Marchessault. Now, if there is one thing that scares him, it is the idea of ​​taking the microphone in front of such a large audience.

“I don’t like talking in front of people, it makes me uncomfortable. I’m going to need my wife’s help!” the forward said Wednesday on the sidelines of the Sunlife ProAm, a charity event held in Quebec City. Ironically, he was speaking in front of a dozen microphones and cameras, with the naturalness and nonchalance that are somewhat his trademark.

In front of 18,000 people, it’s something else. Enough to remind him of his oral presentations that gave him nightmares in high school and CEGEP. He also mentioned a particularly painful memory at St-Lawrence College – without describing it in detail – during his years with the Remparts.

He will nevertheless gather his courage to face his stage fright, given the scale of the tribute paid to him by his former junior club.

The news, announced Tuesday, took him by surprise. “I’ve never brought a cup here,” he recalled, believing that it’s rather his hockey career that will be highlighted. “It’s one of the greatest honours that can happen to me.” One of those, he added, that forces him to reflect on the path traveled, the exploits accomplished.

When the big night comes, he expects to have to work hard to contain his emotions. The years that pass and his children who grow up make him realize that “he [lui] “There’s less left than I actually have, professionally.” Each new accomplishment affects him differently than before. “I expect to be emotional,” he admits.

If necessary, he will not be the only one.

No summer

Emotions are definitely a central theme of Marchessault’s summer. Marchessaults, rather.

The Quebecer having been unable to agree with the Vegas Golden Knights on the terms of a new contract, he signed, on 1^er last July, a five-year agreement with the Nashville Predators.

With his partner and their four children, he planned a complex move to Tennessee, where he will continue his career.

“We really didn’t have a summer,” he summed up. “It’s really not ideal to change organizations. It takes time, every day.”

In this sense, he is pleased to have managed to obtain a no-movement clause from the Predators, which will bring him the “stability” he thought he had found in Vegas. After seven seasons with the Golden Knights and the conquest of a Stanley Cup in 2023, he thought he would be able to stay in the Nevada desert. Instead, he had to resign himself to the observation that “all good things must come to an end.”

He says he has yet to hear a satisfactory explanation from Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon for the decision not to retain the franchise’s all-time leading scorer. “I’ve moved on, and so have they,” he says, although it’s easy to see why things didn’t go his way.

Still, when the divorce was finalized, he received text messages from head coach Bruce Cassidy, teammates and several club staff members. “It makes me feel like I did something good, I think I touched a lot of people and I had a big impact on the community. […] I’m going to miss Vegas, but they’re going to miss me.”

The next chapter will therefore be written for him in Nashville, where he arrives at the same time as Steven Stamkos and Brady Skjei.

While he doesn’t dare predict his new team’s performance in 2024-2025, the fine scorer does, however, speak openly about the help he’s received from his new organization and his adopted community to ease the transition to the country city. Even his new GM, Barry Trotz, who himself told him that he would be exempt from a Predators preseason game because his number was retired in Quebec City.

The roller coaster of the last few weeks brings him back to a fundamental principle for him, which he says he repeats to his children: “In life, even if you have reached a level where you think you can relax, even if everything is going well, you are brought back to order. There is never an easy path.”

It was true for him when he was a 5-foot-9 forward who was never drafted. It is still true at 33, after a Conn Smythe Trophy and a 42-goal season.