The New Jersey Devils' first round pick in 2012 got up and quit- no, he was released by manage- wait, we really have no idea what happened. The bottom line is Stefan Matteau is no longer a member of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada amid their QMJHL Semifinal series with Baie-Comeau.
Stephane Leroux of RDS has been all over the abrupt conclusion of Matteau's career with the Armada, originally reporting that Matteau had quit the team and refused to take the team bus back to Boisbriand with his (ex)teammates after the team's Game 2 loss to the Drakkar. As the news spread, Armada management was swift to put forth an official statement regarding the matter, saying that the Devs prospects had been "released" by the team due to behavior considered "unacceptable to our organization."
Matteau had a roller coaster-type season, to say the least. He found himself constantly revolving from the scoresheet to the coach's dog house in Blainville-Boisbriand to start the QMJHL season, was one of the final cuts from the United States' World Junior team that went on to win gold, then in the NHL at 18 years-old scoring for the reigning Eastern Conference champions. Many thought the Armada were given a gift when Matteau was assigned back to his junior team by the Devils in time for QMJHL playoffs, but have to continue their quest for the Memorial Cup without him after he quit/was released on bad terms. Safe to say this roller coaster didn't make it back to that station, but went soaring off the tracks at the last second.
Also, I don't think I will ever use the name Stephane or any other variation of the name Stephane as many times as I did in that story.
But just to be sure, here's one more:
Stephane Leroux of RDS has been all over the abrupt conclusion of Matteau's career with the Armada, originally reporting that Matteau had quit the team and refused to take the team bus back to Boisbriand with his (ex)teammates after the team's Game 2 loss to the Drakkar. As the news spread, Armada management was swift to put forth an official statement regarding the matter, saying that the Devs prospects had been "released" by the team due to behavior considered "unacceptable to our organization."
Now this story has become the classic he-said she-said. The good ol', "No, she didn't break up with me, I broke up with her!" The proverbial, "You can't fire me! I QUIT!" We may never actually know who quit on who or who released who, but what we do know is that Matteau was not too happy with being benched in Game 2 after taking a reckless slashing penalty. After that came the end of his season.
What makes this situation all the more peculiar, is that Matteau's father, former NHLer Stéphane Matteau, is a member of the Blainville-Boisbriand coaching staff. What role, if any, that he played in this hellstorm is yet to be seen, but it surely has to have created an awkward situation between himself, his son, and the rest of the Armada coaches and management.
Leroux tried to get in touch with the elder Matteau, but to no avail.
"@stephrdsjunior: In passing, I exchanged text messages with the Matteaus, father & son. There will be no comments today." #TranslatedTweetMore details are still to come, including New Jersey GM Lou Lamoriello's reaction to all of this. Early reports indicate that he's been in contact with Armada management and has confirmed that Matteau is no longer on the team, but how he handles the youngster moving forward is yet to be seen.
— Nick Hart (@RocknRoll_Hart) April 22, 2013
Matteau had a roller coaster-type season, to say the least. He found himself constantly revolving from the scoresheet to the coach's dog house in Blainville-Boisbriand to start the QMJHL season, was one of the final cuts from the United States' World Junior team that went on to win gold, then in the NHL at 18 years-old scoring for the reigning Eastern Conference champions. Many thought the Armada were given a gift when Matteau was assigned back to his junior team by the Devils in time for QMJHL playoffs, but have to continue their quest for the Memorial Cup without him after he quit/was released on bad terms. Safe to say this roller coaster didn't make it back to that station, but went soaring off the tracks at the last second.
Also, I don't think I will ever use the name Stephane or any other variation of the name Stephane as many times as I did in that story.
But just to be sure, here's one more:
