As someone who has never been on a hockey team I can’t speak to it directly, but I’ve interviewed enough players and coaches over the past twenty years to know that a team can often be like a family. You’ll have disagreements and maybe not see eye-to-eye on every single thing, but at the end of the day you’ll do anything for your sister or brother, your teammate or coach, whether you’re around the rink or not. Like an extended family.
For the players, their hereditary families help them get to and from the rink for games, practices, road trips, tryouts, etc. At the end of their inaugural season, the President and General Manager of the Montréal Force Kevin Raphaël, brought as many parents and relatives of his players that he could on the team’s final road trip of the season to New Jersey. It was a way to say thank you to them for all of the support to help get the players to where they are today.
“Speaking with a few of the NHL guys, they had told me about the dad trips and mom trips [that their teams have]. So when we started the team I said – we need to do that,” Raphaël told The Ice Garden ahead of his team’s final game in their inaugural season. “I didn’t know how to do it and, it was a process.”
There was a lot of planning. A lot of assistance was needed, but Raphaël and his staff, who all got a late start when the franchise was announced in July of 2022, pulled it off. And it went above and beyond what the players anticipated.
“A second bus. A second hotel. A second everything. But, the big dinner – we had 78 people eat together; and me, I’m all about moments, all about creating stuff that we will remember together. I was sitting down that night and just smiling, because this is us, this is our team, our first-year team. I was very happy,” Raphaël said.
“The players went with their parents to New York City for half of the day, until they came back to get ready for the game. Friday we ate together and today they’re all over the mall here [in New Jersey] shopping,” said Raphaël, unable to hide his smile. “I’m seeing La Force jerseys left and right, and I’m like ahh – that’s a dad or mom. This is awesome.”
I asked a few Montréal players after the two games in New Jersey against the Metropolitan Riveters about the trip, and what it meant to them. All I can do is share their words, but in talking with them the appreciation and excitement was all over their faces and their words. It truly, meant a lot.
“It’s amazing. Kevin and Manny [Anderson De Serres], our president and Vice President, every weekend not just this one, they’ve tried to always include our parents. This weekend they made accommodations for them everywhere – this morning we went to NYC and spent some time there. Just to be able to share a piece of this with them is really cool. Big props to our staff for organizing all of this, I’m sure it took so much work that we don’t even know about,” Force forward Kristina Shanahan told TIG with a huge smile.
“I think every team in the PHF should be doing this. We need to thank our families and parents more. For this organization to bring them on the road with us is pretty cool. I know my dad is very grateful and probably had a couple of tears in the stands today watching me,” added forward Autumn MacDougall, who joined the team mid-season.
“Our president/GM Kevin told us a couple of weeks ago he would love to bring our families on the trip and pay for everything – like the NHL teams do. I think it’s great, and a lot of us are so thankful that we get to be in the position we are in,” MacDougall went on to say, “and we’re doing it because of our family’s support. It’s pretty cool that our organization was able to bring them on this trip. We went to NYC on Friday and had dinner with them, mingled as a big family. It’s great that they’re all here.”
No team is ever the same from one season to another. It stinks, but it’s just facts. That’s the way sports are in 2023. Players get older, coaches get hired and fired, there are staff changes, new, young players are always on the horizon. So especially at the end of a long season, the moments mean a little more. And when you have moments like the ones that Raphaël and La Force were able to give his team that final weekend, it becomes even that much more memorable.
“We are the originals. We’ll always be the originals. One day, our jersey is going to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and I’m going to bring my sons there one day. The jersey of La Force is going to be there,” said Raphaël. “I’m not going to talk about the goals scored, I’m going to talk about how Kristina Shanahan smiles all the time, how Ann-Sophie Bettez’s laugh is the worst I’ve ever heard, and there are so many things about these players that is awesome.”
“Next year we’ll go for the championship, and do all those things. But it was too tough to build a team from scratch in two months. Just the fact that we made it here [through a season] is unbelievable.”
I don’t know about you, but I’d want to be a part of something like the Montréal Force are building, something to be proud of and with someone as passionate as Raphaël leading the way.
