METE SHOWS HE BELONGS
Family and friends revelled in Habs rookie’s debut
WASHINGTON About 20 minutes after the Canadiens’ practice had finished on Friday, Victor Mete was still on the ice at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex along with Charles Hudon and Alex Galchenyuk, shooting pucks at goalie Al Montoya.
The 19-year-old Mete probably could have stayed on the ice all afternoon.
“This was my dream my whole life, so now being able to actually live it is really good,” Mete said after he finally returned to the locker-room. “Just being able to play around with the boys out there, shoot pucks and play games and stuff, it’s really cool.”
If Mete was nervous during his NHL debut on Thursday night — a 3-2 shootout win over the Sabres in Buffalo — it certainly didn’t show. The 5-foot-9, 184-pounder logged 18:43 of ice time — including 2:44 on the power play — and finished plus-1. Mete also had his own personal fan club in attendance with his father, mother and sister among a group of about 40 family members and friends who had a private box at the KeyBank Center.
“They didn’t ask me for any tickets,” Mete said. “They took care of it themselves. It was really good to see the support I got. Almost all my family was there and I’m lucky to have them.”
Mete’s sister, Julia, is three years older than him and she’s one of the reasons he became such a fantastic skater. Julia was a figure skater and Victor used to skate with her on the family’s backyard rink and try to imitate her.
“I used to go watch her compete a lot,” Mete said. “I used to do a lot of power skating as a kid, but I never figure skated myself.”
Mete started playing hockey at age 6. His father was also a defenceman as a kid, but Victor said the highest Joseph Mete played was at the minor-midget level with the Don Mills Flyers in the Greater Toronto Hockey League. Joseph is now general manager of The Venetian, a family owned banquet hall that specializes in corporate and social events. The Mete family has been in the hospitality business for more than 45 years.
Joseph, like Victor, grew up dreaming of one day playing in the NHL, but it never happened for him.
“He always encouraged me to play,” Victor said. “He said that, because he wasn’t able to live his dream of making it, he wanted to give me every opportunity to do it. He had a big impact … he would pick me up from school and bring me to some (hockey) camps that I didn’t even know there was.”
But no matter how many hockey camps he went to, how many power-skating lessons he took or how many times he watched his sister figure skating, none of that would help Victor grow taller.
While his height has always been considered a disadvantage by others, Mete simply refused to listen. Even after he wasn’t put on the NHL Central Scouting list of players to watch heading into the 2015-16 season with the OHL’s London Knights. Even after he wasn’t selected until the fourth round (100th overall) by the Canadiens at the 2016 NHL Draft. Even after he was considered a serious long-shot to make the Canadiens this season.
Mete just keeps beating the odds and Canadiens coach Claude Julien is getting tired of answering questions about the teenage defenceman.
“He’s just good, guys,” Julien told reporters in Buffalo after Thursday’s game. “You don’t have to explain why he’s good. He’s been good, and he keeps showing it, and I don’t have to say more about him. He’s a good defenceman, I like the way he skates and moves the puck and, hopefully, he continues to show that.”
Mete was paired with Shea Weber against the Sabres, with the veteran defenceman logging a game-high 29:30 of ice time, which earned him a day off from practice on Friday. The No. 1 defensive pair will face a big challenge on Saturday against the Capitals (7 p.m., CITY TV, TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690) and Alex Ovechkin, who had a hat trick in Washington’s season-opening 5-4 win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.
“I watched him a lot as a kid,” Mete said about Ovechkin, who broke into the NHL when the defenceman was only 7. “I’m excited … it should be a good game.”
The Canadiens didn’t check into their Washington hotel until after 2 a.m. Friday and Mete said he didn’t get much sleep. The adrenalin was still pumping after his first NHL game. It helps that his roommate is Artturi Lehkonen, a rookie last season.
“I seem to always be rooming with Finnish guys, even in junior hockey,” Mete said with a smile, referring to his London roommate Olli Juolevi, who was the Vancouver Canucks’ first-round pick (fifth overall) in 2016.
“(Lehkonen) went through this last year, so he just said to take in all the experiences, take in everything, and don’t take it for granted ... but enjoy it.”
Mete was certainly enjoying himself at practice on Friday.