Head coach Martin St-Louis made the announcement Monday morning as part of the team’s annual golf tournament at the Laval-sur-le-Lac club. “It’s a true honor and a privilege for me. This team is headed in a great direction and I couldn’t be more excited to captain and represent the team,” Suzuki told reporters. “It means a lot, just to see the respect from management, teammates, [and] the coaches have for me. I know it’s a big role, but I think I’m ready for it. There’s a bright future here and I’m excited to be a part of it.” Suzuki, 23, is the 31st captain in Canadian history and the youngest. WATCHES | Suzuki talks about the “honour and privilege” of captaining the Canadiens:
Nick Suzuki says he’s ready to captain the Canadiens despite his age
The Habs’ 31st and youngest captain is introduced to the media at the team’s annual golf tournament. He succeeds defenseman Shea Weber, who was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights in June. Defenseman Joel Edmundson and forward Brendan Gallagher will serve as alternate captains. C vraiment beau à voir We like what we like C pic.twitter.com/qsyp3e8BAs —@CanadiensMTL
2018 trade in Montreal
Suzuki, who was Vegas’ first-round pick (13th overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft, led the Canadiens in scoring last year with 21 goals and 40 assists for 61 points in 82 regular-season games, all career-highs their.
Traded to Montreal on September 9, 2018 for teammate forward Tomas Tatar and a 2019 second round pick for forward Max Pacioretty.
Joel Edmundson est le suivant au micro.
Joel Edmundson is next on the mic. https://t.co/4MvHxH2Gea
—@CanadiensMTL
In 209 NHL regular season games, Suzuki has 49 goals and 94 assists for 143 points.
Suzuki has experienced just about every high and low in his three seasons in Montreal.
I think I have to handle every situation very well, I’m just leading by example again.— Nick Suzuki on his role as Canadiens captain
The Canadiens fell in the opening round of the 2020 playoffs, followed by a Stanley Cup run in 2021 where Montreal fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
After two years of delicious playoff experience, Suzuki and the Canadiens bottomed out by finishing last in the Eastern Conference in an injury-marred 2021-2022 season.
“There’s been a lot of ups and downs, a lot of learning experiences,” Suzuki said. “I think I have to handle every situation really well, just lead by example again. It’s a privilege to have that pressure on you. We want to win hockey games and that’s the biggest reason we’re here.”
RBC becomes the first official jersey partner of the Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens reached a multi-year jersey partnership deal with RBC on Monday. The addition of the RBC code to their historic jersey is part of Jersey’s new advertising program that allows teams to sell advertising on their jerseys starting this upcoming season. For every game jersey sold with the RBC logo on the team’s official store website, the bank will donate $20 to the Montreal Canada Children’s Foundation. The logo will only appear on the Canadiens’ home jerseys at the Bell Centre. Montreal made the announcement and unveiled the jerseys as part of the team’s annual golf tournament. The partnership was quickly met with backlash, with Greenpeace Quebec expressing its displeasure saying it was not something the group should be proud of. “It’s the worst bank in Canada, the biggest contributor to climate change,” Greenpeace spokesman Patrick Bonin told The Canadian Press. “We are calling on fans who are planning to buy a jersey and asking them to paint the RBC logo black.”
