Gionta 'rooting just for good hockey' in Canadiens-Sabres series

MONTREAL -- Brian Gionta wore the captain’s “C” for seven consecutive NHL seasons -- from 2010-14 for the Montreal Canadiens, then from 2014-17 for the Buffalo Sabres.

Now, the Canadiens and Sabres are about to lock up in the Eastern Conference Second Round, their first Stanley Cup Playoff duel since 1998, and Gionta considers the question: Where will his loyalties lie when the puck drops?

“I’ll certainly cheer for good hockey,” he replied diplomatically, with a laugh.

Gionta will be on hand Wednesday for Game 1 of the best-of-7 series at KeyBank Center in Buffalo (7 p.m. ET, HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC), and for every Sabres home game the rest of this playoff season.

Canadiens captain Brian Gionta handles the puck along Bell Centre boards during a 2011 game.

Gionta’s career began with the New Jersey Devils, who selected the forward in the third round (No. 82) of the 1998 NHL Draft. He’d play seven seasons with the Devils beginning in 2001-02, having captained Boston College to the NCAA Division I championship in his 2000-01 senior year, and winning Stanley Cup with the Devils in 2003 to cap his second NHL season.

An unrestricted free agent, the native of Rochester, New York, would be part of a massive Canadiens retooling in 2009-10, arriving with an influx of new players that included Devils teammate Scott Gomez, by trade, and five other high-profile free agents: forwards Michael Cammalleri and Travis Moen, and defensemen Hal Gill, Paul Mara and Jaroslav Spacek.

In 2010-11, the second of his five seasons in Montreal, Gionta was named the 28th captain in team history. He would lead by example for the next four seasons before departing for Buffalo as a 2014 free agent, forever playing much heavier than his 178 pounds and taller than his 5-foot-7.

The “C” remained on Gionta’s Sabres jersey, playing for three seasons with the team based 75 miles west of his Rochester hometown.

Buffalo Sabres captain Brian Gionta prepares to play in his 1,000th NHL game on March 27, 2017 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.

His NHL career at a crossroads following three seasons in Buffalo, he captained the United States at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics -- where the U.S. was eliminated by the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals -- then returned to the NHL to play 20 games down the stretch with the Boston Bruins.

Gionta retired following the 2017-18 season, focusing his days on his wife, Harvest, and their three young children who mostly knew a husband and father as a man who was on the road a great deal from autumn through spring.

A large talent in a small package, Gionta didn’t merely survive 16 seasons in the punishing NHL trenches, he flourished, with 595 points (291 goals, 304 assists) in 1,026 games, adding another 68 points (32 goals, 36 assists) in 113 playoff games.

Now, eight years since his final game, Gionta is feeling the rush of playoff fever once more, his Canadiens and Sabres girding for battle for the eighth time in NHL history.

Canadiens captain Brian Gionta fires a slap shot during a 2010 Bell Centre game.

“I have connections to both cities and both organizations,” he said Tuesday. “I spent the most time in New Jersey and won the Stanley Cup there, but to be honest, my real core memories of being in the NHL are during my time in Montreal.

“Everything kind of hit at once. The big group came in together by free agency and trade that 2009-10 season. We had some good success. I love everything about the city, Montreal was kind of that sweet spot in my career that hit home. I felt like I had made it in the League. Our team came together, matured and took off as a group.

“I don’t want to say I have stronger ties to Montreal than anywhere else, but the (ownership) Molsons, my time there, I’ll never forget that. I’m always pulling for Montreal just because it seems to have been that core time in my career. But now I’ll be rooting just for good hockey.

“I don’t know whether I’ll be able to wear my Habs gear in Buffalo,” he said, laughing again, “but I’m going to be rooting for both teams, for sure.”

Buffalo Sabres captain Brian Gionta sees a puck sail wide of New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist during a 2016 game at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.

Buffalo missed the playoffs the past 14 seasons, vaulting from seventh in the Atlantic Division last season to first this year under coach Lindy Ruff; the youthful, smartly rebuilt Canadiens, under coach Martin St. Louis, played one playoff round last season and show great promise not just for the future, but the present.

Gionta is especially impressed by the play of veteran Montreal forward Brendan Gallagher, who arrived in Montreal in 2012-13, Gionta’s fourth season. A healthy scratch the first four games against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round this postseason, Gallagher dressed for Game 5 and scored on his first shift.

