Quebec’s Jérémy Grégoire, who was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens a decade ago, just wrapped up his first season in Europe after seven stints in the American Hockey League. If he couldn’t experience the euphoria of a title while his Vienna Capitals were in the ICE Hockey League eliminated in the semi-finals, he is full of hope and enthusiasm for the second part of his professional career.

In North America, Grégoire has worn the club uniforms of four different National Hockey League organizations in the AHL. After the 2021/22 season, the 27-year-old felt it was time to move on and agreed to a one-year deal with the International Central European Ice Hockey Leaguewhose teams are based in Austria, Italy, Hungary and Slovenia to settle in the Austrian capital.

So the young man packed his bags and decided to go on adventure.

“I’ve always wanted to play in Europe,” Grégoire confided in an interview with TVASports.ca. My father (Editor’s Note: Jean-François Grégoire, who is now General Manager and Head Coach of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in the QMJHL) played in Europe in his youth and he has many friends who have performed in Europe. It was always a goal I had in mind.

“But it was really my last year in Texas, where after seven years in the American League I had become the grandfather of young hopefuls. The organization and the teams were still happy with me, but rather in a different role. I saw that my chances of advancement (in the NHL) had dropped a lot compared to young people. I’m only 27 years old, I still think it’s young just to be the goalkeeper (what is) of the Landesliga.

Find an attack role

This decision was not made on a whim and the reflection was fleshed out. Aside from feeling that National League development seemed out of reach, making the leap to Europe has always been one of the Quebecer’s goals. But all this goes further. Grégoire wanted to find a more offensive role that he was used to in the QMJHL rather than being the “good veteran” of a formation in the AHL.

“I was an excellent young player. “I was trying to find a slightly more offensive role, also a bit more Ice Age,” continued Grégoire. It enchanted me. I knew that one of my goals in Europe was to prove that I was capable of playing in a good league, performing and being an asset. I managed to do that this season.

“I don’t regret my choice at all. I thought it was time to turn the tide with the American League and return to a more satisfying role.”

And the Quebecer can say his mission is accomplished as he has amassed 35 points in 39 regular-season games with the Capitals, all rounded out with 90 penalty minutes. Then he followed with seven points in eleven playoff games. That contrasts with his 112-point tally in 383 American League games, 641 minutes in prison and a meager playoff game.

Sweet memories with the CH

Whatever the future holds for him, Grégoire will forever boast of being a Montreal Canadiens pick, picking him in the sixth round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.Montrealer for three years, from 2015 to 2018; two seasons with the St. John’s IceCaps and one campaign with the Laval Rocket.

“It was a childhood dream to be drafted by the Canadians, […] I didn’t expect that, the Sherbrooke player recalled. In order to be able to sign an entry contract afterwards, I thought that was the last step.

“People ask me where I played the best ice hockey. I always reply, to her surprise, that it’s St. John’s in Newfoundland. Our two years there were exceptional. We had a group of young players who rose in the organization with the arrival of (Marc) Bergevin. I was part of it.

“In Laval I got closer to my homeland. I played as a major junior at Baie-Comeau for three years. I’m from Sherbrooke and I think it was the first time I’ve played within a reasonable distance that my parents could come and see me play. It was amazing, I couldn’t ask for more.”

Photo Credit: CHANTAL POIRIER/JOURNAL DE MONTREAL/AGENZ QMI

But in the end, the Quebecer couldn’t play a regular-season game with the Habs. So it was with the Nashville Predators, Arizona Coyotes, and Dallas Stars organizations he later joined.

“Of course I would have liked to have had the chance (to play for CH in the regular season), but at the same time there is a lot of timing and opportunity,” he philosophized. […] With what I’ve done I’m confident I could have taken my place in some games. Sometimes it’s the number of injuries, sometimes it’s the way you play.

“I still played seven or eight exhibition games (with the Habs). I was living my moment at the Bell Centre, I managed to score in an exhibition game. All the emotions, positive or negative, I managed to live them all with Canadians and I became a better person after that.

When Oslo invites you to Vienna

In addition to adjusting to a new professional reality – new teammates, a new coach, a different style of play, an ice rink with different dimensions than in North America – the forward also had to deal with a different personal reality. And this, even if the whole thing was softened by the arrival of his wife, who had given up her job in Quebec, to join him in Vienna.

“We also have our dog with us (Editor’s note: a charming huskie Labrador named Oslo), Grégoire rejoiced. On the first holiday we went to Prague, we went to Budapest, we went for a walk, we went to the Côte d’Azur, to Nice, then to Monaco. Those are places you never get a chance to do that in North America. As much as I had fun in Tucson, we traveled the west coast, I saw the whole of the United States, then Texas. But driving the bus is definitely different.”

Photo credits: Courtesy: Vienna Capitals

Vienna is in the middle of Europe with several tourist destinations within a few hours by train or plane. And the personal quality of life that the Austrian capital can offer its residents is incomparable, according to the Quebecer. And that also applies to his professional situation.

“You come here, your taxes are paid, your agent, the team takes care of it. You have a house, you have a car and you reduce your games from 76 to 40 games a year, explained Grégoire. You are on vacation. Also, the pay is better.

“It’s a job in that way. (In comparison), a lawyer who wants to work in a law firm and the first law firm, they work 60 hours a week and you don’t have weekends. (But), yes, you have a small chance of getting into the biggest cabinet. (On the other hand) You choose the other company where it is better for the family and you have a better salary and better conditions. At some point, people will opt for rationality.”

A dream come true?

Grégoire’s European adventure also has a very personal component. In fact, the forward’s little brother Thomas is also developing in the old continent while wearing Rauma de Lukko’s colors since the 2020-2021 season. Next year he plays with Rögle BK in the Swedish 1st league.

Indeed, Grégoire is delighted at the prospect of being reunited with his brother, who is three years his junior.

Photo credits: Courtesy: Vienna Capitals

“I played him in the American League, I played him (at the) junior level. But it would be fun to play with him on the same team, the player previously dreamed. With our careers going, it would be perfect timing to play together. […] It would be to see the possibilities. Otherwise it’s no worse. We are on the same continent. We’re pretty much the only two in our family in the same time zone. Already there, it’s good.”

At the moment, Jérémy does not have a contract in his pocket for next season, while Thomas, according to his brother, will not return with Lukko. Is the door open for the Grégoires to meet on European rinks?

The idea has something to seduce!