José (Jo-say) Theodore (Thee-uh-dore) was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in 1994 and played with them until March of 2006, winning the Hart and Vezina Trophies in 2002. He spent two and a half seasons with the Colorado Avalanche. José signed with the Washington Capitals in July 2008 where he played the next two seasons. He was awarded the Masterton Trophy in 2010. He played the 2010-11 season with the Minnesota Wild, and then played 2 seasons with the Florida Panthers.
(By the way, you probably can't watch TVA Sports videos if you're outside Canada, so I use hola.org to mask my IP and make it seem like I'm in Canada, you might try it if you can't view.)
And then this afternoon they were broadcasting outside before Game #2.
I have received a translation of the Acces Illimite episode José and his family appeared on in March.
Anytime you see **unclear** or something similar to that, it just means she couldn’t hear well enough or wasn’t sure what was said.
I'll post the video, then the translation of that section.
Anouk Meunier: We can talk about José Theodore, who’s recently retired. He splits his time between Florida and Quebec, where he’s a hockey analyst for TVA Sports.
Jean-Philippe Dion: What really struck me is the contrast between the glamour of his life and the more difficult periods of his life.
PREMIER TRIO CLIP
Good evening and welcome to Premier Trio, where we’re joined by Renaud Lavoie, José Theodore, fresh from Florida, and Alain Chainey. It appears that we have a pretty good budget here at Premier Trio tonight!
February 8, 2015, Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport of Montreal
5am:
JT: Hi.
Jean-Philippe Dion: Hi.
JT: How are you?
JPD: I’m good, you?
JT: Yeah, good, a bit tired.
JPD: Yeah? It’s a little early to head off to Florida?
JT: Yeah, yeah, it’s early, but I’d rather pay the price now and then get to see my family and do things, so…
JPD: How many days have you been in Montreal?
JT: I work Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday’s the game, Super NHL Night…
JPD: Yup.
JT: Then the Sunday, well, that’s when I head out. Usually I travel like this, for 4-5 days at a time.
JPD: When you go to Montreal and you go to work at TVA Sports, do you like that? Or is it stressful for you?
JT: It’s a bit of both. That’s kind of what I wanted to have, though. You know when you’re playing hockey, you’re with the boys, you’re with the guys, and you find that when you’re no longer playing, you miss the team spirit. I find that at TVA, that’s what we were trying to recreate. You find the spirit, you find you’re a little nervous, you want to do well, you want to perform… Then I go back to Florida and I can decompress with my family.
11AM – Fort Lauderdale, Florida
JPD: Is it always congested here?
JT: I don’t know, this is the first time. Actually, I should probably call Stéphanie. My daughter called me earlier, saying “I’m hungry, you’re hungry!” (***) When she calls me, I hurry. If there’s someone who controls me—
JPD: It’s her.
JT: It’s my little girl.
JPD: When you come back from being away in Montreal for a few days, has Stéphanie missed you or do you need to make it up to her or…?
JT: When I started working at TVA, she found my being gone for 4-5 days at a time a bit long, but when I get back home, usually she gives me a big smile. She’s proud of me.
JPD: So you stopped playing, when, in 2013 or so? Were you ever tempted to come back and live in Montreal?
JT: Well, the big reason is really because of my little Romi and school. She really likes her school. But it still does me good to work in Quebec, on the other hand. It’s my home. And my career with the Canadiens ended a bit roughly. You know, it’s a little bit like a divorce, where it ended badly with the fans, with people in sports world in general. I knew that I wanted to stay involved in hockey, it’s my passion.
JPD: The end of the ride you’ve had, what does that mean in your life? ***
(Best guess from an unclear sentence: Le beau **unclear** que tu as, toi, là, ca veux dire quoi dans ta vie?)
JT : You really mourn. You have to understand that you start playing at the age of 4, where your only goal is to play in the National Hockey League. You finally get into the league, you think you’re going to play until you’re 60, you think you’re invincible, then… (snaps) **unclear**
JPD: And if the Panthers called you?
JT: Well, the chances of that are slim, but they’re the only team I’d want to play for.
JPD: So in your head, it’s not really over?
JT: Well it’s like, I think, I imagine that each player always thinks that they could always come back. But I’ll tell you that my head isn’t really there anymore. In terms of conditioning, it would take a couple weeks to get into shape. So I can say that it’s over. You asked me the question with the Panthers, so that’s what made me think, but… I would say (***)
JT: Hello, my little ones!
JT: Hey, how are you?
Romi Theodore: Good.
JT: Did you miss me?
RT: Yes.
JT to Stéphanie: Hi.
Stéphanie Cloutier: Hi.
JT: The dogs are waiting for me too?
SC: Yeah.
JT: Hi, Maya!
JT: Home sweet home, you were eager to see me, eh? Me too.
ON THE BOAT…
JT: I want an update, this week, your tests, how were they?
SC: 20/20, 11/11 in math.
JT: Explode?
JPD: Is this really your normal life on a Sunday afternoon?
JT: It’s strange to say yes, but you know, here in Florida, with the water… with my best friend, you know, I haven’t introduced you yet, but the captain is Ed Jovanovski…
JPD: Hi, Captain!
JT: …who lives next door to us. And this is his boat and these are his kids. He’s got four kids, and they’re about my daughter’s age, so it’s easy to say hey, let’s go out on the boat. We don’t do it every Sunday, but it’s something we can do.
JPD: Seems like a fairly easy-going life!
JT: No, that’s for sure. It works. Others can say hey, he can’t complain. But in the end, that line is so thin and I look back and see that I was able to have a great career. You know, it’s when you’re retired, that’s when you say “damn, that’s pretty crazy”. You have to think about other things. For me, it was my life. My passion was just hockey. And now I’m still young and I can’t play anymore, it’s finished. Truly, when I think about it, it touches me, affects me.
(kids screaming hi)
JPD: Can you tell us a bit about the end of your career?
JT: In my case, you know, I performed well, I was in good shape, yes, sometimes you’re traded, you have highs, you have lows, but you know, I had a spot as a number one goalie with a good salary. In my last season, I was injured. I couldn’t come back during the season. I waited for contract offers and thought it would be up to me to decide, you know, would I play for the Panthers, or elsewhere… And finally, I never got a contract offer. So I was forced to retire. I wasn’t ready for that. I wasn’t ready to be forced to stop like that.
JPD: How was he, Stéphanie, when the moment arrived and he realized that his career was over?
SC: He took it well enough. It was when he was injured in his last NHL match that was difficult, ultimately. He called me after and he said “It’s over, that was my last game.” And I said “Come on, stop thinking like that.”
JT: There were two months left in the season, but I knew.
SC: I said “come on, no way, you’ll come back, you’ll have a contract next year,” and he said “No, no, I’m telling you,” he said, “that was my last game.”
JT: I knew at my age, I couldn’t afford to have an injury and end the season injured. Once I learned it was serious, I was like “that’s it, I think I’ve played my last game in the NHL”.
JPD: In the sense of the story, did you feel like a loser? Even if you’re not, even though you’ve had great accomplishments, because of the way it ended, did you feel that way?
JT: No, because it was really out of my control. If, in my last game, had it been in the playoffs, and I gave up a big goal and then I didn’t get a new contract, then I could blame myself and say “if only I’d played better”. But in this case, it’s an injury, so it was out of my control.
SC: He took it well.
JT: That was a change. When I was younger, if I had a bad game, it affected me, in the sense that at home, I wasn’t as demonstrative, I was cranky, you know. Like I was saying, hockey was everything to me. But afterwards, you know, with Romi’s birth, and after, when we lost our little boy, in Washington, Chace, when you see all that, you realize that hockey is no longer your priority. The priority is that everyone is healthy, that Romi is healthy, that she’s okay, she’s happy.
JPD: Is the loss of a child the toughest challenge a couple can face?
SC: It’s very difficult, yes, on a couple. But we found a way to get through it that brought us closer together. I think. Right?
JT: Right.
JPD: How does it bring you closer?
JT: Well, you know, in the end, there’s no one else…
JT & SC: … who can understand.
SC: Exactly.
