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academydropout · 10-11-2017, 11:55 AM

(FIRST ARTICLE; 2,028 words)

Maurice Picard was born on July 13th, to George and Yvette Picard, in Llanelli, Wales. As a child, Maurice originally struggled to fit in with the local children. "I spoke with an accent, because both my parents spoke French at home," he explains. "And it didn't help that I'm biracial either." The initial teasing over his accent would go away in time, and Maurice would integrate himself into local groups of children through their shared love of Rugby. "I think this is why I love sports so much in general," Maurice says. "It bridged the gap for me back then. Still does, probably."

It's not hard to see why Maurice may have been acutely aware of the fact he was different, even if his peers had not made it abundantly clear to him. His father, George, was originally from La Barre in eastern France, and had relocated to Wales in order to oversee an expansion of the family wine business in Llanboidy. Despite his excellent command of the English language, George Picard could never quite shake his rural French accent completely. Living in Wales alone, he would later meet his wife Yvette, who was a jazz singer and saxophonist in the nearby port town of Llanelli, on the West Wales coast. George, charmed not only by Yvette, but also the town itself, relocated. Three years later, they wed. Soon after, Maurice arrived. All eight pounds of him, much to the delight of his parents. "George insisted he would do great things." Yvette says. "And I always hoped, too. Though I would maybe have been happier if he had become a musician, like me. Much better for your face, and he was such a beautiful boy."

Maurice's early years were thus spent mostly in Llanelli, though the family made frequent visits to both his mother's family home in Martinique, and his father's family home in France. While Maurice learnt some Welsh in school, and spoke English fluently, he also developed fluency in French, as it was the native language of both his parents -- as well as the aforementioned accent. At the age of seven, young Maurice developed a love for his hometown's favourite sport of Rugby, and showed some promise as a fleet-footed winger in local tag rubgy leagues. It would not last, however, as the family would soon follow George as he relocated again, this time to Southern Quebec, in Canada.

Once again, George Picard was tasked with overseeing an expansion of the family business, so the Picard family would move around a few times over the course of their first year in Canada, something that Yvette believes affected Maurice's ability to 'fit in' in his new country. "He did not really make friends when we first arrived in Canada, I think because he did not have much time. We moved four times in the first year." Things would change after the family moved to Montreal, where George set up an overseas base for the family business; Yvette was drawn to the local jazz scene, and began performing again. The Picard family would not move again.

Initially, in Canada, young Maurice was dismayed at the lack of rugby teams, and did not fare well in the winter, struggling with the icy conditions in his new hometown. "He always enjoyed being outside, except in winter," Yvette reveals. "Maurice did not enjoy the cold. His caribbean blood would not allow him to, I think." Yvette and George struggled to motivate their son to embrace hockey, given his aversion to lower temperatures, and he preferred to play soccer for the first year of their time in Canada. Rather than hockey, he would go along with Yvette to local music events. At age nine, however, almost all of Maurice's new friends were playing local minor hockey, and he reluctantly agreed to try it out. "I like jazz, liked it then too... but it's not really for kids." Maurice jokes. "And Dad said I needed to get out more." His attempts in soccer stuttered for the same reason he couldn't get back into rugby; lack of opportunity. "I wanted to play football, or rugby. Sports I'd been playing for years, but they just weren't very accessible in Montreal. At least not compared to hockey. And none of my friends cared about rugby or soccer, so I realised if I didn't want to be the weird kid again, I better give it a try." Maurice explains.

He did not fare well in his initial attempts to skate, struggling to keep up with his more experienced peers, and never made it on to any of the teams his friends played for. "He could have stopped there," George says. "He tried, and it didn't work out. There's no shame in that. We thought maybe he'd leave it there, but he liked those guys, and his ego was perhaps a bit bruised, so he just doubled down and tried again." His friends encouraged his efforts, and later in the year, Maurice was accepted on to one of the house league teams with a few of his closest friends. Over the next few years, he absorbed as much of the sport as he could, constantly practicing with friends, and improving steadily. By age twelve, he was playing at a competitive level, alongside a handful of friends from the atom house leagues. "For those two years at peewee, it was always me, and a couple of guys I knew well; Benny and Ray. Benny was our goalie, and Ray played defense with me." Maurice recalls. "We got split up after peewee, but they were my guys. They really helped me out a lot when I was still learning to skate properly, and didn't know the rules of the game when I first came over all those years ago."

