Nathan Gaucher is already ready to retire from his cloud.

The 19-year-old forward, who was a gold medalist with Junior Team Canada last Friday, returned to the old capital on Monday with only one goal in mind: to relive the thrill of a championship, but this time with his Quebec Remparts teammates .

The Red Devils had given him a few days off to enjoy his second gold medal in just over four months with his family. Returning on Monday, he ran solo in the late afternoon to prepare for the four-day, three-game trip to the Maritimes that begins Wednesday in Moncton.

“When you come back to your team, you want to make a difference,” he said a few minutes before jumping onto the ice. I studied this summer [après la conquête de l’or en août] that you had to be ready immediately and not live too much in the past. It will be important for me, especially with the squad we have. We want to string the wins together and I really want to bring back all the positives I learned from that tournament with the Remparts.

Gaucher is so ready to do his part that he didn’t even know if he would take up the offer from Patrick Roy, who opened the door to him last weekend to give him a week off after traveling to eastern Canada.

“This week I’m going to play and then I don’t know if it will be necessary to take a break. Once you’re in the wheel, you don’t want to stop too much. Of course, recovery will be key, but we’ll talk about it [avec Roy]”, he mentioned.

A soothing experience

Gaucher was moved to a supporting role in August and was a key part of ECJ’s recent conquest in Halifax. Used at both advantage and shorthand, Gaucher not only turned the team’s third line but believes he’s grown from his experience.

“I gained the coach’s trust and played my part throughout the tournament. I’m happy with my game, but the most important thing is that I helped the team win.”

And as he tried to help his team win, Gaucher kept a peripheral eye on the Remparts’ actions on the ice and Patrick Roy’s transactions. He is now expected to form a lineage with James Malatesta and the team’s latest acquisition Justin Robidas.

“Justin is a born leader. He’s a pretty quiet guy, but he sets an example with the way he does things. he works hard I watched the Remparts games and he and James were tired at the forecheck and that’s what we want to do. I want to add depth to that line.”

Bedard: no distractions

The fact that Gaucher returned to Quebec with the gold medal around his neck was largely due to young Connor Bedard, who rewrote Canada’s record book at the last World Championships.

Bedard, who was the center of media attention throughout the event, was not a distraction for the team, Gaucher assures.

“We wanted him to be successful because it allowed us to win. He helped us so much. Yes, he’s been getting a lot of attention, but he hasn’t given it much thought. He wouldn’t go to the other guys to tell them he just scored seven points. He didn’t mock anyone. He spoke to everyone and although he was a bit on a pedestal, he didn’t pretend.

“Just” frustration

In Quebec, no. 91 will also join Zachary Bolduc, whose comments to Hockey Canada caused a stir after he was dropped from the national team.

When asked about it by a colleague, he didn’t want to add fuel to the fire.

“I understood his frustration,” he admitted. Everyone wants to make this team and it’s hard to do that. Team Canada went in a direction that for them was the decision. It’s hard for me to add anything to what Zach said. His frustration was right and now he’s doing very well at the Remparts. On our side we won a championship, so everything ends well. Now I’m back, I’ll talk to him a bit and we’ll focus on the remparts. That will be the most important thing.”