Stu Cowan: Canadiens’ Nick Suzuki goes above and beyond for young fans

Article content

Young Canadiens fan Hunter Beauparlant will get to watch his favorite player, Nick Suzuki, play live for the second time Saturday night at the Bell Centre.

Article content

This time, he’ll be allowed to stay until the end of the game against the Washington Capitals (7 pm, SNE, CITY, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

As an early birthday gift to his two sons — who he calls “Irish twins” — Steven Beauparlant purchased three tickets to last Saturday’s game in Toronto against the Maple Leafs. The family — including mother Cynthia — made the four-hour drive from their home in Sturgeon Falls, Ont., and booked a hotel close to Scotiabank Arena.

It was an expensive trip for the family, but it seemed like a perfect early birthday gift for the boys, who had never seen the Canadiens play in person. Hunter turned 8 on Friday and brother Jaxen will turn 9 on May 4. They are huge Habs fans, as is their father.

Article content

The boys made signs to bring to the game in Toronto that included a Birthday Bucket List: Go to Chuck E. Cheese restaurant, go to their first NHL game, get a selfie taken with Suzuki and get on TV.

While their seats were in the third level at Scotiabank Arena, the boys were allowed by an usher to go down to the first row behind the glass for the pre-game warmup with their signs. Suzuki spotted them and posed for a selfie. Hunter then turned his sign over, which he noted was his first NHL game and it asked if Suzuki would play rock / paper / scissors for a puck or a stick.

Suzuki smiled and tossed a puck over the glass.

“I guess my son was sort of star-struck a bit and was just kind of staring at the puck floating in the air and it hit him right on the lip,” Steven recalled in a phone interview a few days later. “His tooth from him went through his lip from him, so he was bleeding and crying.”

Article content

Suzuki noticed what happened.

“Being such a class act, he was worried and he came over to my son right away,” Steven recalled. “I went from hugging Hunter to make him feel better to say: ‘Here’s Nick Suzuki coming to see you.’”

Suzuki had the two boys come to see him where the players exited the ice, posed for a picture with them, autographed their Canadiens caps and gave Hunter his stick.

“I totally saved the day,” Steven said. “If Nick just continued skating away at that point, my son probably wants to go back to the hotel because he’s hurting. It was kind of unreal.”

It also seems unreal what happened after the second period.

The boys had to go use the washroom and Steven wasn’t going to let them go alone. When a security official noticed them with the stick, Steven was informed they weren’t allowed to have the stick in the arena because it could be used as a weapon. They were given the option of checking in the stick with fan services until the end of the game or leaving the arena.

Article content

“It was unfortunate,” Steven said. “Hunter did n’t want to give up his stick from him and I do n’t blame him. So we left and security followed us out. … When we were getting followed out, I was a little bit upset. But, at the end of the day, my son was happy and that’s what counts.”

The next day, Steven posted some photos of the boys on Twitter, tagging the Canadiens, and noting they had to leave the game early because of the stick. The story started to make the social-media rounds and Suzuki noticed it and sent a direct message to Steven. Suzuki said if the boys were interested in coming to a game in Montreal, he’d put something together for them. Steven thanked Suzuki and said the boys would love to go to the Bell Center for the first time.

Article content

Suzuki then spoke with Chantal Machabée, the Canadiens’ vice-president of communications, and three tickets were provided for Saturday night’s game. There are also some other surprises planned for the boys.

When asked what he likes so much about Suzuki, Hunter said: “He’s fast, he’s really nice. He scores a lot of goals and he wins a lot of faceoffs.”

Steven said he can’t thank Suzuki enough for what he has done for his boys.

“I hope he doesn’t think he should never do that again,” Steven said about tossing a puck over the glass or giving a young fan a stick. “Kids look up to those guys and having him take a photo with my kids and look at them eye-to-eye means the world to them. This is just over and above anything we could have dreamed of.

“The kids are over the moon about going to a game at the Bell Centre,” the father added. “There’s no way we’re leaving early on this one. I told Hunter he ca n’t bring his stick from him, but he can bring his baseball glove in case he gets another puck tossed his way.

[email protected]

twitter.com/StuCowan1