The split after peewee came when Benny's family moved away from Montreal -- "he moved to the west coast of the US and stopped playing hockey" Maurice opines -- and Ray moved to a team in a higher competition bracket. "As much as I loved my guys, it was maybe a blessing in disguise." Maurice reflects. "With the two of them gone, people started noticing me a bit more. I think because they were clearly better than me at the time, Ray got all the attention as our best defenseman, and Benny was a goalkeeping prodigy or something. I was the foreign kid who played well. With them gone, it was just me. I became the foreign kid who's actually pretty good, you know?" At the start of his second year of bantam hockey, Maurice was named team captain. "Our coach, Pierre Toulalan... he was a good guy. He taught me a lot, and I remember when he told me I was going to be captain. He said to me 'Maurice, I know you think nobody pays real attention to defensemen, but we do.' and I laughed because I knew he did, at least." He reminisces. "That second year, that was a good year. That was when my parents started watching regularly, instead of occasionally." That year, Maurice's team had moved up a level and as fate would have it, he captained his team against his old friend Ray. "That was a great day. I think that was the moment I realised how much I had improved, because we beat them. Convincingly. We saw Ray and his parents after the game, and he was so happy. I said to him 'Ray, I thought you would be upset' and he shrugged off his team losing and said 'you got so good, man' and his dad said the same thing. They started talking to my dad, and next thing I know, I'm being watched by coaches of teams in the higher levels of minor hockey."

Entering midget level, Maurice struggled initially to get minutes on ice. Being one of the youngest, and smallest, players on his team, this was expected to a degree. Not that this made it any easier to accept. "It was around this time we began to wonder whether Maurice would continue. It was the first time in years that he was limited in how much he could play," recalls George Picard. "But he is a Picard. He found a way." Maurice recalls trying to develop the mental and technical side of his game to overcome any perceived physical shortcomings, getting involved in small-area games with his new teammates and drilling himself over and over again on manoevring around randomly dropped pucks in a small area. "It was hard at first. But it was the only way to get myself in the game. If I didn't get myself in the game more, I wasn't going to go any further." Maurice says, matter-of-factly. Eventually he started to attract attention from his coaches, and moved his way up the line order. "It was proof that I was good enough, I suppose." He says. "When I first moved to Canada as a kid, I never would have imagined I'd ever play hockey at the levels I have."

The journey came to an end in one sense, when Maurice was drafted by the Prince George Firebirds last month, at number twenty-eight overall. "It was a crazy day. I wasn't expecting to go that high, as much as I joked about it with friends at the time." He admits. "I'd been looking at the teams drafting, and had no real preference. I just wanted to make sure I got drafted, you know?" Despite not being a particularly recognisable name, the Firebirds management had clearly done their homework on the Welshman. Noted as being a quiet player in the immediate aftermath of his selection, Picard has, thus far, lived up to the description. "It's not like midget hockey. It's all so much more serious in a way. These aren't kids you're playing against and alongside anymore, these are men. This isn't youth hockey, despite what the ages tell you." It had been difficult for Maurice to overcome his relative lack of stature ever since he peaked early, height-wise, and he would be the first to admit he could probably stand to pile on a few pounds. "I had started to realise I'm kind of small at midget level, and now it's just so clear. I'd be alright as a winger maybe, but for my position, I think most teams would prefer a bigger guy." He elaborates. "But it's okay, because I have some really great teammates who are giving me great info, and I don't necessarily have to bulk up a lot to get significantly stronger. Some of it is skating technique if I want to ride a check, and so on. But this is what the juniors are for, right? You iron out the rough edges and sharpen your game. While I've had to move a long way from home, it's all going well so far."

Picard's junior hockey career hasn't started ideally, with the Firebirds not having a great preseason, and then falling 4-1 in their season opener to St Louis, but he doesn't seem too fazed by it. "It's a long season. I'll have plenty of time to improve, and so will the rest of the guys on the roster. I'm learning a lot." When asked how he felt about fellow countryman Randy Randleman's presence in the league, Maurice was elusive. "He's a great player, no doubt. But I don't think there's going to be any comparison between us. We're very different players, and he's in a different league. Literally right now, actually." He went on to concede, however, that he is hoping to represent the United Kingdom alongside the Calgary Dragons legend. "I'm not sure it will ever happen, to be honest, but it would be nice. He's done a lot for the sport in Wales, and if I'd lived nearer to Llanflwnyddwndllwnmawr, I might have gotten into the sport before we moved to Canada. Who knows?" With the future uncertain, all we can possibly say for sure is that, for now, the French-Martiniquais Welshman will be focused on doing all he can to propel the Prince George Firebirds toward a trophy.

vbottas17 · 11-27-2017, 04:48 AM

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