Marc-Andre Bourdon | The big comeback in the NHL

When his career as a professional hockey player ended in 2014, Marc-André Bourdon was “no longer convinced” that he wanted to stay in the hockey world. Eight years later, not only is he still in the sport, but he’s also back in the National League. As a recruiter this time. At the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Katherine Harvey Pinard
The Press

“When I was playing in the National League, I had concussions and I found it hard to understand why things had happened like that,” says Bourdon on the phone.

Since retiring, the Saint-Hyacinthe native has returned to school and earned a bachelor’s degree. He met the one who is now his wife. He was head recruiter, assistant coach and general manager with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. And here he is today, an amateur recruiter in Quebec and the Maritimes for the Lightning.

“Me, I think it was God’s plan for me, my wife and everyone, he suggests. […] You have to trust something more than your perception. Of course, if you had told me seven years ago that I would go to the National League seven years later, I would have laughed. There was a time when I wasn’t even convinced that I wanted to pursue hockey anymore. »

This new opportunity in the big league, Marc-André Bourdon did not expect it at all. Happy as general manager of the Huskies, the team for which he played for three years in the junior ranks and which he has always considered his family, he had no intention of changing jobs anytime soon.

In early August, two weeks before the start of training camps in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Bourdon was preparing to leave for a fishing trip to Labrador with Huskies president Jacques Blais. Just before their departure, Mr. Blais received a call from Julien BriseBois, general manager of the Lightning, asking him for permission to speak with Bourdon.

The former Philadelphia Flyers went through the interview process. Dad of a little boy barely 1 month old at that time, he spoke about his family situation at BriseBois and Al Murray, director of amateur recruitment within the Floridian formation.

“They were really understanding,” he said. For me, that was one of the selling points. »

Like at home

Marc-André Bourdon has been in his new position for almost two months now. His schedule is similar to that he had as general manager; he walks from arena to arena to watch hockey games, from Tuesday to Sunday.

It is rather the way he looks at the game that is different. He nevertheless finds himself scrutinizing players he knows well.

At the Lightning, Bourdon is surrounded by many Quebecers, including two he has faced on the ice in the past in Mathieu Darche and Jean-Philippe Côté.

“Both as a player and as a staff member, when you have two or three Quebecers in a National League organization, it’s a good ratio. So for sure there are a lot of them at the Lightning! The guys there are competent. Yes, they are Quebecers, but they are competent guys who deserve to be there. »

What excites him most is working for an organization that has “been successful and doing things the right way.”

“As a person and as an employee, I know that I will be treated with respect. That was a big point [dans ma décision]. We won’t hide it, the Lightning have been competitive in recent years, they have won Stanley Cups. It’s hard to win. Will we win it again? I don’t know, but the team is built to still have a chance in the next few years. »

And then, he recognizes himself in the values ​​conveyed by his new team…

“Respect, teamwork, work ethic, it’s always been prevalent among the Huskies. I feel at home with the Lightning because that’s how it is too. »