There’s a little Hollywood thing about Philadelphia Flyers defender Samuel Maureen. His first goal in the National Hockey League last Saturday, nearly six years since his professional debut, was nothing short of imaginative.

“It’s the happiest moment of my life,” the 25-year-old said after scoring the winning goal for the Flyers against the New York Rangers.

Above, see Samuel Morin’s first goal.

Immediately after the match, as he does after each of his beginners’ games, Maureen picked up the phone and called his parents, Pascal Maureen and Sylvie Larousse.

The father said during an interview, “We have seen how happy he is with him Newspaper, Monday. As a parent, this is the most important. “

The feeling in his son’s voice was far from what he had been on a call on November 9, 2019. By this time, Maureen had just suffered a second ACL tear in 19 months, and the first times he thought about giving. chiefly.

“The phone rang, it was midnight or 1 in the morning. He told me he wanted to give up everything. I told him I understood, but he is in the best place for treatment.

Then Pat called [Brisson, son agent]He told her the same thing. “

Long process

Flyers’ first-round pick parents in 2013 lived with him every step of the way on his return to the NHL.

Ironically, they missed his first goal in his career!

“We were watching the match and when Samuel recorded it there was a blackout on the TV and we could only hear the sound while the pictures were from the car racing.

“We had to take a look at Twitter to make sure it scored. Everyone called us,” he says, laughing.

Thanks to the magic of technology, it didn’t take long to find the resumption of that first goal, as we see his enthusiastic teammates flock to Maureen to congratulate him.

“I wanted a camera on the bench because I think the reaction was worse,” said Ian Labrier, assistant coach of Flyers. Newspaper Monday.

“The men were jumping on each other. Sam, he’s a good guy, big bear. It’s been three years since men have seen him struggle like hell in holy water to get back in the game.”

Moreover, when talking about the people who were the most important in the process that led to Morin’s return to the game, his father particularly quotes Laperrière, as well as Daniel Brière and Philippe Boucher.

Laperrière, who has served as Morin’s confidant through the more difficult years, refuses to take the credit.

“There aren’t a lot of Quebecers coming up, so if I can help them as best I can, that’s a lot better. Even so, all the credit goes to him. He never gave up on his goal of returning to the National Hockey League and had some pitfalls.”

transition

Until this year, he continued to live on, pitfalls. The pilots, who wanted to provide a place for him but had no defensive post to show him, decided to turn him into the attack site.

After a few matches, Morin asked GM Chuck Fletcher to return him to the mansion so he could return to the defense position. After seven games, he’s back with the big club … as a full-back!

“I get goose bumps just by talking about it,” adds Laperrière. On his first match, we had a failure [8-3 contre les Rangers]But Sam brought something we didn’t have.

“After the match, I wrote to him that I liked what he had done and he replied that he was happy with his good performance but the challenge was to play well every night.

“The coaches usually say that. Everything he’s gone through has made him mature a lot. He knows better than anyone else what it takes to stay in this league and I’m really proud of him.”