Anthony Duclair and Jonathan Drouin go way back, 20 years to be exact. Duclair, a Pointe-Claire, Quebec native, and Drouin, a Ste-Agathe, Quebec native, remember running around the rink and skating together since they were about nine or 10 years old.
The close friends became teammates on the Lac St. Louis Lions Quebec elite Midget AAA team. They loved to play on the same line, but there was one issue, they were both natural right wings – but they found a fun way to settle who would play where back in their midget days.
“We both really like the right wing, so we’d do rock paper scissors before the game to see who would get to play right wing,” Duclair said. “We had a lot of competitive battles like that.”
Flash forward to the present day and both 30-year-old forwards are playing on the wing, living out their dream every day together in the New York Islanders locker room.
“When we were kids, we wondered about what it would be like to play in the NHL someday,” Duclair said. “It’s nice to look back and talk about those memories. Doing it now, we’re living our dream.”
The pair won a championship together back in the day when they teammates on the 2011-12 Lions squad that won the Jimmy Ferrari Cup, awarded to the Quebec Midget AAA champion. The two hoped to continue as teammates in the short-term, but ended up on opposing teams in the QMJHL (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League). Drouin played for the Halifax Mooseheads and Duclair laced up for the Québec Remparts. Over the years, they’d skate together in the offseason and still keep up the friendly banter.
“We spent our summers together when we were younger,” Drouin said. “Always nagging each other back then, we’re a little more mature now, but it’s still there.”