BROSSARD, Que. — Meet Alex Jodoin, the 28-year-old from Lorraine, Que., whose love for chicken and Cole Caufield provided us with all-too-rare evidence that Twitter— or ‘X’ as the not-so-cool kid at the top of the social media platform calls it — can still be used for good.
You may have already heard of him. Michel Laprise, of RDS, first put Jodoin on the radar on Jan. 31 when he wrote about how the young man's serendipitous moment helped Caufield break a three-game drought and start a career-long point streak. As Jodoin explained to Laprise, on Jan. 11, before the Canadiens played the San Jose Sharks at the Bell Centre, he placed an order from local chicken chain Poulet Rouge and saw that it would be delivered to him in 22 minutes.
Caufield, who wears No. 22 for the Canadiens, put up a point that night and went on to record at least one in each of the next 10 games. Jodoin believed his commitment to eating the same meal from Poulet Rouge before each one of them helped make that happen.
The story, which X followers latched onto by the dozens with each passing game, took on new dimension on Tuesday. Jodoin first earned a sponsorship from the restaurant and then met Caufield after the winger began a new streak with his 25th assist of the season in a 5-0 Canadiens win over the Anaheim Ducks.
When we touched base with Jodoin on Wednesday, he said he had slept only two hours and couldn’t get over how he somehow willed this dream into existence.
“It was pretty surreal for me,” said the man who now resides in Piedmont, Que. and spends his day working IT in the healthcare sector.
It was, at least in Jodoin’s eyes, an example of how connected the Canadiens have been with their fans since Chantal Machabee came in as Vice President of Hockey Communications in January of 2022.
She caught wind of his story, heard he had procured tickets to Tuesday’s game, reached out through X to find out where he was sitting, and then arranged for him and his girlfriend, Shanny, to come downstairs and meet Caufield.
“If Chantal wasn’t there, I don’t think this would’ve ever happened,” Jodoin said. “With the direction they’re taking, they’re closer to the fans. This moment brought joy to everyone, so it was really cool for Chantal to make it happen.”
Seeing how engaged the fans were with the video we shared of this encounter, there was no debating it.
Before we took it, we were in the Canadiens locker room waiting to speak to Caufield about the team’s white-hot power play, listening to Machabee prepare the player to meet Jodoin.
“He’s the nicest guy,” she said to him.
Caufield didn’t need to be sold.
When he was originally approached by Machabee on Sunday to meet Jodoin, he agreed immediately.
On Tuesday, over the short walk to where Jodoin and his girlfriend were waiting, Caufield told us he had seen all the tweets throughout the streak, including the one Jodoin pinned to his profile thanking Caufield’s parents for doing what it took to bring him into the world. He thought the whole thing was hilarious.
On Wednesday, the player spoke to us about how important it felt to him to do something special for a diehard fan.
“I thought it was pretty cool,” said Caufield on Wednesday. “When you’re seeing something every day and not looking for it, it’s pretty cool to see it take off. I know meeting him went a long way with him and his girlfriend. It’s the little things that go a long way.”
He took it a step further, later following Jodoin both on Twitter and Instagram.
“I think just meeting him last night, it made me realize you could change a person’s life,” Caufield said. “He’s so passionate about not only the team but me, and it was just a little thing that I could do. The whole thing was pretty special.”
The meeting, Jodoin’s pregame ritual, and the general hype around this whole story only reinforced to Caufield how unique it is to be in this market.
“I tell all my friends that play in different places about that,” he said. “We all love where we’re at, but I tell the guys it’s a different world out there. You get reminded daily of how special it is to play here. Nobody here should take it for granted. It’s the best place to play, and you’ve got the best fans in the world who are so passionate. There’s nothing else like it.”
It’s one thing to say that, but it’s another thing to show you understand it.
Caufield has done that over and over since being drafted 15th overall by the club in 2019, and he did it again on Tuesday, much to Jodoin’s delight.
The meeting left him trembling.
Machabee, who obviously can’t do this for every fan but is committed to creating these unique connections, was touched by the whole encounter.
“I was a fan before joining the media. I was 12 years old, waiting outside the Forum to get Guy Lafleur’s autograph. I was shaking when he signed things for me,” she said on Wednesday. “I know exactly how Alex Jodoin felt.”
He has a memory he’ll cherish forever.
And with 29 games remaining on the Canadiens’ schedule, it’s a good thing Jodoin has an insatiable appetite for chicken.
Gallagher returns after serving first NHL suspension
It was a remorseful Brendan Gallagher who spoke with the media for the first time since delivering the hit on New York Islanders defenceman Adam Pelech.
“It’s not something that’s going to ever occur again,” said Gallagher, who completed his five-game suspension.
It was something that hadn’t happened prior to the player.
The 31-year-old had played 793 games (regular season and post-season combined) in the NHL before ever throwing a hit that could have him suspended, and he’s determined to never throw another one again.
“We play a physical sport,” he said. “I went to finish my check, obviously didn’t do it the proper way, and I served my time.”
“I made a last-second decision that I felt like I had to get a piece of him,” Gallagher continued. “At that point, I had overshot my angle. It’s a fast game. It happened quick.”
He reached out to Pelech, who said on Wednesday he was happy to see him return quickly, and he expressed how it made him feel to have injured him in the first place.
“Really the first time, so it’s not a good feeling,” Gallagher said. “We play this game hard, we play this game quick, you don’t want see anyone on the other end of that, especially if it’s your doing. I didn’t feel good about it, obviously. It was something that’s not a part of my DNA as a player, something that’s happened once in my life and that’s it, and I’m happy to see him back playing.”
Gallagher will get back to playing, too.
He’s expected to make his return to Montreal’s lineup Thursday, in New York, against the Rangers.
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