Inside Montreal captain Nick Suzuki’s crash course in French
Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki has learned French in bits and pieces over time. He knows enough to show his gratitude when he’s at the grocery store or grabbing coffee at a drive-thru. He has seen how saying “Merci” after interviews can go a long way with the fans.
There are the one-liners he and his teammates have used with the athletic trainers and the equipment staff during everyday interactions. He has also had the chance to ask friends a few questions and pick up a few phrases that help him in his everyday life.
Now there is a plan in place to ensure Suzuki and every Canadiens player who wants to learn French will have that opportunity. The Canadiens are reinstituting a voluntary French language program for their players that will be taught by former Canadian Olympic high jumper Alain Metellus, who had his first meeting with the players on Jan. 10.
“It’s been awesome,” Suzuki said about having a voluntary French program. “[Canadiens vice president of hockey communications Chantal Machabée] has done an amazing job and really encourages guys to use French. That motivates us and it makes us feel comfortable being able to do that.”
Machabée was hired by the Canadiens after spending 32 years at French broadcaster RDS as a sports reporter who covered the team. She said the decision to reinstate the program came from Canadiens owner Geoff Molson who, along with Machabée, believed that having more players who spoke French would allow them to have an even stronger connection with fans.
“It goes a long way with people,” Machabée said. “It shows them that you really care about the team, the city and the fans. People in Montreal really appreciate that.”
When Suzuki was named captain before the season, there were Quebec politicians who called on the 23-year-old to learn French. Suzuki said he took French classes growing up, which was part of the curriculum back home in London, Ontario.
Suzuki said he started to relearn French after his rights were traded to the Canadiens as part of the Max Pacioretty deal with the Vegas Golden Knights. He had a membership to Babbel, an online language program. He used it at first but stopped for a few years before using Babbel again in the summer.
“You can type your answers and you can speak your answers into your phone and it will tell you if you are saying it right,” Suzuki said. “It has not been an everyday thing. We’ve been pretty busy (with the season), and I like doing it to relax when I have down time.”
Machabée began the search for a tutor prior to the season starting. She was gathering résumés when a mutual acquaintance told her about Metellus. What stood out about Metellus, who grew up in Montreal, was the idea the team could have a tutor who could teach them French in a way that was more relatable rather than the traditional approach.
Another detail Machabée said she appreciated about Metellus was he could connect with players about what it means to be an athlete with media obligations trying to learn a new language.
Metellus, who speaks English and French, also lived in Germany. He learned how to speak German and was able to parlay his knowledge of foreign languages to teach English and French in a corporate environment.
“I know what it feels like to learn a new language from scratch,” Metellus said. “What it feels like is when you say something is insurmountable. It’s like being right-handed and being asked to write with your left hand. You think it is impossible.”
Metellus said the key to learning a new language is realizing a person’s native language is not the standard.
“I often tell people, ‘This new language is just different,'” Metellus said. “The perspective changes and you have to have the right angle. If you have the wrong one, you are always going to be pissed off.”
So what is it like to be the captain of the Canadiens who is also trying to learn French at the same time?
Just ask Brian Gionta. The longtime NHL right winger grew up in Rochester, New York, before spending four years at Boston College. Gionta spent seven seasons with the team that drafted him, the New Jersey Devils, before coming to Montreal. He spent five seasons in Montreal and was captain for four of them.
Gionta and his wife sent their children to a French immersion school. They befriended one of the mothers at the school, who also turned out to be a foreign language tutor, and she taught Gionta and his wife.
Gionta said learning French came with its challenges. He admitted there were times when his French was probably not the strongest. But he still wanted to show he was making the effort whether it was greeting the media in French before doing an interview in English or when he spoke a few lines on opening night to announce the team.
“The fans were great. My five years in Montreal were probably the best of my career,” Gionta said. “We had a great experience with it. The fans, the media, the organization. All of it was great to myself and my family. … I was not necessarily worried about trying to win people over or worried if I lost a few people if I was not good at it. But it was about trying to do the best I could in the culture that is Montreal.”
Machabée shared the anecdote of how Suzuzki met Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby when they were at the NHL player tour in Las Vegas before the start of the season. She said Crosby told Suzuki how he did not speak French when he played in juniors for the Rimouski Oceanic but was able to learn.
