Among the more than 18,000 in attendance for Nadeau’s was the man who helped set him on the path to pro hockey. His father, John, made the trek to Raleigh for this week’s games and will leave with one heck of a souvenir.
“It’s unbelievable that he got to be here. I can’t wait to go see him and I’m sure he’ll be pumped about that one,” said Bradly of his dad. “He meant a lot [to me]. Obviously, he played himself, so growing up, I watched him play, and it means a lot that he was here for the first goal.”
With support from folks like his father, Nadeau has climbed the ladder and brought his goal-scoring prowess from the BCHL, to the NCAA, to the AHL, and now to the NHL.
But the rookie is taking his rapid ascension in stride, and through the ups and downs, goalposts and near-misses, Nadeau is simply eager to make the most of each opportunity he gets at this level.
“You focus on every shift you get. Every time you go on the ice, you do what you can do out there. You hope to get another shift to hopefully show what you can do. You just take it shift by shift and try to stay motivated every time you go on the ice,” he said.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be easy [to score my first goal], it’s the NHL. You want to score a goal your whole life, and I got to do it tonight. It’s an incredible feeling.”