“I love the passion that ‘Gally’ still brings to the game,” Gionta said. “I was cheering in my living room when I saw him score once he got the chance. You know he’s the ultimate competitor, the ultimate teammate.

“You know it was eating him alive not being in the fight with everybody. When Gally got that chance and scored in his first shift, that summed him up. I’ve obviously got a huge soft spot for the kid. He came in super young and reminded me of myself when I was young, just a lot of parallels. I’ll root for that guy all day long.”

Montreal Canadiens captain Brian Gionta photographed during a 2011 game at Bell Centre.

Gionta closely tracks the Canadiens during the season and says he’s not the least bit surprised by the team’s run that brings them to Buffalo.

“I think the process of the quote-unquote rebuild that they’ve done there has been quick, very diligent and I think it’s ahead of where most would have thought it would be now,” he said.

“They have a great young goaltender (in Jakub Dobes), guys like (captain) Nick Suzuki leading the way, (forward) Cole Caufield scoring a ton (51 goals) throughout the year… it’s not a surprise that they’re where they’re at. I think the leadership of Geoff Molson down through the front office and obviously Marty St. Louis behind the bench, well, he’s pushing the right buttons.”

Gionta laughs about St. Louis, who arrived in Montreal in 2021-22 with only youth hockey coaching experience under his belt.

“We coached against each other, our kids the same age,” he said.

“When Marty took the Canadiens job, I said he was ruining the entire youth hockey world because now everyone thinks it’s perfectly normal to go from coaching under-16s to the NHL.”​

New Jersey Devils’ Brian Gionta skates during warmup of a 2009 Stanley Cup Playoff game, and with the Stanley Cup on June 9, 2003 following the Devils’ Game 7 win against the Anaheim Ducks.

Buffalo, meanwhile, has a healthy part of Gionta’s heart, too, and has consideration for the long-suffering, eternally loyal fan base to whom the playoffs have been a rumor for nearly a decade and a half.

“For everyone who’s gone through the drought that they have, the excitement around the city now is second to none,” he said. “I feel for the guys who have been through parts of this rebuild that’s taken too long, that they haven’t seen the success with the organization, and I feel for the guys who have been here, guys like (forwards) Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch, who have had some down years and now they’re able to see it through to the playoffs. It’s fun to watch them.

“I never played for Lindy. I’ve played golf with him a few times and I know him a bit, enough to know that he bleeds Buffalo, everything he does is for Buffalo. I’m happy for the fans, the city, the guys who have struggled throughout the tough times. Now everyone is really enjoying the fruit after those down years.”

Time has flown in retirement, Gionta suggests.

Boston Bruins’ Brian Gionta in action against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 4 of a 2018 Eastern Conference Second Round series at TD Garden in Boston.

His elder son, Adam, 20, is playing for Rochester of the North American Hockey League, for whom Gionta is doing a bit of coaching; Adam is headed next season to study and play for Division 1 Niagara University.

Daughter Leah, 18, is soon off to college and younger son, James, 14, begins high school next year.

Gionta has made a joyful transition from professional player to busy fatherhood, passing up a number of NHL opportunities to shuttle kids in every direction and enjoying family time that was a rare luxury during his career.

“We have a great routine,” he said. “You forget how hard it is on your wife and children for all the years you play, how much falls on them, all the things they have to sacrifice. Whether it’s a vacation on a weekend now or taking the kids places, those are the little things you miss along the way.

Sabres captain Brian Gionta holds a souvenir puck from his 1,000th NHL game after a 4-2 victory on March 27, 2017 against the Florida Panthers at KeyBank Center.

“Time just goes too quickly, shifts too quickly. Before you know it, they’re out of the house. I’m 100 percent happy being with my family and being somewhat involved with hockey.”

A special playoff series is now at hand and Gionta will be riding an emotional roller coaster from the opening face-off, memories of his own career rekindled with two of his teams set to meet. Playoff hockey, he says through experience, is a very different animal.

“I miss the importance of every single shift,” he said. “Every single play means something. Whether that’s connecting a pass on a breakout, a disrupted forecheck, everything is amplified in the playoffs, the momentum swings, the excitement around it.

“And I miss, for sure, walking out of that tunnel from the dressing room at the Bell Centre, the buzz in the city come playoff time. It’s a place like no other. Nothing in hockey rivals it.”