Victor, Julia Mete share special bond

DETROIT - Long before Victor Mete was patrolling the Canadiens' blueline, he was soaking up valuable skating tips from his older sister Julia.

Three years his elder, Julia was a competitive figure skater growing up.
Victor would often watch her train at a rink just a stone's throw from their family home in Woodbridge, ON, and the pair also enjoyed hitting the ice together, too.
And Julia was more than willing to share some skating knowledge with her younger sibling and help him make strides in that all-important aspect of his game.
"We'd do a lot of edge work. She was a figure skater, so obviously it was a little bit different. We'd go on the ice and she would show me some technique. I tried to put that towards better balance, using my edges and trusting my edges more," explained Victor, regarding the one-on-one practice sessions. "We had a rink in our backyard, too, so we'd go on there as well."

Julia remembers Victor being a model student, attentive and eager to improve.
"He was good. He's a great listener. Most people say that he's very teachable, that he takes things in and does really well with that," recalled Julia, who was in attendance for the 20-year-old defenseman's 100th career NHL game over the weekend at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. "He doesn't talk back. He just wants to learn and he's very open-minded, so that's why he is where he is now."
Victor is quick to admit that time spent working with Julia paid serious dividends in the long run. Skating is one of his many strong points on the back end.
"I just feel even more comfortable on my edges, how far I can go down on them and how much more I can use them," mentioned Victor. "Even backwards skating, just kind of pushing off, side-to-side and spins. I'm just so used to it from doing it as a younger kid. Now, it's with hockey equipment on and it just kind of feels the same."

There's an ongoing debate, though, with respect to which Mete really is the stronger skater. They still enjoy having a laugh about it from time to time.
"I still tell him that I'm a better skater than him," cracked Julia. "My dad thinks that he's a better backwards skater, but figure skating is all backwards, so I still think I'm better than him. We fight about it all the time."
Victor doesn't necessarily agree with that assessment.
"I don't know if I believe it still. She was a really good skater, but it might be a little bit easier to figure skate with the toe picks at the front. I don't know, we'd have to maybe battle it out one day," joked Victor. "We used to race a lot, though. I used to beat her all the time. She'd probably say differently, but I always used to beat her."

No sibling rivalry
These days, Victor and Julia are among each other's biggest supporters.
Victor can't say enough about just how meaningful her backing has been on his hockey journey thus far.
"She's been there for everything I've been through. All the European summer hockey tournaments, Ivan Hlinka she was there, Memorial Cup, World Juniors, first NHL game, 100th NHL game, she's been there with me for all of my big achievements. She doesn't have to, but she's there, so I appreciate it," praised the two-year NHL veteran, who is averaging 17:14 of ice time per game through 52 outings so far this season. "She's always texting me, excited to come and see me. She's been down to Montreal a couple of times this year just to hang out and we hang out a lot in the summertime."

Likewise, Julia says Victor has been a stellar cheerleader with respect to her career, too.
While she ultimately pursued figure skating, Julia always wanted to be a hockey player. Now, she's working in hockey as a power skating coach at Allstar Hockey School in Toronto, in addition to serving as an assistant coach and trainer with the North York Rangers' Midget AAA squad.
"We had a game the day he was coming home from a trip to Las Vegas, Christmas break, we picked him up from the airport at like 6:00 a.m. and he came right to the rink to our game," remembered Julia with a smile. "He did a pre-game speech for the boys and watched the game."
That's just the kind of person Victor is, according to Julia.
"He has the biggest heart and he's very passionate about the game. I know a lot of hockey players and I know my brother, and he just loves everything about hockey. He lives it, breathes it, everything to do with that. He's a family person. He always wants to make people happy," praised Julia. "He's funny and he loves his fans and his family. Everything is about us and everybody else. He just wants to make everyone happy at the end of the day."
And she couldn't be more pleased to see him enjoying success at hockey's highest level.
"It's still surreal for me. I still remember the day he got drafted. I just started crying. I didn't even know what to do," said Julia. "Everybody said that he was too small to play and look where he is now. I'm so proud of him."

A cute story
Victor shared one story, in particular, that offered up another glimpse into the bond he has with Julia.
"Growing up, we were always in the car together. I remember one year we were doing renovations at my house and we had to stay at my Nonna's and pretty much live in the same room for about a year. We kind of got a lot of bonding time together and were able just to talk as brother and sister a lot just about anything. She always told me that if I needed to talk about anything, I could go to her," said Victor. "Then, I would see her at school. My school was junior kindergarten to grade 12, so I would always see her in the hallways. She was always a really big person in my life, everywhere seeing her all the time."