A Quebec player involved in minor hockey in Switzerland comes to the same conclusions as former Canadian defender Alexandre Picard: the pleasure and development of young people are priorities in Europe, which is not always the case in Quebec.
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Based in Sierre for five years, after stops in the United States, France, Norway and Sweden, Éric Castonguay has closely followed the progress of his boys in Switzerland. He has never witnessed physical or psychological violence, as Picard, an analyst at TVA Sports, recently denounced. Testimonies that saddened Castonguay.
“In Switzerland, before the U13 categories, you don’t play to win,” he assures in an interview with Newspaper. It is really the learning that is put forward. You don’t see coaches cutting their bench, even in tournaments and in the elite. Everyone plays to have fun and develop themselves.”
The one who has already defended the colors of the New Jersey Devils subsidiary in the American League also notes that the emphasis is placed on training, more numerous than matches, because it is “during practices that the young people improve”.
No ranking or statistics
The newly retired 36-year-old will supervise young people aged 13 and under in his host city and from the next campaign, he will be the assistant to his father-in-law, Mario Pouliot, behind the bench of his former team, HC Sierre, in the Swiss second division.
In this small municipality of 17,000 inhabitants, Castonguay maintains that the objective is not to “put pressure” on the little ones, who “all have a chance to develop on and off the ice”.
“For kids, goals and assists are not important. We’re always happy to win, but it doesn’t matter. We don’t even have a ranking until U15. There are no personal statistics on the web,” underlines the native of Drummondville who grew up in Granby.
Not like soccer
With 32,000 Swiss playing hockey in 2022-2023 compared to 550,000 Canadians, the mentality of the two countries is very different.
“In Quebec and Canada, if you lose a player, it’s not so serious, because there are so many. But here, that is not the case. We want children to come and discover hockey, learn and have fun,” explains Castonguay.
In Switzerland, as elsewhere in Europe, soccer is king and master, and excesses are more numerous.
“My children didn’t like football, a little because of that. It was very intense, the parents, the coaches…,” says Castonguay.
No surprise that his sons, Henrik, 9 years old, Niklas, 6 years old, and Mattias, 2 years old, born respectively in Norway, Quebec and Switzerland, quickly put on skates.
Éric Castonguay with his son Henrik (then aged 4) in 2019, in Switzerland, during family training for the HC Sierre team.
Photo provided by Janika Pouliot
When Switzerland beats Canada
Quebecer Éric Castonguay was teased when the Swiss defeated the Canadians in a shootout a few days ago in the semi-final of the World Hockey Championship.
Quickly, he replied that the Swiss country could count on its best elements, with the exception of Timo Meier, JJ Moser and Pius Suter. On the maple leaf side, without Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby and Cale Makar, it was rather “team B or C” at the Worlds, according to Castonguay.
“If it had happened at the Olympics, it would be a different story!” said the father of three boys, all Canada fans with hockey-loving Quebec parents.
Swiss players celebrate after scoring against Canada in the semi-final of the World Hockey Championship on May 25 in Prague.
Photo AFP
Succession
Castonguay notes, however, that succession is problematic in his adopted country. He notes that only three athletes were under 26 at the World Cup.
“For the small categories, things are going well and for the senior too, with two excellent professional leagues. But there is a hole. It’s not easy for 16-17 year old players, who have very few options. The best go to play in Canada or Sweden,” he observes.