She recalled how Crosby told Suzuki everyone in Rimouski was patient with him and how they appreciated his effort with learning French. Machabée then pointed out how it was a skill Crosby can continue to use because he has established close relationships with current and former teammates, such as Marc-Andre Fleury, Kris Letang and Max Talbot, who are all native French speakers who grew up in Quebec.
Suzuki, who spoke to ESPN earlier in the season, said he has never done an entire interview in French. He has opened and closed interviews in French. But he does eventually want to reach a stage in which he can do a full interview in French.
“I spoke French when I was named captain, but that was just a sentence at the beginning and end of interviews,” Suzuki said. “I am not there yet but would eventually like to get to that point.”
Metellus wants the same thing for Suzuki and any Canadiens player who is interested in learning the language. Metellus said he wants to get a feel for everyone’s proficiency level and also find out what they want to work on.
From there, he will work with the Canadiens’ communications staff to establish a schedule that works for the players. They’re still working through certain details like whether they will do individual or group sessions. Either way, Metellus said the plan is to have in-person sessions when the team is in Montreal while doing remote sessions through videoconference whenever they are on the road.
“When the general public sees that a Montreal Canadiens player is improving their French or making the effort to learn it, the respect goes to the moon,” Metellus said. “The general public will really, really appreciate that. They are going to say, ‘At least he is making an effort,’ and that is what people want to see. If I am able to play a part in that, then, it’s all good in the hood.”
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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
Louisiana State Police have issued an arrest warrant for former LSU receiver Kyren Lacy, who is accused of causing a fatal crash that killed a 78-year-old man on Dec. 17 and then fleeing the scene without rendering aid or calling authorities.
Louisiana State Police said on Friday that Lacy will be charged with negligent homicide, felony hit-and-run and reckless operation of a vehicle.
Police said they have been in contact with Lacy and his attorney to turn himself in.
According to a news release from state police, Lacy was allegedly driving a 2023 Dodge Charger on Louisiana Highway 20 and “recklessly passed multiple vehicles at a high rate of speed by crossing the centerline and entering the northbound lane while in a designated no-passing zone.”
“As Lacy was illegally passing the other vehicles, the driver of a northbound pickup truck abruptly braked and swerved to the right to avoid a head-on collision with the approaching Dodge,” a Louisiana State Police news release said.
“Traveling behind the pickup was a 2017 Kia Cadenza whose driver swerved left to avoid the oncoming Dodge Charger. As the Kia Cadenza took evasive action to avoid impact with the Dodge, it crossed the centerline and collided head-on with a southbound 2017 Kia Sorento.”
Police alleged that Lacy, 24, drove around the crash scene and fled “without stopping to render aid, call emergency services, or report his involvement in the crash.”
Herman Hall, 78, of Thibodaux, Louisiana, who was a passenger in the Kia Sorrento, later died from injuries suffered in the crash, according to state police.
The drivers of the Cadenza and Sorento also sustained moderate injuries, according to police.
Lacy played two seasons at Louisiana before transferring to LSU in 2022. This past season, he had 58 catches for 866 yards with nine touchdowns and declared for the NFL draft on Dec. 19, two days after the crash.
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Dan Murphy, ESPN Staff Writer
The legal efforts to unionize college athletes appear to be running out of steam this month as a new Republican-led administration gets set to take over the federal agency in charge of ruling on employment cases.
A players’ advocacy group who filed charges against the NCAA, Pac-12 and USC that would have potentially opened the door for college players to form a union decided Friday to withdraw its complaint. Their case – which was first filed in February 2022 – was one of two battles against the NCAA taken up by the National Labor Relations Board in recent years. Earlier this week, an administrative law judge closed the other case, which was filed by men’s basketball players at Dartmouth.
The National College Players Association, which filed its complaint on behalf of USC athletes, said the recent changes in state law and NCAA rules that are on track to allow schools to directly pay their players starting this summer caused them to reconsider their complaint.
“[T]he NCPA believes that it is best to provide adequate time for the college sports industry to transition into this new era before football and basketball players employee status is ruled upon,” the organization’s founder Ramogi Huma wrote in the motion to withdraw.
The NCAA and its four power conferences agreed to the terms of a legal settlement this summer that will allow schools to spend up to roughly $20.5 million on direct payments to their athletes starting next academic year. The deal is scheduled to be finalized in April.
