Halifax Mooseheads forward Alec Nasreddine learned from a young age that a career in professional hockey isn’t as glamourous as people might think.
“It’s a grind,” said the 18-year-old forward. “You’re away from home a lot. It’s your dream job, but at the same time, it takes a lot of sacrifice.”
Nasreddine learned this from his father, Alain Nasreddine, who carved out a 15-season pro career. He played in the NHL for the Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins, and also made stops in the IHL, AHL and Germany.
When Alec Nasreddine was born in 2007 in Pittsburgh, his father was nearing the end of his playing days. Alain Nasreddine then moved into coaching, which meant that Alec has also lived in places such as New Jersey and Texas.
Today, the elder Nasreddine is an assistant coach with the NHL’s Dallas Stars.
Alec Nasreddine grew up surrounded by professional hockey players. He saw how dedicated they had to be to succeed, both in terms of how they trained and ate.
While his goal is to play in the NHL, his path there won’t be like that of his father, who literally had to scrap to make it.
Alain Nasreddine played four seasons in the QMJHL in the early 1990s. He remembers a blowout game in his rookie year with the Drummondville Voltigeurs where fights were rampant.
In those days, players often took their helmets off before fighting. Nasreddine, then 16, still remembers the beard on his 20-year-old opponent, recognizing just how much older the other player was.
“I’m like, ‘Oh, my! What did I just do?” said Nasreddine.
The fight went well for the rookie. Soon, he was fighting more often and it became part of his game.
“Back then, you just did everything you needed to do to stay in the lineup, to stay in the league and earn and get more ice time … it seems like that’s how things worked back then if you weren’t scoring 50 goals and racking up 150 points,” said Nasreddine.
Harsher penalties have drastically cut the amount of fighting in today’s QMJHL, so Alec Nasreddine won’t have to use his fists to chase his hockey dream, although he does say he loves watching videos of his dad’s hockey fights on YouTube.
Looking back, Alain Nasreddine, a defenceman who scored 90 points over four seasons in the QMJHL, said it would have been nice to show off his hockey talents more.
“I loved the game for the game itself,” he said. “I didn’t love it for dropping the gloves and having to go after guys or try to make a name for myself that way.”
Nasreddine was drafted in 1993 in the sixth round of the NHL Draft by the Florida Panthers.
Alec Nasreddine has not played much for the Mooseheads this season. He’s been a healthy scratch most games.
His limited opportunities to play have come on the team’s fourth line, the checking line where players try to wear down their opponents, provide a spark for the team and give their teammates a chance to catch their breath.
Alec Nasreddine said he respects the coach’s decision, but it motivates him to get better.
“Obviously, it’s not the greatest feeling and it lit kind of a fire in me to, like, prove everyone wrong, like, I should be on the ice every day,” he said.
Asked what advice his dad has given him, Nasreddine said his father told him to focus on getting better. For Nasreddine, it means he has to be the hardest-working player in the gym and on the ice, and to never take a day off.
Alain Nasreddine understands the tough position his son is in.
“Everyone wants more ice time,” he said. “Everyone wants to play and no one’s going to feel sorry for you, so you have to put your head down … every day, you get a chance to work on your game and every day you have a chance to improve that, that’s what your focus should be.”
Mooseheads general manager Cam Russell played on the Blackhawks with Alain Nasreddine, where Nasreddine played seven games during the 1998-99 season.
Character players
Russell said he has a soft spot for players like Alec Nasreddine, character players who don’t get a lot of pats on the back and aren’t in the limelight scoring goals.
“They’re very much appreciated for everything they do, from the coaching staff and management,” said Russell.
He said for players in Alec Nasreddine’s position, they need to come to the rink, be positive and support their teammates.
“You don’t want them moping around the room feeling sorry for themselves, but you also don’t want them walking around the room with a big smile on their face, you know, because then you’re going to look at them like, ‘What? Are you happy you’re sitting out?'” said Russell.
“I say this because I’ve lived this role myself.”
In his professional career, Russell said he was usually the sixth or seventh defenceman on the roster.
In his efforts to crack the Mooseheads lineup consistently, Alec Nasreddine can look to his dad’s career for inspiration.
“I never stopped believing,” said Alain Nasreddine. “You know, I cracked an NHL lineup at the age of 24. And that was short-lived … and then I went in the minors for five years, but always stuck around. I had chances to go play in Europe, to go play in Russia, make more money, but my dream was to play in the NHL.”
In total, Nasreddine played 74 NHL games, compared to 726 AHL games. His NHL stat line includes one goal and four assists, with his one goal being assisted by hockey legends Sidney Crosby and Mark Recchi.
Nasreddine said that while fighting helped get him to the NHL, over time, it wasn’t what kept him there.
“It was still part of who I was,” he said. “But as I got older, I relied on that less and less as I became more of an impactful player.”
‘Bumps and bruises’
Alain Nasreddine said that people who make it to the NHL have different paths there. For most, they don’t go straight from junior hockey to the NHL. He’s told his son that his path is going to be longer, but to give it all he has so that he has no regrets if it doesn’t work out.
“As he’s finding out right now, you know, there’s bumps and bruises that come along the way,” said Alain Nasreddine. “And, you know, he’s facing adversity right now. And it’s not going to be the last time. But he’s persevering and I’m proud of him.”
It’s advice that Alec Nasreddine is following.
“He knows that I got a long way to go and he doesn’t lie to me,” said Alec Nasreddine. “He tells me the truth, which is what I want from him. And yeah, he just tells me to stay with it cause, you know, he believes in me. And if he believes in me, then you know, obviously, I should as well.”
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