During the course of an introductory Zoom call with media, new Vancouver Canucks assistant general manager Émilie Castonguay discussed her vision board. She relayed that it featured working for the Canucks prominently.
If that seemed like a quirky detail to local reporters, or perhaps a sign of a motivated, organized, detail-oriented person, it was actually much more than that.
In fact, as the language of Castonguay’s Zoom call shifted from English to French — a reversal of the classic Montreal hockey media rule “français au première” — the deeper meaning of Castonguay’s vision board came into focus.
And the truth was heavy, and human. It was tinged with loss and love and that unseen power in life that sometimes feels like serendipity.
“My sister passed away almost 10 years ago in a somewhat tragic way,” Castonguay explained in French, as translated by Marc-Antoine Godin, our The Athletic colleague in Montreal. “In one of the last conversations we had in her life, she told me that I would manage the Vancouver Canucks one day.
“In fact, that was the last conversation I had with her in her life. For the Canucks to call me, it was a pretty emotional moment for me. That’s one of the reasons why I had to consider and listen to Jim Rutherford with what he had to say. For the Vancouver part, he didn’t really have to convince me, but I felt like it was kind of the universe that got me there.”
Sometimes in life, it can feel like things happen for a reason. Connections mount, patterns multiply, and suddenly it can feel like you’re in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.
There’s nothing inevitable about Castonguay, however, the Canucks’ historic assistant general manager hire.
