Parents rejoice as son makes Olympic hockey team
One-time midget AAA Lac St. Louis Lions Gragnani, Noreau on Team Canada roster
He always does his best and he’s down to earth. That’s the way he always was. He was happy, you could tell. He was kind of relieved and very proud to make the Canadian team.
The Canadian Olympic men’s hockey team will have a West Island connection. Two former members of the midget AAA Lac St. Louis Lions — defencemen Marc-André Gragnani and Maxim Noreau — were named to the Olympic hockey roster last week by the Team Canada general manager Sean Burke. Gragnani and Noreau both suited up for the Lions in the early 2000s, when the team was called the West Island Lions. Gragnani’s coach back then was Guy Boucher, the current head coach of the Ottawa Senators. With National Hockey League players not participating in this year’s Winter Olympics, it opened the door to other Canadian-born players like Gragnani and Noreau to represent their country. While Gragnani has some NHL experience — he’s played 85 games with four different teams — he also has international experience, having represented Canada previously at the world under-18 tournament, Spengler Cup and world hockey championships. Gragnani, 30, now plays for the Minsk Dinamo in the Kontinental Hockey League. He was recently selected to play in the KHL All-Star Game. Gragnani’s parents, who live on Île-Bizard, plan to attend the Olympic Games next month in Pyeongchang, South Korea. “We’re going to go because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime event,” said Françoise Bisutti. “It’s going to be fun.” Bisutti noted her son was proud to be selected to the Canadian Olympic team. “He was prepared for a ‘no’ and he was prepared for ‘yes.’ He said, ‘I think I deserve (to go) but a lot of guys deserve it.’ ” She said her son was not overcome with emotion at being selected because “he’s not that kind of person.” “Marc is very low-key and low profile,” she added. “He always does his best and he’s down to earth. That’s the way he always was. But he was happy, you could tell. He was kind of relieved and very proud to make the Canadian team.” Gragnani’s parents have visited the city of Minsk, in Belarus, to watch their son play in the KHL. “Minsk is a beautiful city,” Bisutti said. “Marc-André loves it there. The team is not doing so good this year, but the city is nice, very secure and very clean.” She said Marc-André often returns to Île-Bizard during the summer months. He is the youngest of three children in the Gragnani family. The family has lived on the island for 33 years. Bisutti said her son took to hockey as a youngster. “What people used to say about him was that although he was never the tallest or biggest, but people always said he had a hockey mind. “He started playing hockey at age 4 or 5, when there is no blue line or anything. But he would get upset if someone went offside. He understood the game very well at a very young age. “Gragnani was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the third round (87th overall) of the 2005 entry draft. He also had NHL stops with the Vancouver Canucks and the Carolina Hurricanes before heading overseas to play in the KHL and the Swiss pro circuit. He returned to the NHL in 2015-16 to suit up for the New Jersey Devils. He has been a member of the Dinamo Minsk for the past two seasons. Noreau, 30, is currently playing for SC Bern in the Swiss league. He played a total of six NHL games for the Minnesota Wild, but spent much of his career in the American Hockey League and in Europe. Team Canada’s training camp begins Jan. 28 in Latvia. The 12-nation Olympic men’s hockey tournament takes place from Feb. 14-25.