“They helped me stay young”

(Calgary) Tyler Toffoli spent part of his time in Montreal as the linemate of Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki. Their complicity also extended outside the rink.

Toffoli will face the Canadiens on Thursday for the second time since Kent Hughes traded him to the Flames last winter. On March 3, barely two weeks after the transaction, the Habs already landed in the city of Bret Hart. As well say that Toffoli had not had time to be bored.

Here is the CH again, almost nine months later. And Toffoli can’t wait to reconnect with his old friends. Not that old, actually. “Cole, Nick, Jake Evans are good friends. I talk to them as often as possible. They play well, but I want to be able to taunt them! he told a trio of Montreal journalists after practice on Wednesday.

“I made some very good friends. You know there wasn’t much to do while I was in Montreal. So spending time with the guys was special. Our run in the playoffs was truly memorable. Now I want to play well tomorrow and be able to tease the guys. »

Not to mention an unlikely friendship, it’s still surprising to hear Toffoli, 30, talk about a friendship with two guys, Suzuki and Caufield, who are 23 and 21 respectively.

“They helped me to stay young, replies Toffoli. They are two different personalities. Cole is like a kid who wants to have fun. He is nine years younger than me. I loved spending time with him, he was funny. Even last year, when he was struggling, he was still happy to be there and wanted to improve. Nick is more reserved, but when you know him he’s a good guy and that’s why he’s the captain. »

The famous complement

Josh Anderson, Mike Hoffman, Rem Pitlick, Sean Monahan, Joel Armia… The list of players who have had the right to audition alongside Caufield and Suzuki since Toffoli’s departure is long.

Martin St-Louis seems to have finally accomplished his life mission since finding Kirby Dach to complement his two young forwards. They went to 167 minutes together at 5 against 5, and according to the Moneypuck site, the Canadian scored 13 goals and allowed 12 during those 167 minutes.

Toffoli has remained, in the collective imagination, the ideal partner for Suzuki and Caufield, possibly because it was the first trio of CH during the team’s improbable journey to the final in 2021. get the puck as much as possible. We knew we had enough skill to make plays if we controlled her. That’s what happens with them [Caufield, Suzuki et Dach] right now. »

Toffoli’s actual results with 14 and 22, however, are not as grand as we remember them.

This season, Toffoli has mainly been paired with Elias Lindholm and Jonathan Huberdeau. In 93 minutes with them at 5-5, the Flames scored two goals and allowed one.

The three sidekicks were reunited for Tuesday’s match. In light of the Flames’ resounding 6-2 victory over the Panthers, we bet Darryl Sutter will leave them together against the Habs.