David Savard: staying in Montreal so his children don’t lose their French

As you know, the Canadiens often fail to attract free agents. Several factors (which you know well) come into play when it comes time for players to choose their next team.

After all, when you sign in Montreal, your family has to live in a French-speaking environment. Players whose children speak mainly (or only) English don’t necessarily want to impose such a change on their family.

But for some, the opposite is true.

This is particularly true of David Savard. He’s one of the few players to have chosen Montreal as a free agent. I’d even go so far as to say he’s one of the few Quebecers to have chosen Montreal as a prime location for his career.

The man in a relationship with a Quebec woman chose Montreal (in 2021) not only to be close to his family, but also because of the predominance of the French language in Quebec.

As reported by Anthony Martineau (TVA Sports), who wrote a piece on the reality of free agents, the Savard family wanted their three children to be exposed to French at school.

Having spent many years in Columbus, the children had no reflex to speak in the language of Molière.

When I was in Columbus, [my children] lived in a world where almost everything was in English.

Even at home, when they played together, they talked to each other a lot in English. My wife and I would speak to them in French, but they would answer us in English. – David Savard

Being in Quebec, close to his family and his wife’s family, the children develop their French more. David Savard describes this as a “big issue” for his family.

This is one of the reasons why he doesn’t want to leave Montreal. As Jonathan Bernier writes, Savard knows there’s a chance he’ll leave one day because of the youngsters coming up, but he’d rather stay as long as possible.

While we’re on the subject of the French language, Jordan Harris believes that living in a French-speaking city forces him to excel. He loves the reality of Montreal and the fact that people speak French here.

But for every Savard and Harris, there are plenty of guys who could do without it.

Highlights

– Happy reading.

– Name on lower back: well done by Molson.

– It won’t be an exciting club.

– Justin Barron doesn’t have Arber Xhekaj’s impact downstairs. [TVA Sports]

– Everyone’s taking shots at the Quebecer this year.

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