DELAND, Fla. – Late Monday night, two FGCU Baseball players gathered in their hotel room huddled around the television in DeLand in advance of the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. Baseball was the furthest thought from their minds. It's a surprise they did not receive a noise complaint.

A loud scream emanated from Room 204 of the Eagles' team hotel just minutes after Alex Newhook scored the game-winning goal for the Montreal Canadiens against the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL Eastern Conference semifinals. That yell came from Montreal-native Elliot Cadieux Lanoue, whose burst of excitement was quickly hushed by teammate, roommate and fellow Canadian, Nathan Gagnon, as they both celebrated the goal and series win.

"We are both really big Canadiens fans and were so excited they win in overtime in game seven," said Gagnon, who hails Otterburn Park, Quebec, located a little over 22 miles (or 37 kilometers) from Montreal.

"We watch them whenever we can," added Cadieux Lanoue. "We watched part of game six against the Lightning from the visiting clubhouse at Stetson after we beat the Hatters on May 1. We tried to go to game seven in Tampa, but we were going to get back too late from DeLand to get up to Tampa for the game."

The challenges of a baseball team on the road.

You can't blame Cadieux Lanoue and Gagnon. They both grew up around hockey – Canada's national sport – and they each played the sport until around high school. That's when the dream of being the next Wayne Gretzky morphed into the necessity of focusing on baseball, a sport at which they both excelled.
 
Since they both journeyed to the Sunshine State, which has become a hockey hotbed in recent years, they have kept tabs on the team colloquially known as "Les Habitants" or "The Habs". That should be no surprise as the Montreal Canadiens are hockey's version of the New York Yankees. The franchise's history predates every other Canadien franchise outside of the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts, as well as every American franchise outside baseball and the National Football League's Arizona Cardinals.

The Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup 24 times, more times than any other franchise and had the most championships of any of the major North American sports leagues until the New York Yankees won their 25^th World Series title in 1999. This young team – 19 of the 29 players on their roster were born after the turn of the century – is still in what was believed to be the "rebuilding phase". Newhook, the Canadiens' hero in Buffalo, is only 25 years old.
"I think that is what has us even more excited than normal, because they are such a young team," Cadieux Lanoue offered.
 
"Yeah, they are still supposed to be rebuilding, but here we are in the (Eastern) Conference Finals against Carolina," added Gagnon.

Now the two teammates team up to watch the Canadiens throughout the playoffs. And they aren't letting a baseball game get in the way of at least getting score updates.

"There's always a staff member in the dugout with a phone, like our athletic trainer," Gagnon said. "And we constantly ask him for score updates. But don't tell Coach Toe that!"

The two also try to experience The Great Game in Southwest Florida. Gagnon has gone to a few Florida Everblades games while Cadieux Lanoue has watched FGCU's club hockey team this season, a team that recently won the national championship in club hockey's Division II level.

And as Montreal opens the Eastern Conference Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes, expect the Eagles duo to continue to keep tabs on their hockey team.

Just don't tell coach.
 
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