Chantal Machabée was a guest on Alexandre Barrette's show, La Tour, on Wednesday night, and the hockey communications vice-president revealed several interesting anecdotes about the players of the Montreal Canadiens.
Chantal Machabée also stated that she loved her first year with the Montreal Canadiens but felt a bit tired after the grueling season:
"A hockey season is extremely intense! You have to understand that I'm at all the practices, all the games, both away and at home, so wherever the team is, I'm there. I'm always with the team, so that's very intense."
Journalist for more than 32 years at RDS, Chantal Machabée had some concerns that her former position could create some friction with the team's players, as she had to criticize the performances of the CH in the past.
However, on her first day with the organization, Carey Price was the first player to welcome her, making sure to warmly welcome Chantal into the team:
"I walk into the sports complex and the first person I see, the very first, is Carey Price. He looked at me and said, 'Congratulations!' and gave me a big hug, then he said, 'I'm really happy! Come on, the guys are waiting for you!' so I followed him and all the players were lined up in the corridor and they came to hug me and welcome me to the Canadiens."
The new hockey communications vice-president stated that she was like a second mother to the young players of the Canadiens, who are even younger than her own children.
She mentioned, in particular, defending Cole Caufield in front of the media, which elicited several laughs from journalists and players:
"At one point, Cole Caufield had just scored a beautiful goal. And there was a journalist who came up first and said, 'Yeah, that was a lucky goal!' Immediately, I said, 'Excuse me? Are you talking to Cole Caufield? He practices that at every practice. Look at how he practices and you'll see there was no luck involved!'"
One thing is certain, the hiring of Chantal Machabée was probably one of the best news for the Tricolore in 2022, and the players are lucky to have her!
