Former Canadiens Player Had Some Advice For Texier

Alexandre Texier may be the only member of the French national team to play in the NHL, but he’s not the only one who’s ever played there or for the Montreal Canadiens, for that matter. In Milano-Cortina, Cristobal Huet is France’s goaltending coach, but not so long ago, he was manning the net for the Habs.

Huet spent seven years in the NHL and played 272 games, posting a 129-90-32 record. He finished his career with a 2.46 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. He spent three seasons in Montreal, playing 117 games and posting a 58-39-13 record with a 2.53 GAA and a .920 SV%. He was traded out of town towards the end of the 2007-08 season when the organization felt it was time to give the reins to a very young Carey Price.

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Still, he looks back fondly on his experience with the Habs, and speaking to NHL.com’s Jean-Francois Chaumont, he had this to say about Texier:

I’ve watched the Canadiens’ games remotely and through Tex, I thought back to my great years in Montreal, but I’m mostly just so happy for him. I told him to come into his own with the Canadiens. I feel he’ll get the opportunity to show how talented he is in the NHL. We spoke about how much pleasure one gets from playing in Montreal. The fans are generous, and there is such a rich hockey culture. When things are going well, Montreal is an extraordinary hockey town. Tex has wide eyes when he describes the Bell Centre. I think that’s so nice for him.

– Huet on Texier

The Frenchman has had a great start to his career in Montreal. In 38 games so far, he has picked up 18 points and has even found himself playing on the first line with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki. His timing to join the Habs was perfect. With so many injuries plaguing the team and Juraj Slafkovsky developing interesting chemistry with Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov, there was an opening on the first line, and he grabbed his opportunity with both hands.

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Granted, had the team been healthy, he likely wouldn’t have had the opportunity to step into that role, but he showed what he can do and was able to earn a two-year contract extension from the Canadiens. Kent Hughes signed him to a deal that will give him $5 million over the next two seasons, on top of the million he got for this year in Montreal. Of course, that’s not first-line winger money because in an ideal world, Texier wouldn’t be so high in the lineup, and he’s aware of that.

Texier bet on himself when he agreed to a contract termination with the St. Louis Blues, and he’s now reaping the benefits. He put his career back on the rails, and he now has the honour of representing his country at the Olympics. The consensus is that not much is expected from France in Milano, but Texier has the right attitude, saying he’ll give his all for the jersey he wears and that you never know what can happen in a 60-minute hockey game.

The French lost their first game of the Olympic tournament 4-0 against Switzerland, but they still put up a good fight. Texier spent 23 minutes on the ice, more than any other forward and second only to one defenseman, who got 23:45 of ice time. He took three shots and finished the game with a minus-1 rating.

They gave Czechia a bit of a scare in their second game, but they also lost it, 6-3. Texier was held off the score sheet, but he did spend 20:45 on the ice, more than any of his teammates. The forward took one shot on net and finished the game with a minus-two rating.