A DIPLOMA AND A JOB
Bégin finishes high school
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Former Canadien Steve Bégin will never forget his 40th birthday.
Before blowing out the candles on his cake at dinner Thursday night, Bégin wrote the last of seven exams he needed to pass in order to get his high-school diploma through the ChallengeU online program. Twenty-two years ago, Bégin dropped out of school in Grade 11 to focus on his hockey career with the QMJHL’s Val d’Or Foreurs ahead of the 1996 NHL Draft.
The Calgary Flames selected Bégin in the second round (40th overall) that year and he went on to play 524 games in the NHL with the Flames, Canadiens, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators, posting 56-52-108 totals and 561 penalty minutes while playing a grinding style with an incredible work ethic. But Bégin always regretted dropping out of school.
Last year, UFC star Georges StPierre — one of Bégin’s friends — convinced him to go back.
“He tells you to do something, I guess you do it,” Bégin said with a laugh during a phone interview Thursday afternoon from his home in Candiac. “That’s why I did it ... I felt I had something to finish.
“It wasn’t a smart move by me to drop out, but I believed so hard that I would make it to the NHL and I had one plan,” Bégin added. “Everything was about hockey for me. Now, when I talk to kids I tell them: ‘Don’t do what I did, just do what I say.’ I tell them to go to school. It wasn’t a smart choice by me. I made it to the NHL, but I was lucky because there’s only .04 per cent of minor-hockey players that make it to the NHL for one game. So the odds are pretty much against you.”
Bégin can now explain that to junior players with the Drummondville Voltigeurs. Writing his final high-school exam wasn’t the only thing Bégin did Thursday — he also accepted a new job as an assistant coach with the QMJHL team under head coach Steve Hartley, the son of former NHL coach Bob Hartley.
“It’s been a busy day for me,” Bégin said.
Bégin has kept very busy since retiring from the NHL after the 2012-13 season as vice-president of Nobesco, a construction engineering company based in TroisRivières that he started with his friend Mario Noel, as well as doing TV commentary work for RDS.
“My wife says I’m busier now than when I used to play hockey,” Bégin said.
After retiring, Bégin promised his wife, Amélie, that he would spend more time at home with their two daughters, Méanne (13) and Maylia (10). Four years ago, the Foreurs asked Bégin to join them as an assistant coach in the QMJHL playoffs and they went on to win the President’s Cup.
“Before that experience, I always said that I didn’t want to be a coach, that I wouldn’t touch it for nothing,” Bégin said. “But when they asked me, I said: ‘OK, I’ll go help you guys.’ I loved it! I fell in love right away. It’s the closest thing after being a hockey player. You’re right there, you’re right in the action. So it was a great feeling the whole time I was there. But I had a deal with my wife and my family. I was away so much with hockey. I’m a family guy. I love to spend time with my kids. So that’s why I stepped away from hockey a little bit. But my wife knew that I was going to go back.”
Now, on his 40th birthday, the time is right.
Bégin said he will try to teach the Voltigeurs the importance of work ethic, which was the strongest part of his game and what got him to the NHL. Life wasn’t easy for Bégin as a kid, growing up poor with an alcoholic father. But he never complained and said it only made him stronger.
“Kids now are different from when I used to play,” he said. “I used to tell my coach: ‘If you have something to tell me, don’t be shy. You tell me in front of everybody, you go hard on me. Just say it out loud and blast me, I don’t care. It’s going to motivate me and probably motivate the team, too.’ But now it’s different. You have to be careful with your approach. So that’s
I was lucky because there’s only .04 per cent of minorhockey players that make it to the NHL for one game.
something I’m going to have to work on. But I’ll try to pass on my work ethic. I’m passionate. I love hockey, I love kids, I love showing them what to do. I’ll try to teach them to be good hockey players, but to be men, too. To be good people off the ice.”
What does Bégin see himself doing 10 years from now, when he turns 50?
“Oh, my God,” he said before a pause. “Probably coaching in the NHL. You never know.”