Drama in Laval: “Tell your children that you love them” – Martin St-Louis

MISE À DAY

Martin St-Louis may have found his players after an eight-day vacation, but it was not hockey that he first thought of once he returned to Quebec.< /p>

Returning from Florida, where he took the opportunity to win a tournament behind the bench of the team of the youngest of his three sons, the head coach of the Canadian was blown away by the tragedy that occurred in the daycare center in a Laval neighborhood.

“Acts like this are hard to fathom. Any child who goes to daycare thinks he is safe, launched the head coach of the Canadian, somewhat shaken. In life, we often take everything for granted. Tell your kids you love them and give them big hugs every morning. 

Near the neighborhood where he grew up

St-Louis was all the more blown away as the tragedy occurred very close to the neighborhood where he grew up.

“ It was the driver who picked me up at the airport who broke the news to me. When he told me it was in Sainte-Rose… It struck a chord. I grew up in Laval-Ouest. The boulevard Dagenais, the boulevard Sainte-Rose, I rubbed shoulders with this corner there often ”, he said.

“I would like to tell the victims and their families at daycare that they are being thought of,” he added.

Captain of the Rocket when not in uniform of the Canadiens, Alex Belzile offered a reflection similar to that of St-Louis.

“This is where you realize you never know what life has in store for you,” Belzile said. Whenever we have the opportunity to speak to our loved ones, we must tell them that we love them. Sometimes we don't do it enough. ”

“Children are precious. We are all affected,” he continued.

Matheson worried

Such an event marks the imagination. Nobody wants to find themselves in the shoes of the parents of these young children. Just thinking about it is upside down.

This is the case of Mike Matheson, whose son Hudson will soon be starting daycare.

“We have to drive him to daycare for the first time next week. Let's say it makes you think. It affects us,” said the defender.

“I have a hard time finding the words to describe the feeling I feel, he continued. It's truly sad. I am thinking a lot about children and families. »

At the time of writing these lines, we still did not know the reasons that led the individual to rush into the establishment at the wheel of a bus of the STL. Whatever the reason…

“I can't believe anyone could do something like this. I can't understand how anyone can do this to little kids who haven't started their lives yet,” Matheson said.

Devastated Harvey-Pinard >

Rafaël Harvey-Pinard says he remained glued to his screen for a good part of the day in the hope of realizing and understanding the scope of what was happening.

“  It's been 24 hours  and I still have chills. To see this happening so close to home is terrible,” he said.

The 24-year-old admitted a terrible thought crossed his mind. mind when thinking of his spouse, an employee of an elementary school in Blainville.

“She rubs shoulders with young people who are a little older, but we thought that it could have been arrive at a primary school. Both her and I were devastated. ”

It’s a feeling that is likely to stay with many people for a while.