He is intense, fiery and sometimes flamboyant on the ice, and he has built a reputation as the bad boy of the QMJHL: no doubt, the expression “putting on mustard” applies perfectly to the Mooseheads forward of Halifax Zachary L’Heureux. Especially since he literally eats mustard on the players’ bench!
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The sequence caused a lot of reaction on social media. During the extension of game number 2 of the series of semi-finals against the Sherbrooke Phœnix, the television cameras captured a sequence where we see L’Heureux swallowing mustard from the pot, on the bench players. His reaction later suggests that it is not necessarily his favorite condiment.
“It’s for the cramps,” the 2021 Nashville Predators first-round pick laughed. “I’ve been doing this for a couple of years and it really helps. It takes them away right away.”
The method has indeed been proven and, like pickle juice, mustard relieves cramps. Several athletes have been using it for a few years and images of former NHL forward Mark Letestu ingesting mustard packets while wearing the Winnipeg Jets uniform also caused reactions in 2019.
“You would have to see the whole sequence because it was probably the fifth time I put it in my mouth. One moment, it does not taste excellent, mustard! When you take it several times, it hits you in the throat,” he laughs.
“A good leader for us”
When we say that the expression “put on mustard” applies well to the Montreal forward, we are not simply talking about the fact that he ingests it to relieve his cramps.
In the figurative sense, the expression means “to put a lot to impress”, and it is a bit like the identity of L’Heureux, on the ice. An intense and fiery player, he has forged a bit of a reputation as the bad boy of the QMJHL, as evidenced by his eight career suspensions in the circuit.
“He’s a guy who likes to talk and he has a great form of leadership. He likes to take the lead in the bedroom and do activities. He’s not the withdrawn little guy! What you see of him represents him quite well and he is a very good person and a good leader for us”, describes his teammate Alexandre Doucet.
If the Mooseheads are in the QMJHL final, there is certainly a bit of L’Heureux in this success. In addition to his 20 points in 15 games before Friday’s game, he had managed to play his role as the plague wonderfully, without crossing the red line.
“That’s his role. He has a bit of Marcus Foligno or Brad Marchand in him, explains head coach Sylvain Favreau. It’s important for him to play on the line. His level of competition was incredible against Moncton and even better against Sherbrooke. When you have a guy like Zach competing and being physically active, that definitely makes us a better team.”
Motivated by the crowd
L’Heureux was also stamping his feet on Thursday at the idea of starting the QMJHL final in front of a packed house of 18,259 spectators at the Videotron Center.
“There is nothing better, as a hockey player, than an opposing arena of 20,000 people who boo you! It’s a good feeling. It’s hard to explain, but anyone who’s been in that situation loves it. It is for these moments that you play hockey, that you want to perform and give the best of yourself. I see that as an advantage more than anything else.”