LETTER TO A TEAMMATE
/I always thought you had to be a little "special" to choose to play in nets. Why would you want to take an equipment that weighs a ton that costs a fortune to have the chance to stand in front of slap shot and get run over all the time as well as having all the pressure of the team on your shoulders. As I say, it takes a lunatic to make that choice.
Nicholas Chagnon represents perfectly what I am trying to demonstrate. A pretty special guy who probably would give everything he has (possibly even his mother) to win a game.
I had the opportunity to play in his team last season. If several different factors were attributed to the dominance in season and series of the 2014-2015 Tomahawks, for my part I attribute our success to a keeper who deserve a "C" on his mask. Winning two championships during the 2014-2015 Winter season and playoffs he also won both championships in the 2015 summer season. The season is still young, but you don’t have to look too far to find the reasons of the success of the red machine in this year. There’s not a player I would choose before him to win a game in the playoffs.
Nic is not just a model for me on the ice, he’s also outside the rink. Indeed, how can a guy on unemployment that drives an Audi Q5 not make your role model top 5 list. No joke, we need more guys like Nic in the league. For those who didn’t know, he’s the one responsible for statistics on the website this season and he comes to watch all the Saturday games to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each team to be able to prepare himself, and the team for the next game.
Last Saturday, unfortunately, he had to leave the game because of health problem. Normally with any other guy I would not have made a big deal out of it. But we're talking about Nicholas Chagnon, and when you see a fighter like him leave during a game, that’s when you know you have to worry. Without giving details on his condition I think I speak for all members of the league by wishing Nic a speedy recovery and we look forward for his next big ‘’Ron Hextall’’ Slashing in the crease and to all his shouting at his defensive pairs . While for many of us in the LFA, hockey take an important place in our lives, including Nic, moments like these show us the importance of health for our family and friends. For the other teams, we will say that he his suffering an upper body injury, not to reveal too much. Thanks to Arnaud Guertin and Éric Champagne for taking care of him during and after the game and also for bringing him back home. Its was a nice acts of human kindness but also an opportunity to drive Nic’s Audi Q5.
Take care buddy !
a friend and teammate.
Simon Lavery-Lebeau
