A lot can change in one week. Just ask Stefan Matteau.
Seven days ago, the son of former Rangers hero Stefane Matteau was on his way to New Jersey for an abbreviated training camp, thinking for what would be a very short stay, a break from his juniors career.
Last night, after an impressive camp, Matteau forced his way onto the roster, he was on the Nassau Coliseum ice making his NHL debut and contributing to the Devils’ 2-1 season-opening victory.
Matteau, skating on a line with center Jacob Josefson and right winger Cam Janssen, saw 7:26 of ice time. It was a night the 18-year-old won’t soon forget, with his famous father, mother and sister among the 16,170 in the crowd at in Uniondale.
“It was great,” he said. “Once the game got going, I thought I got better and better. I thought I could compete with those guys.”
The plan for the physical 6-foot-1 first-round pick (29th overall) out of the USA junior developmental program in last year’s draft was to get a taste of the Devil way, be around NHL players and see where he stacked up. But after each practice, as Matteau continued to hold his own, the organization changed its mind and opted to keep him with the big club.
“I worked hard and I thought I deserved it,” Matteau said, while clutching a game stick in his hands as a souvenir.
Matteau, one of the last cuts from Team USA’s world junior championship club, may not necessarily stay up with the Devils. The first year of his entry-level contract goes into effect once he plays his sixth game, so he has four more games to continue to prove himself. He still may be sent back to his junior team, the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, before then.
Before the game, legendary Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur spoke to Matteau about his own NHL debut. Brodeur told him to savor the moment.
“It’s something you can never forget,” Brodeur said.
Brodeur, it has been well documented, has history with Matteau’s father, who scored the game-winning goal on Brodeur in Game 7 of the 1994 Eastern Conference finals.
Now the son is playing in front of Brodeur, who helped ease his anxious new teammate before his NHL debut.
“I wanted to make sure he scored a goal on the other guy,” Brodeur said jokingly.