Defender David Savard and interim head coach Martin St-Louis will find a familiar team on Wednesday night, during the duel between the Montreal Canadiens and the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Savard, who played 10 seasons and nearly 600 career games with the Blue Jackets, will face his former teammates at home for the first time since leaving the Ohio organization.
The 31-year-old Quebecer was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 10, 2021, just two days after the Florida team’s only stint in Columbus last season. And it will be Savard’s first trip there as a member of the Habs.
“It’s going to be really special to go back. I didn’t have the chance to go back, even after last season — the summer was short, and we went straight back to Quebec — so it will be special and I think it will bring back a lot of memories.” , first said Savard, a fourth-round pick, 94and in total, Blue Jackets in the 2009 draft.
Among the highlights of his time in Columbus, the one that immediately comes to mind is the Jackets’ victory over the Lightning in the first round of the playoffs in 2019. It was the first time the organization founded in 2000 won a series in its own amphitheater.
Formative experience
Savard won’t be the only one to return to the city, which is first and foremost known for its college football team, the Ohio State Buckeyes.
St-Louis will also set foot there for the first time since he experienced his baptism in a management position in the NHL.
The former Lightning star forward, who retired as a player in 2015 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018, accepted the Jackets head coach’s offer in January 2019 to at the time, a certain John Tortorella, to become a special teams consultant. An opportunity that served as a springboard for the rest of his coaching career in the NHL.
“It gave me the experience of the NHL, to stay connected with hockey a little bit. To be there, on the ice, with the players, to attend team meetings, all that helped me for what I am doing now. I learned what a coach’s job really was — not that I was there every day; I was there two or three days every two or three weeks or so — but I spent enough time there to learn and prepare myself for what I’m doing here now,” he said.
Savard has also observed certain similarities between the work of St-Louis at the helm of CH and that of Tortorella at the time with the Blue Jackets.
“They have similarities, if only because they [St-Louis] played for him for a long time [Tortorella]. He brings a bit of the same passion, work ethic and things like that. But they are also very different; they don’t behave the same way in the locker room, for example, ”he said, suppressing a small smirk.
Good memories
The veteran defender also admitted that he’s been having a lot of fun since the Canadian started his youth turn. He also drew a parallel with what he had experienced when he arrived in Columbus in 2011-2012, even if he no longer plays the same role today, as a veteran.
“I remember we [les Jackets] had exchanged a lot of veterans. In the past, when I was young and we were several hopefuls to join the organization, I think it was a bit part of the cycle of “business”. We had very good years afterwards: we participated in the playoffs for several seasons, so I think these are things that happen. But it bodes well here for the future. The young people have shown how capable they are of playing in the NHL, so it should be the “fun” for the next few seasons,” summed up the man nicknamed “Savy”.
As to whether he missed the sound of cannon, which echoes through the Blue Jackets amphitheater every time they score a goal, Savard offered a rather evasive answer. “It’s going to be weird. Looks like I had forgotten about it. We’ll see if it will make me take the leap [quand ils vont marquer] “, he concluded, laughing.