Nick Suzuki: Nothing could stop this rising star

MONTREAL -- Amanda Suzuki's eyes light up every time she sees a fan wearing her son's No.14 at the Bell Centre, which is a common occurrence these days.

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Her smile widens as she notices many of those sporting his jersey are quite young.
But she still wants him to show his supporters a little more attention whenever the opportunity arises.
"Nick is laser-focused," said Amanda, who often makes the seven-hour drive from London, ON to Montreal to watch Nick in action. "I wish, maybe, he'd take a little time to interact with fans in the first few minutes of warmups, though. I know they're working; I know it's their job, but it would be fun if he took a few pictures."
Amanda is thinking about the fan experience, noting that hockey needs to be fun, not only for the fans, but for the players as well.
She got her wish on November 20 when Nick was spotted trading a puck for a pack of Tic Tacs with a fan ahead of the Canadiens' game against the Nashville Predators.
In one simple moment, he helped create a memory that will last a lifetime.
"That makes me so happy," she exclaimed, shortly after perusing some of her son's merchandise at the Tricolore Sports boutique during a recent visit. "It's all about the fans. I'm really glad to see him doing that more often."
Nick has many fans now, but there's no denying that Amanda and her husband Rob are his most fervent backers.
The Suzukis never could've imagined that Nick or his brother Ryan would one day become professional hockey players.
They were much more familiar with the floor map of St. Thomas Hospital and various other medical centers near London than the road map to the NHL.
Plagued by constant ear infections, Nick underwent surgery before his first birthday to install ear tubes. Several cases of pneumonia followed due to RSV (Respiratory syncytial virus), with Nick being placed on a nebulizer to administer medicine. He was less than three years old when he contracted foot and mouth disease.
There was a lot of support from the family, notably from his paternal grandparents, Art and Marlene, but regardless of the amount of help, a mother will always feel particularly vulnerable when their child is faced with the prospect of surgery.
"It was terrifying," said Amanda. "He's my baby and he was going under. I knew it was the right thing to do, because I couldn't continue to let him suffer and I wanted him off the medication."
The surgery was a success, and eventually Nick's immune system gathered strength to fight his lung infections.

A young Nick Suzuki watches Canadiens legend Maurice Richard drop the puck for a ceremonial faceoff between Wayne Gretzky and Jaromir Jagr. Photo credit: Amanda Suzuki
Barney, the famous purple dinosaur, also played a part, capturing Nick's attention during treatment.
"Grandma would put the Barney video in," said Amanda. "And Nick would just sit there, without fussing, as the nebulizer would give him medicine."
Amanda and Rob worried about potential long-term illnesses, including asthma and various other breathing problems, but mercifully, things eventually improved for Nick.
Behind every hockey player are dedicated parents who sacrificed to make their child's dreams come true. Amanda always felt a certain sense of guilt whenever she'd drop Nick off at school and head to her job.
It's not that she didn't attend games or practices.
She spent as much time with Nick as possible, but she was also a working mother. The goal was to provide for Nick, to make sure he had every advantage possible once he was ready to strike out on his own.
Part of that approach involved enrolling Nick at the London Waldorf School, an establishment that strayed from the norm, focusing on anthroposophy, which puts an onus on integrating students' intellectual, artistic, and practical skills into every possible situation. Students had the same teacher, in Nick's case, Mr.Hadden, for their entire tenure, as well as the same classmates.
It was a major expense, which is why the Suzukis worked tirelessly to earn a better living. They were determined to provide as many benefits as possible to both their sons, as Ryan would quickly follow suit by enrolling at Waldorf.
Amanda credits Waldorf for playing a significant role in Nick's ability to process information, listen to his teachers, and later his coaches, not to mention his old-soul mentality that emanates maturity.
But she still feels guilty that she wasn't a full-time hockey parent. She couldn't be in three places at once, every mother's curse.
"I think I spent a lot of time feeling guilty when I probably shouldn't have," explained Amanda. "But that's just a life lesson. We needed to work, we had to provide, and we had student loans to pay off. But in the end, we raised two great kids, and we couldn't be prouder."
Nick took his first strides on the ice at the tender age of three, after Rob purchased a used pair of skates at Herm's Sports Exchange in London.
His first stick was a heavy wooden relic, with a significant portion sawed-off by Rob so that Nick could actually carry it.

Nick and Rob Suzuki. Photo Credit: Amanda Suzuki
He wasn't an immediate standout. In fact, he rarely garnered much attention until he hit the pre-teen stage of his career.
Nick was 15 years old the first time someone suggested he had the natural talent to make it to the NHL.
It's the type of comment you love to hear as a parent that's sacrificed a significant portion of their life driving kids around to tournaments across southern Ontario.
But it's also the kind of thing you find hard to believe until you hear it a few times.
Eventually, it became clear: both Nick and Ryan had a lot of potential.
Enter former NHLer Dave Gagner, who confirmed that the Suzuki brothers had a future in hockey.
Ryan was considered a little better for his age group, but Gagner wasn't just interested in their skill level.
He wanted to forge a relationship with the family, build a bond that would last a lifetime, and guarantee a little peace of mind for the parents, who were asked to put their faith in a relative stranger to act as a guiding light.
Eventually, Gagner became Nick and Ryan's agent, and a member of the Suzukis' extended family.
Rob and Amanda also placed a lot of value on independence, allowing both their sons to decide whether they felt comfortable signing with Gagner.
Nick, who always looked out for his younger brother, signed first, and Ryan signed shortly thereafter.
As Amanda dropped him off in Owen Sound for his rookie season, he simply looked back and told her he'd be okay, that she could go now.
With tears in her eyes, partly joyous, partly sad, she turned around and started the long drive home.
She was confident that Nick was adequately prepared, and she trusted Gagner with all her heart, but there's nothing that can make leaving your son 200 km away from home any easier.
Nick wasn't just beginning his NHL journey in earnest, he was becoming a man..
Standing quietly at the back of a crowded locker room during the 2019 Rookie Showcase in Belleville, Nick's stoic demeanor is betrayed by a wry smile when he's asked about the possibility of heading to Laval.
He wants to start the season in Montreal, and that's where he intends to stay.
And although he was the clear standout at the tournament, his confidence could have easily verged on arrogance.
But Suzuki isn't being arrogant.
He knows there's a lot of work left to do, and he's determined to do everything he can to be deemed worthy of a spot on the opening-night roster.
Less than a month later, Suzuki's name appears on the lineup that will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the first game of the season. A few days after that, Suzuki records his first point in the NHL.
Powered by confidence, Suzuki is named to the All-Rookie team after leading the Canadiens in playoff scoring.
Now in his third campaign, Nick isn't showing any signs of slowing down in every aspect of his game.
We've also seen significant personal growth in the former first-round pick over the years, but the seeds of his mature and stoic demeanor were planted well before the Rookie Showcase.
Amanda noted that it's simply "the Suzuki way", except there's more. It's the love, trust and support of his parents that molded one of the most impressive young players in the League.
He's a star in the making, and even more importantly, Suzuki will represent the organization with the first-rate class and confidence that's come to be expected from the leaders of the Montreal Canadiens.