A HANDYMAN BOTH ON AND OFF THE ICE
Powerfully built Byron has no problem learning new skills or making new friends
Having a Canadiens player move into the house next door would seem like a dream come true for most Montreal hockey fans.
But the Canadiens’ Paul Byron turned out to be the lucky one after he moved into a house near the team’s Brossard practice facility with his family last year and then decided to spend the off-season there.
Byron needed to do some work in the backyard this summer and his neighbour came over to take a look. “We were looking at my stairs (leading from the house to the pool) that were sinking and he was like: ‘If you ever need me to help fix it, I’ll come help fix it,’” Byron said at the team’s Brossard practice facility Friday morning before facing the Florida Panthers at the Bell Centre Friday night.
Byron’s neighbour is a contractor and after one of his scheduled jobs fell through, giving him some free time, he told the Canadien: “If you want to do it, let’s do it.”
“It turned into a big project,” Byron said. “We had to remove everything, re-compact everything and re-lay the bricks. It was pretty big work. I added a whole new area of patio stones and some of them were 100 pounds. It’s a long day when you’re carrying those stones all day.”
It’s not surprising Byron jumped in to help with the job. His work ethic is a big reason why the 5-foot-9, 162-pound forward made it to the NHL after being selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the sixth round (179th overall) at the 2007 NHL Draft. Byron is also — pound for pound — one of the strongest players on the Canadiens.
“For my size, pound for pound, I think I’m a pretty strong guy,” he said. “I know when we do all the gym testing it’s all done with the cables and there’s a lot of guys that are 40 pounds heavier than me and the speed I’m lifting the weight is way faster. When you put that pound for pound, I’m pretty strong. I don’t load six plates on a squat and try and do anything like that, but I know I’m a strong, powerful guy.”
Byron was also one of the best bargains in the NHL last season, posting career highs in goals (22), assists (21) and points (43), along with a plus-21 during the first season of a three-year, US$3.5million contract. Byron finished fourth on the Canadiens in points — trailing only Max Pacioretty (67), Alexander Radulov (54) and Alex Galchenyuk (44) — and his 22.9 shooting percentage was the team’s best. Sidney Crosby, who led the NHL with 44 goals, had a 17.3 shooting percentage.
“I think I can get better,” said Byron, whose six game-winning goals were one less than team leader Pacioretty. “I know all the advanced stats people think that I’m due to regress, but I think I can do even better.”
Don’t bet against Byron, who has been proving people wrong and been told he’s too small since he first starting playing hockey as a kid in Ottawa, idolizing Paul Kariya, another small player who will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in November. Last season, Byron was the Canadiens’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which goes to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Ottawa Senators goalie Craig Anderson won the award after taking time off last season to take care of his wife, Nicholle, who was diagnosed with throat cancer.
Off the ice, Byron says he’s a pretty good handyman and enjoys working on projects around the house. “I’m still learning,” he said. “I have some projects on a list. I’m pretty handy … I’d put myself probably top two on the team. I don’t know too many guys who do stuff on their own.”
Byron said the only teammate who might give him competition as a handyman is Andrew Shaw, whose father runs a construction company in Belleville, Ont.
“He might be handy, but I think I could take him,” Byron said with a smile.
The bilingual Byron and his wife Sarah Leblond, who he met while playing junior hockey in Gatineau, have settled in nicely on the South Shore with their two young children.
“We couldn’t be any happier,” he said. “We love where we live. Everything about where we are, we wouldn’t change anything.”
As for his handyman neighbour, Byron said: “Our family couldn’t be any closer to his family. My wife is best friends with his wife and I’ve become pretty close to him, too, and the kids all get along super well. In one year it’s crazy to think how close you can become to someone you’ve never met before. But everyone in the neighbourhood has been super friendly, super nice.
“I don’t really think much about it,” Byron added about being a famous neighbour. “I just live normally and it’s never been a problem.”