College sports leaders, including NCAA President Charlie Baker, have remained steadfast in their belief that athletes should not be considered employees of their schools during a period when college sports have moved closer to a professionalized model.
Some industry stakeholders believe that the richest schools in college sports will need to collectively bargain with athletes to put an end to the current onslaught of legal challenges facing the industry. Currently, any collective bargaining would have to happen with a formal union to provide sufficient legal protection. Some members of Congress say they are discussing the possibility of creating a special status for college sports that would allow collective bargaining without employment. However, Congressional aides familiar with ongoing negotiations told ESPN that influential Republican leaders in Congress are firmly against the idea.
The NLRB’s national board previously declined to make a ruling on whether college athletes should be employees in 2015 when a group of football players at Northwestern attempted to unionize. Jennifer Abruzzo, the agency’s leader during the Biden administration, signaled an interest in taking up the athletes’ fight to unionize early in her tenure. Abruzzo is not expected to remain as the NLRB’s general counsel during Donald Trump’s presidency.
Under Abruzzo, the agency’s regional offices pushed both the Dartmouth and USC cases forward in the past year. Dartmouth players got far enough to vote in favor of forming a union in March 2024, but were still in the appeals process when they decided to end their effort last month.
The only remaining legal fight over employee status in college sports is a federal lawsuit known as Johnson v. NCAA. That case claims the association is violating the Fair Labor Standards Act, which does not guarantee the right to unionize but instead would give athletes some basic employee rights such as minimum wage and overtime pay. That case is currently working its way through the legal process in the Third Circuit federal court.
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Pete Thamel, Senior College Sports Insider
Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord, the nation’s leading passer in 2024, told ESPN on Friday that he will declare for the NFL draft and has decided to no longer pursue an NCAA eligibility waiver for another season.
This decision ends what he called a “crazy ride” through college football that saw him go 22-4 as a starting quarterback at Syracuse and Ohio State. McCord led the nation with 4,779 passing yards in 2024 and led Syracuse to a 10-win season and a victory over Washington State in the Holiday Bowl.
He broke DeShaun Watson’s ACC career passing record in 2024, and the 10-win season marked the program’s first since 2018.
“I think the biggest thing for me was, obviously, I felt like I put together a really good year,” McCord told ESPN. “With the way everything played itself out and what I’m hearing in terms of feedback at the draft, it just makes sense to go, after weighing all the options out.”
McCord finished fourth nationally with 34 touchdown passes this year, and his statistical dominance and strong team play helped him considerably in the eyes of NFL evaluators. McCord profiles as middle-rounds NFL pick right now, with the process of playing the East-West Shrine Bowl and meeting with teams through the draft process gives him a runway to improve his stock. He is not currently listed among the top 10 draft-eligible quarterbacks by ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.
The move to Syracuse proved beneficial for McCord, as the program under first-year coach Fran Brown and the offense under coordinator Jeff Nixon gave McCord a forum to thrive. He’s said he’ll be “forever indebted” to the school and staff for his time there.
“It was a little bit of leap of faith going to Syracuse,” McCord said. “Coming off the season I had at Ohio State and going in portal and having no idea where you are going to be, it was a scary situation to be in.”
He said he’s grateful for the journey from going 11-1 as the starter at Ohio State to the uncertainty of the portal to having a historic final year of college at Syracuse.
“The biggest thing is how thankful I am for Syracuse for bringing me in,” McCord said. “I’m thankful to the coaches, my teammates and the fans.”
McCord, who graduated from Syracuse, expressed his appreciation for Brown and Nixon. He said the offense of Nixon, who is an experienced NFL coach, helped prepare him for the next step he’s about to take.
“He’s one of the smartest football minds I’ve ever had a chance to be around,” McCord said. “He put me in position to go out and have success. His playcalling, I think, was phenomenal, especially in situations where we had to have it. I owe a lot of my success to him.”
McCord believes the adversity of his journey shaped him for the NFL.
“I think I learned a lot about myself throughout the process,” McCord said, “and it was really the first time I faced a big moment of adversity having to go in the portal. It’s definitely been a crazy, wild ride. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in world.”
McCord played in five games as a freshman at Ohio State, one more than the NCAA minimum for a redshirt season. He had filed a waiver to challenge that, but he said he has since decided to push forward and enter the NFL.
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