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LSHL: the ($13) place to spend your Monday and Tuesday nights in Montreal

 Matthew Garcia
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LSHL: the ($13) place to spend your Monday and Tuesday nights in Montreal
Credit: Capture d'écran / Screenshot

Seagull Beach is perhaps the best-kept secret among regular summer visitors to the Cape Cod region…

But for the Montreal hockey fan, the best-kept summer secret is clearly the LSHL(Living Sisu Hockey League).

Professional and/or international athletes face off every week at the Complexe Sportif Hockey Etcetera (three-on-three) – girls on Mondays and men on Tuesdays – and for the modest sum of $13, you can have access to two games a night. Just a few meters from you!

I went on a little tour of Montreal’s west end with some friends yesterday.

(Credit: Sébastien Gervais (LSHL))
What did I retain from my evening?

1. Even if it’s the middle of July, it’s always best to bring a hoodie or coat when you’re going to spend a few hours in an arena. Alex and Ced from HFTV should have known better! #Hehe

(Credit: Sébastien Gervais (LSHL))

But hey, they’re still young, they’ll learn…

2. Most of the players on the Bettman circuit had an edge on the others yesterday (which is normal). Simon Benoit, the Joseph brothers, Joe Veleno, Thomas Bordeleau, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Nicolas Deslauriers all seemed to understand the game milliseconds before the AHL, European or junior guys. Only Anthony Beauvillier failed to fly over the NHLers, but I’m assured he was among the best players in the previous two weeks. I believe it.

Maybe Beauvillier just had a bad one in his legs…

3. The best players yesterday were Thomas Bordeleau, Nicolas Deslauriers and Pierre-Luc Dubois. Bordeleau was probably the most gifted player in terms of raw talent. Everything he did was graceful… and efficient. If he were two or three inches taller, he’d already be a first-line NHL player. Still, I’m predicting a great career for him. He’s going to rack up a lot of points.

4. Nicolas Deslauriers may be a depth player at the NHL level, but when you put him on the same ice as lower-caliber players, he stands out. He scored a number of goals… he who finished the summer of 2023 among the season’s top scorers! He can play hockey!

(Credit: Sébastien Gervais (LSHL))

5. Pierre-Luc Dubois often looked like a man among children. During my appearance on the LSHL livestream (on YouTube), Daphnée Malboeuf and I agreed during the broadcast of the first game that, on average, the guys were at about 80% of their “normal” form and that they only gave 50% of themselves, let’s say….

But Pierre-Luc Dubois has just started training again after a few weeks’ break, and it was his first game in the LSHL this summer. It showed, especially in his defensive retreats and acceleration, but he was still the best player on his team, along with Deslauriers.

No, it’s not Dubois’ talent that’s preventing him from blowing up in the NHL! Except that if I were Spencer Carbery, I’d still manage to find a defensive winger to pair with the new Dubois – Ovechkin duo. I’m just saying…

(Credit: Sébastien Gervais (LSHL))

6. Louis Domingue and Zach Fucale saw plenty of rubber last night, as did young Quentin Miller, whose rights belong to the Habs. Three-on-three goaltending is never easy. While all four goalies had their moments, I’d say the best of the four yesterday was Anthony Morrone, a 25-year-old Montrealer who played in Germany last season.

Guys who attend all the games have confirmed to me that he’s been pretty much as effective as he was yesterday since the start of the summer…

7. I had a chance to chat with Zach Fucale before the games. He’s having a great time in Russia (KHL) and seems to be in excellent physical and mental shape. He put up incredible stats last season, and I’m pretty sure he’ll do the same this year.

When I asked him if he felt like he was living in a country at war during the hockey season, he replied: “No, not so much! But you know, the town I live in is very far east of Moscow and Ukraine… and hardly anyone speaks English.”

8. There were still quite a few people in the arena last night, but the organizers confirmed to me that it was fuller than that for each of the Monday games, which pit the girls against each other.

“We’ve had more people for the Monday game than the Tuesday game in each of the weeks of the summer season.”

9. Xavier Bourgault scored two superb breakaway goals. If I were Travis Green, I’d put him on my list for the shootout…

10. Caleb Desnoyers, 17, had the chance to play with his brother Elliott, Maxime Comtois, Anthony Beauvillier and Louis Domingue. He faced off against Simon Benoit and the Joseph brothers, among others… and came out on top. No worse Tuesday night, Caleb!

(Credit: Sébastien Gervais (LSHL))

11. Laurent Dauphin, who agreed to a contract with the Laval Rocket just a few weeks ago, scored a goal on a superb trade early in the evening. His return to Laval will be a plus for the organization.

12. The LSHL site no longer counts individual stats, only team stats. Since we’re talking about a summer league to stay in shape, that’s fair enough! We’re not going to over-analyze individual stats in a three-on-three summer league, are we?

13. I’ve heard through the grapevine that some of the Habs’ star players should play a few games in August. Suzuki? Caufield? Slafkovsky? Hutson? Dach? A freshly drafted prospect?

14. Danick from HFTV was on hand… and he made his presence felt (vocally) on a few occasions. Cool guy!

(Credit: Sébastien Gervais (LSHL))

15. I had the chance to chat with Christian Viau ( livestream producer), Rachid Issoulaimani (La Presse), Marie-Michèle Coutu (RDS), Isabelle Éthier (Femme d’Hockey), Sébastien Gervais (photographer), James Sacco (Hockey Etcetera) and many others during the evening. I’m telling you: if you’ve got nothing to do on a Monday or Tuesday night, go to the LSHL!

Living Sisu
Living Sisu is a sports accessibility company founded by three athletes (Zach Fucale, Olivier Gervais and Alexandre Atsaidis). We help our community develop resilience and personal growth by providing experiences, exclusive sports offerings and essential resources to enable individuals to embrace sisu values through sport. Living Sisu is available as a downloadable mobile platform on Apple and Google.

Living Sisu Hockey League
The LSHL isn’t really a league, even if the L in its name stands for that word. We’re talking about a number of charity events whose proceeds are donated to the Pancreas Canada Foundation at the end of the summer.

The league’s primary objective is to enable players to have fun, stay in shape, train without pressure and participate in a good cause.

For more information on the LSLH or Living Sisu, click HERE and HERE.

See you next Monday or Tuesday?


Overtime

– They’re having fun!

– The good old days…

– Matvei Michkov poses with his new vest.

– Too bad.

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