(Drummondville) He wrote it in his press release and he kept his word. Émile Chouinard, defender of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, wanted to play while waiting to begin treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
So there he was, straight as an oak, tall as a redwood, on the Drakkar blue line as a member of the starting six, in the moments preceding the start of the game against the Voltigeurs on Thursday evening.
The in-house announcer at the Marcel-Dionne Center acknowledged his presence before the national anthem, an announcement followed by warm applause from a crowd hostile to his team, but supportive of his cause.
Chouinard should know more this Friday regarding the schedule of his treatments. But until then, as we read in the press release published on Saturday announcing his diagnosis, he will play.
He wanted to play. We won’t say no to a young man who wants to play.
Jean-François Grégoire, head coach and general director of Drakkar, after the match
And to play, he played, in his usual role as a specialist in defensive missions. As soon as his team was penalized (and it happened often), the big number 15 would step over the boards and defend his territory. Even at the end of the match, with the score 4-0 for Drummondville, he blocked shots, a gesture that at least one hockey player on site noted and praised.
A lot of emotions
Hodgkin lymphoma is “a cancer of a type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, characterized by the presence of a specific type of cancer cell called Reed-Sternberg cells. […] Most people recover from it,” we read in the Merck manuala reference work.
Chouinard is not ready to grant interviews at this time. “I do not know my treatment plan today, so I remain hopeful of a return to the playoffs,” Chouinard wrote in the press release.
Those around the team feel that their fight has become that of the Drakkar. You had to see Mario Durocher, assistant general manager, met in an empty locker room an hour before the match. The QMJHL veteran’s eyes become moist when he discusses the possibility of Chouinard being back for the playoffs, which begin in just eight weeks.
It’s important that he thinks he has a chance. He’s a fit guy, the cancer was detected early. He has every chance on his side. I want him to think like that too. This is where a hockey team, the links are…
Mario Durocher, deputy general director of Drakkar
This is where Durocher becomes emotional. “It’ll help him get through this.” »
Grégoire also seemed shaken after the match. “He’s a guy who grew up with us, with Dufort, Gagnon, Lavoie. We are a little emotional, obviously, agreed Grégoire. But he is positive, we want to stay positive with him. But the end of the week was very difficult emotionally. Émile is positive, so we must do the same with him. I’m not a doctor, but as it was discovered early on, the percentages are on his side. We relate to that, we support it.
“He’s a great kid. We think these young people are invincible. When he tells us that… We all have young people. It is tough. It’s a curve that life sends him, but his message was super beautiful. »
At 6’5″ and 210 lbs, Chouinard seems invincible, especially when he starts fighting for a puck along the boards.
“For me, Chouine is one of the best defensive defensemen in the QMJHL. Probably the most robust guy in the league,” said Durocher.
He planned to study medicine, but his progress was likely to earn him a professional contract at the end of the season, which would obviously have postponed the start of his studies. For this Thursday duel between the two best teams in the QMJHL, around fifty recruiters had announced their presence.
“I think he has a bright future ahead of him,” says Durocher. He’s an assistant captain, one of our leaders. Mario Lemieux was able to start playing again. In life, I am not a doctor, I am a forestry engineer. But I think that if he is positive, and with the support of his friends and the organization, it will help him get through it. »
The duel ended in a 4-0 defeat for the Drakkar. But there are nights where wins, goals and great plays come way down on the list of priorities, and Thursday was one of those nights.