JT: That’s where we see, you know, that’s where I saw Stéphanie’s strength. You know, we talk about boats, houses, it’s all fun… but I would give my trophies, my millions, you know, for…
SC: To have a healthy baby. It’s true that all this is all well and good, but when you go through difficult challenges like this, that’s what makes you realize what’s important and I think you get through it even stronger. Anyway, I saw a strength in José too. Yes, he was strong in hockey, in his career, but you know, for a dad to lose his son, it’s very, very difficult. And he surprised me.
JPD: Are you done mourning?
JT: No.
SC: We’ll never be done, to be honest, no. Anytime you see a little boy or… it’s always, it’s always in there, in the background, in your subconscious.
JT: It was the same thing with Romi, she was in the hospital for three months. The first night, they called me on the first night at five in the morning to tell me that her heart had stopped beating. If you give up a bad goal, you want to say that your head just isn’t there. But I didn’t want to show that I was affected. The year after Chace died, I had probably one of my best seasons of my life, 30 wins, 7 losses. It was like I worked through my bereavement at the arena. So it was a little like my refuge, where I could try to forget.
JPD: With all your memories, your good ones, your bad ones, they also seem to correspond with a date in your career. What’s going to be your new reference?
JT: You know, even now, even today, if you talk to me, say I fractured my femur and you asked me when, I’d still respond with “I was in Pee-Wee 2A”. So now it’s something completely new. I admit that it’s nice to live somewhere without too much pressure. But there are pressures with being a parent. You want to be sure that your little girl is okay, that she develops okay, that you give her the right values, because to live like this, you know, it’s superficial, it’s not something everyone has. She knows, she’s really aware of this. I’m really proud of her, especially with what she’s gone through, with her little difficulties in pronunciation. She has a small muscular weakness in her face that makes it all a little more difficult for her, but right now, she’s in Grade 3, at a private school, totally normal, she doesn’t need her **unclear – specialist? Speech therapist?**. She asked me if she still needed a special school.
SC: She’s super smart. She’s just like any other 8 year old girl.
JT: Simply, it’s just speaking and some expressions, like smiling.
SC: Those are the only barriers she’s got at this point. She’s done a lot of work, though. At three months, we didn’t know if she would walk or laugh, ride a bike… we really didn’t know at all what would happen.
JT: That’s why now that hockey’s finished, am I nostalgic? I’m nostalgic for the good years in Montreal. But on the other hand, it was about time that I spend time with the family, make up for lost time, times when I wasn’t there.
In the water: Let’s go, come on!
JPD: I have the impression that you’ve found peace in your life. That all is calm and well.
SC: I would say that when we left Montreal, it did us good. I think it was time. We had some great years there. Him, his hockey there, it was incredible. But at the end, no matter what he did, he got criticized.
JPD: How old were you when you met?
SC: He was 22 that summer.
JT: I was a rookie. She drafted me well at the start of my career!
JPD: But how did you stay with the same girl you met at 22 when you were a hockey player?
JT: I admit it, at 21, I didn’t have any intention of settling down. I said I’m young, I’m playing for the Canadiens, I want to concentrate on my career, I didn’t want any distractions. But Stéphanie arrived with her beautiful face and all her splendour, and—
SC: Changed his plans!
JT: …she changed my plans! From there, I just realized that I couldn’t lose her. For me, she was the perfect woman, the perfect mother, I knew it right away, she’d be the perfect mother.
JPD: How is he with Romi, as a father?
SC: They have a great relationship. They’re very, very close. Since she was little, I’ve emphasized the importance of a father-daughter relationship. A lot of the time, we underestimate the importance of that relationship. It’s a solid base that she’ll carry with her through her whole life.
JT: (laughs) Okay, time to be serious. Let’s go, math time!
JT: Is your homework hard this week? There are 22, okay? He has to fill up the three bags and he can only put six in each bag. So if there are six, how many are there left?
RT: One…
JT: One, that’s right!
JT: Hey, Romi, it’s wet! Catch me! (falls, laughs) That’s why I don’t want you to do it when it’s wet out!
Heading into break:
JT: 15.2 million for three years. When it goes that high, for sure, you’re going to end up really low at some point. It also didn’t make me any friends among the players.
