Cole Caufield, media pressure, the French language and Trevor Zegras

Cole Caufield is clearly the Canadiens’ most charismatic player,

Known as “The Cock” in the dressing room, a name given to him by Shea Weber when he first arrived in Montreal, he always has a smile on his face, and we’ve heard players say just how contagious his good humor is.

The Canadiens’ young player was featured on Bob Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney’s Spittin’ Chicklets podcast, which gave us a great opportunity to learn a little more about him.

Here’s a link to the podcast if you’d like to listen to Caufield’s comments:

There were a few things that caught my attention in the discussion. Here they are:

1. Caufield shares an apartment with Christian Dvorak.

The #22 confided that his roommate isn’t a man of big words… Except when the guys are ensconced in front of the TV on Sundays watching football.

Canadiens players have a fantasy pool in football and it’s pretty serious.

2. Recently, the Habs held their annual rookie dinner.

It’s a bit surprising to hear, but Caufield talks about Barron as a guy who really, really had fun that night.

I say it’s surprising, because the defenseman seems like a pretty reserved guy in life in general.

3. Caufield loves to score goals (we know), and it’s largely because of his brother Brock.

Cole explained that when they were young, Brock wanted to make sure he played the passer so that the younger brother would be able to have the shooter’s role…

And Brock loved training his little brother so much that he would create drills during the summers to fine-tune Cole’s shooting.

It was like he was my second coach. – Cole Caufield

4. When he arrived in Montreal, the Canadiens were serious about making the playoffs.

But Caufield came into the dressing room with the biggest smile in the world. He laughed with the guys, he didn’t hesitate before taunting the older guys even though he’d never played with them…

And all that lightened the mood. Caufield is grateful for the way he was received in the dressing room and it really shows in his words.

5. This is probably the point that interested me the most.

Caufield was asked about the media in Montreal and he admits that it’s just crazy. For example, he talked about the media attention that’s focused on Juraj Slafkovsky right now… And he says it can be hard not to think about what’s being said in the media.

It’s normal, really. Because everyone in Montreal knows what a circus it is…

6. The striker also talked about learning the French language.

He can say “bonjour” and “merci”, but that’s about as far as it goes. Caufield laughed when he said that the language is complicated to understand, and sometimes he can’t believe it when he listens to people here having a conversation of some kind.

He finds it goes a bit too fast for him, hehe. But Caufield makes no secret of the fact: sooner or later, he’s going to speak French. It’s only a matter of time.

Caufield just has to follow his captain, by the way:

7. Caufield laughed a little yellow when Paul Bissonnette told him it was his fault that Trevor Zegras took so long to sign his contract in Anaheim.

The two young chums spent a lot of time together this summer, and Bissonnette claimed that Zegras didn’t have time to train properly and take things seriously, which complicated the job of Patick Verbeek (Ducks GM).

It really sounded like the Canadiens’ player knew all about this, hehe.

8. Caufield, Jack Hughes and Trevor Zegras were present at this summer’s F1 Grand Prix in Montreal… And let’s just say they celebrated in droves.

9. In closing, it’s worth noting that Caufield praised Brendan Gallagher and Sean Monahan at length.

He talks about them being real pros, guys that youngsters can rely on to learn things.

It seems that Monahan and Gallagher are both good trick players, too!

If you’ve got a little 45 minutes to spare, I really recommend you check out Caufield’s appearance on Paul Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney’s podcast. It’s entertaining and refreshing.

Burst

– Cute!

They cracked Leon Draisaitl.

(via: @ontheblueline5) pic.twitter.com/w9OX1BAolr

– BarDown (@BarDown) January 3, 2024

– No doubt about it.

– He’s one to watch.

– Well done.

– For sure.