In minor hockey, it is not unusual for a father to coach his child’s team. In the professional ranks, on the other hand, it is rather rare, not to say exceptional. This is nevertheless the case of Sylvain and Olivier Rodrigue who, against all expectations, found themselves within the same organization.
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Sylvain has been a goaltending coach for the Bakersfield Condors, the Edmonton Oilers’ school club, for years. His eldest son, Olivier, played his first professional games this year, also with the Condors. A campaign which ended with the conquest of the division championship.
Olivier was drafted by the Oilers in 2018. His father, sitting next to him in the stands of the American Airlines Center in Dallas, was just as surprised as the rest of the family when his son’s name resonated in the heights. of the amphitheater.
“I was not involved, I was not aware and I really did not think that would happen with the Oilers, recalls the father. I didn’t have this feeling. »
A nice surprise for the whole family. Then, after the annual auction, life resumed its course: Olivier returned to Quebec to pursue his junior career, while his mother Catherine Fortin and his brother Émile officially moved from Chicoutimi to Bakersfield a few months later to join Sylvain. .
We jumped a few years to transport ourselves last January. Olivier, who played in Austria since the start of the season, was recalled to the Oilers reserve team, before being relegated to the Condors. For the first time in a long time, the family was reunited in one house, under palm trees and the hot California sun. For the father and the eldest, it was also the reunion on the ice.
All year round it has been special.
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Olivier Rodrigue
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“When I was younger, he would sometimes go out on the ice with me for training,” recalls the 20-year-old. He had been on the road a lot, but when he had the chance he would come with me. Now, to find ourselves working together, it was special the first few moments. But at the end of the day, he has a job to do and I have a job to do… ”
This sentence, the father also pronounced it a few minutes later. Even if their story is to dream, both are categorical: no question of favoritism.
“Coaching is not the same, admits Sylvain Rodrigue all the same. You know he’s your guy, but you have a job to do and there is no clear cut story. We are in a business and we are not here to please the world. There are decisions to be made. Us, that has always been the mentality that you have to earn your jersey. ”
And Olivier is no exception to the rule.
I don’t think anyone who came to our locker room could have said that I was his son. We were trying to keep a low profile.
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Olivier Rodrigue
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The family had established some rules. For example, there is no question of talking about hockey – or rather the Condors – at home.
“We respected her,” says the father. We listen to hockey and we talk about hockey, but it’s not true that we’re going to make video together. At the rink, we do our things and when we get home, we become a normal family again. ”
No pressure
Formerly with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens and the Val-d’Or Foreurs, Sylvain Rodrigue himself had a great hockey career. Since the early 2000s, he has coached goalkeepers for various organizations, notably in Germany and Switzerland. For 10 years, he was away 22 days a month.
PHOTO MARIANE L. ST-GELAIS, THE DAILY
Olivier and his father Sylvain Rodrigue
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“Émile and I have always been used to the fact that he wasn’t there, if you will. We’ve been in it all the time. It never really affected us too much, ”suggests Olivier.
For the father, however, it was a different story.
It was hard because I missed a lot of things. The Quebec Peewee Tournament, I haven’t seen it. The Dodge Cups, I have not witnessed that. I missed a lot of normal life at home too.
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Sylvain Rodrigue
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With the Rodrigue, there was never any question of putting pressure on the children to keep the goals as their father had done… On the contrary! “The only pressure we put on was so that Oli didn’t go for it!” Sylvain jokes.
We have to believe that life does things well. Olivier now makes a living with hockey and the friendly family live under one roof. And it feels good.
” Family [du Saguenay] we miss, however, specifies the young goalkeeper. We feel far away, sometimes it’s more difficult with the hours of difference. But we are fine here. ”
At the end of the day, it is a life experience that we will have lived. Not everyone can say that they have played or lived in California.
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Olivier Rodrigue
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Olivier’s crazy year
The year that Olivier Rodrigue has just passed is not trivial. In March 2020, he finished his junior internship with the Moncton Wildcats in the QMJHL. In 181 games in the Courteau circuit, he maintained a save percentage of .900 and a goals-against average of 2.70.
Then, at the end of the summer, the cerberus traveled to Edmonton, in the Oilers bubble for the qualifying round of the playoffs. There, he proposed to the organization to go play in Europe for the season. After a short stint in Switzerland, he ended up with the 99ers from Graz, Austria, with whom he played 23 games – and caught COVID-19, but he got away without too many symptoms.
“My goal was to come back to the American League to make my professional debut,” explains the main person. I saw it as an adaptation to go from junior to professional here [en Amérique du Nord]. »
In the end, I think it was really good for me to see the pro European world a bit. At least I already had several games played when I arrived here.
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Olivier Rodrigue
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One night after a game, Rodrigue got the call from Edmonton: goalie Mike Smith was injured. Called back to the reserve team, he packed his bags in a hurry and left overnight. He arrived in Canada two days later, after some complications from the pandemic. But in the meantime, the Oilers had claimed goaltender Troy Grosenick on waivers. Rodrigue was therefore sent to Bakersfield.
There, he kept the goals for 11 games (4 wins, 5 losses). He maintained a .894 save percentage and a 2.99 goals-against average.
“The difference I noticed was really the guys’ work habits and the whole process,” says the one who won gold with Junior Team Canada in 2020. It comes back a lot faster at the net, so you don’t really have time to analyze the game anymore. It’s really about reacting as quickly as possible. ”
Asked about the performance of his son, Sylvain Rodrigue goes there match by match. If we ignore the family bond that binds him to Olivier, we could not guess from listening to him speak. According to him, the young man has put good cards in his game for next season.
“The performances have been growing from start to finish,” he says. Through his work he has put a work ethic next to his name. The coaches heard about it, but had not seen it on a daily basis. It is to continue to work hard. It is so much a work of details, our job. We are in a world apart, the guards. ”
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