THE NEXT DAY
Romi’s tennis lesson
JT: Do you think I’m still in shape to play hockey, not too bad, right? Nah, I don’t think so…
JT to Romi: You were great! I’m proud of you. Listen to your mother (**unclear**). Bye.
JT to SC : Bye.
JT to JPD: Hey, how are you?
JPD: I’m good, did you sleep well?
JT: Yeah, I slept well, especially after having gotten up at the crack of dawn yesterday.
JPD: Over the last few years, have you found that you’ve missed all the media attention? Because one likes that, you know? To be a star, to be in the spotlight.
JT: I would say more so if I actually liked it. In regards to that, I am sincere when I say this, there is nothing worse than when someone, in any domain, chases after that kind of attention. Me, I had my time. It’s no longer my time. It’s time for Carey Price, PK Subban, it’s time for the younger guys. And I’m fine with that. So no, I can’t say that I miss the attention.
JPD: At the start, when you were with the Canadiens, and you took the microphone and would essentially say anything you wanted, did it sometimes happen that the press guys with the team would say “hey now, Theo, calm down.”?
JT: I would say it was more my teammates.
JPD: Oh really?
JT: There’s like an unwritten rule when you’re new to the NHL. You’re supposed to be really low-key. On the other hand, I was thinking that this was my chance to show what kind of guy I was.
JPD: Are there any situations that you can recall where, even without wanting to, you found that you took all the media’s attention?
JT: One example that comes to mind, even to this day, is when my friend and teammate, Stéphane Quintal, got married. It was a huge wedding, obviously, a lot of teammates were there, but, you know, it was Stéphane’s day. Then when the magazine came out, reporting on the wedding, it’s me and Stéphanie on the cover and Stephane and his wife had a much smaller picture. Obviously, it was out of my control, but I found it rough for Stéphane and his wife, you know? It was their day. That’s when I realized that I should kind of distance myself a bit, you know, put things into perspective… When you get too high, you know that you’re going to come crashing back down at some point. So I took a step back.
AT THE GOLF COURSE
2PM
JT: Oh, hey, that’s good!
JT: As you can tell, I’m still able to stop pucks.
JPD: What a save!
JPD: How many times a week do you play?
JT: Two or three times a week.
JPD: Who do you play with, generally?
JT: Ed Jovanovski is my golf partner. There’s also Eric Bélanger.
JPD: Is it true that you’re friends with Kid Rock?
JT: Well, maybe not friends, but we have each other’s numbers. I’ll text him, he’ll text back, we’ll play golf together, you know.
JPD: Not bad.
JT: He’ll sometimes send me a recording and ask me what I think. I mean, it’s always good, okay, well, most of the time it’s good, but it’s usually impressive.
JPD: Wow! (regarding JT’s golf shot)
JPD: In the locker room, is everyone on the same level?
JT: It’s a very competitive environment. Because your salary… you’re going to compare your salary to someone who’s accomplished the same things as you. So it’s sure that, on your team, if you want to take someone’s job… Like when I was the backup goaltender, I wasn’t hoping that there would be a match where the number one goalie would stop everything, we’d win 1-0 and he’d be the star. I wanted the team to win, sure, but maybe with a score like 5-4… If there’s a goalie who tells you that they don’t think like that, I’m telling you that they’re a liar.
JT: I think I’m going to ask you to follow me every time I play. Maybe I like the pressure, maybe it helps me to focus!
JPD: So why do hockey players speak like politicians? It seems like you have your own language.
JT: Well, it’s because I give 100% and I’m working hard and I can’t control what happens tomorrow, so you know… You mean something like that?
JPD: That’s exactly what I’m talking about!
JT: Well, for one, it’s not all cities that have that much media. There are a lot of players who can arrive and they’re not really used to it or prepared. And at the same time, it’s usually the same questions. But we don’t have anyone to brief us, to teach us “this is what you say, this is how you respond”.
JPD: But don’t you think that would help the players? If they expressed themselves well? If it was fluid? If it was clear?
JT: I totally agree. The new generation of hockey players, we should really do more for them. Especially by educating them about their finances. Educating them about life in general. I can tell you that I’ve had some experiences with young guys and like, one of them wants to buy a house. So I’ve asked “are you going to buy it cash? Or are you going to have a mortgage?” and he looks at you blankly and says “I don’t know, my agent handles it.” And this is the reason why we see stories like Jack Johnson’s, who made $20 million and who was robbed by his father, because he wasn’t aware of what was happening with his finances.
JPD: I know you had an agent representing you, but what about you? Are you a shrewd negotiator?
JT: Yeah. It’s a part of hockey that I really enjoyed, the business side.
JPD: What was your best negotiation? Your biggest win?
JT: It was in Montreal, the contract after the lockout year, in 2004. I had 24 hours to sign a contract. It was for 3 years and $15.2 million. We obviously knew that was a good amount of money. So my agent says “okay, we gotta sign this, 15.2 for 3 years.” And me, being a bit arrogant, like I’ve said before, maybe even a little stupid, whatever, I said “No, I want 16 for three years. It’s a round number. You go talk to them and it’ll be up to them to decide if they want to lose the contract over $750,000.”
JPD: Holy cow!
JT: Everyone was telling me “you’re crazy, what are you doing?!” Then my agent called me back and said “okay, okay, yeah, you’ve got it, your 16 million.” But it wasn’t a question of money, really. I saw it as a kind of a game, and I wanted to win. That’s it.
JPD: Geeeeez!
JPD: How many millions was that shot worth?
JT: That one? Well, it wasn’t terrible.
BACK AT JOSÉ’S HOUSE
5:40PM
JT: I like to sing, but I don’t. Then it goes… then it’s the big guitar. (**unclear**)
JPD: Do you really work in this office? Or is it more like a cinematic background?
JT: No, I really do work here! I know it kind of looks like it’s for show, but that’s because right now it’s clean…
JT: This, this was my Canadiens mask when I was traded. It was when Romi was in the hospital when she was born, so I put this impression here for her (of her footprint). Then there’s the Florida mask, here, on all my masks, after all initials, there’s an R, with a rosary, and Chace, for my little boy.
JPD: Sometimes we see you on TVA Sports in remote segments. Is this where it happens?
JT: Yeah, this is where I usually have my lighting. This is the chair. And if we look, this is about the right angle here.
Félix: And from Boca Raton in Florida, we have José Theodore joining us. Good evening, José.
JPD: Ah, so you’re the makeup artist!
JT: Yes, yes, she is! They tell me, in my ear… They tell me…
SC: They always say if I’m doing a good job or not…
JPD: Do they brief you before you go on?
SC: No, no, no, no.
JPD: You don’t make him practice either?
SC: No, he knows his stuff.
JPD: Are you more comfortable doing your segments here at home rather than in the studio in Montreal?
JT: Absolutely, here, you don’t have the impression that you’re actually on television. You think that you’re here and it’s like a game.
SC: (muffled)
JT: Well, don’t TELL him!
JPD: Oh really?
SC: Oh yeah, you know, a nice shirt, but the bottoms? Hah!
JT: Yeah, I’ve been in underwear before.
JPD: Okay…!
JT: Oh yeah, in boxers, button-up top, I even had a tie! A nice shirt and a tie!
JPD: So on television, who is it we’re hearing? Is it Theo the goalie or Theo the new hockey analyst?
JT: Since I started, I decided okay, I’m no longer a hockey player, I’m not there to make friends with the players either. I really have to be honest, because the people in Quebec, they know their hockey. They’re not the kind of people who will just believe anything you tell them. I think TVA Sports hired me to be honest with the viewers, so I have no choice other than to be that.
JPD: What should I wish for you for your new life?
JT: What should you wish me? Well, go ahead, wish me something, I’ll let you know if it’s any good!
SC: That it continues!
JPD: That it continues, Stéphanie?
SC: Of course.
JT: Well, yeah, that it continues like this. Really, I’m in a good place right now. I have time to see my family and take advantage of that, I’m working, I’m doing something I enjoy. It’s really fun to know that you’re learning something new every day.
JPD: Thank you very much, José.
JT: Thank you, it was a lot of fun, thanks very much!
