Special connection: Dubois and his dad savor mid-season visit

Eric Dubois was on the phone at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
It was Wednesday afternoon, and he was supposed to be in Columbus already, visiting with his son, Pierre-Luc, the Blue Jackets' star rookie. As he spoke, a voice boomed through a nearby loudspeaker, informing passengers of departing flights and gate numbers.
None of them were his, though, as a travel day that started at 5 a.m. in Milwaukee tested his patience.
"I've been hearing that voice all day," he said, with a French accent strong enough to let you know which part of Canada he's from. "It's been a long day."
It got even longer.

WORTH THE WAIT
Dubois didn't arrive in Columbus until after 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, which meant he lost half a day with his son. It might've been aggravating, but the wait was worth every minute.
Despite all the delays, he still got three days and four nights to visit with "P-L," who gave his dad two goals in two games to remember the trip by. There was also a charter flight to D.C., a luxury hotel, a team dinner for players and dads, plus an evening stroll afterward to visit the Lincoln Memorial and see the White House.
They got a lot done in a few days, which was why they'd both looked forward to the visit for a couple months.
"The first time he mentioned, 'We do a fathers' weekend,' I was thrilled," said Eric, who's in his second season as an assistant coach with the Manitoba Moose, the AHL affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets. "I had to check with the Jets organization to see if I could go, but I knew their answer, because they're a family-oriented organization. As soon as they let me know I was able to go, I was thrilled, and I could tell that 'P-L', was also excited I could come over."
It wasn't the first time the Jets have been so understanding.
Last season, they allowed Eric to break away from Manitoba's season to watch his son play for Canada in the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championships. He attended the start of the tournament, and then returned for the gold medal game, which was held at Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
Canada came up short in a memorable shootout, getting silver instead of gold, but it's a memory the Dubois men will never forget.
"I had a chance to be there for the gold medal [game]," Eric said. "Every time we have a chance to spend time with our kids, with something special like that, it's always good memories for later on that we can talk about."
A NEW HOME
They've got a stockpile of memories now, which keeps on growing.
From the days when Eric coached Pierre-Luc, to their time in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League to Pierre-Luc being selected third overall by Columbus in the 2016 NHL Draft, the Dubois family has banked a lot of special moments.
Many of them belong to the guys of the family, Eric and "P-L," who've managed to strengthen their bond despite the distance between them. They've done it through calls and texts, often after Blue Jackets games, as "P-L" has established himself as an NHL regular.
"I try to call him after every game," Pierre-Luc said of his dad. "He tries to watch as many games as he can. Obviously, they play a lot too, so it's hard sometimes."
After earning a shot to play center this season, he hasn't looked back. Pierre-Luc plays most often on the top line, with dynamic Russian left wing Artemi Panarin, and has faced a bunch of NHL stars - many he'd only "played" previously in a video game on his Xbox.
"I think he put everything together when he was 16, especially after Christmas," Eric said, remembering how small his 6-foot-3, 207-pound son used to be. "He got his growth spurt when he was around 16, so he was never the biggest one on the ice. At times, it was tough to get the best out of him. We didn't know where he would be at age 17, 18 or 19, you know?"
The answer at 19 turned out to be the NHL, trying to help the Blue Jackets not only qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs but make a postseason run. It still seems a little unbelievable to his dad.
"Even when he turned 17 in his draft year, he had a good start, but really exploded after Christmas," Eric said. "He finally figured out things, how to be consistent and how to put things together, so to see him in the NHL at 19, yes, it's kind of surreal. We didn't think for any moment that it would come that fast."
Showing his dad how far he's come, firsthand, was important to Pierre-Luc.
"Columbus is my home now," he said, prior to departing for the first leg of the weekend excursion. "A lot of people in my family have gotten the chance to see it and everything, but I'm really excited for him to see."
'I CAN'T HELP YOU'
When your dad is a coach, well, that's a nice resource to have sometimes.
Pierre-Luc Dubois' father has coached for as long as he can remember, from youth teams to the major junior circuit and now in the AHL, one step away from where he's now playing. He's quick to point out how much he's learned from the Blue Jackets' coaching staff, especially head coach John Tortorella, but when a dad has coached a son as long as Eric's coached "P-L," there are just going to be times the son goes to him for advice.
"He never calls me to talk about hockey," Pierre-Luc said. "It's always me asking him, or something like that. He's not really coaching me. He just knows me more than anybody else knows me, and he probably knows me [better] than I know myself. I just like to see what he thinks sometimes."
He's sought out that advice quite a bit this season, but most often back in October, when he didn't feel as comfortable going to Tortorella or assistants Brad Shaw, Brad Larsen and Kenny McCudden.
One of those phone calls ultimately led to a meeting with Tortorella, which helped set the rookie on his current course.
"When something bothers him, he likes to talk to someone about it, whether it's with me or with his coach," Eric said. "It's something he wanted to develop with 'Torts,' but at first he didn't know how an NHL coach would react. Everything was new to him. I remember around Game 10, he had a lot of questions for me, and I was like, 'Son, I can't help you, because I don't have the answer.' I said, 'Give it a try with 'Torts' or with an assistant coach and see where it goes from there."
It started with the assistants, but eventually turned into a 1-on-1 with Tortorella.
"He went a little bit further, and he asked for a meeting with 'Torts,'" Eric said. "And 'Torts' was really honest with him. You know, 'Here, this is what you need to do … this and this. If you want to have more ice time, if you want to leave that fourth line, you're going to have to do some things in order to get more ice time.' From that day on, [Pierre-Luc] realized that he could talk to 'Torts,' and that when he's got questions, it's better off to ask him instead of waiting and just asking yourself the question."
There was a tinge of "proud papa" in Eric Dubois' voice while telling that story, because it makes him happy - as a father and as a hockey coach.
"I like the fact that it seems like he's got a good relationship with 'Torts,'" Eric said. "I think he learned from the first meeting that, 'OK, the door is open,' I can talk to him if I have a problem or any questions.'"
TOO MANY 'DUBOISES'
Pierre-Luc Dubois laughed as soon as the question was asked.
"Is your dad going to stay with you this weekend, at the Savards' house?"
During the bulk of his first NHL season, "P-L" has lived with veteran teammate David Savard and his family, which includes his wife, Valerie, and two young kids, Emma and Elliot. The only time he hasn't stayed with them was during the holidays, when Dubois' family came to visit.
That required a short-term rental place, just like this trip required a hotel.
"No," Pierre-Luc said, answering the question. "It's too much. Too many Duboises in the house … 'Savvy' doesn't want that."
One Dubois, however, is just fine by the Savards, who are happy to have one of the NHL's best rookies calling a room in their home his abode.
"We kind of have a transition with most of the guys who go through the AHL and stuff like this," Savard said. "You're away from your billet [family from Juniors], and in the NHL it can be hard as a 19-year old. He's been really good for us, and it's been nice to have him with us. He's been really good with the kids, too. He's been playing with them and stuff. It's nice to see."
It was a relief to Dubois' parents, too.
"We were hoping something like that would happen for him, or that he would have the opportunity to live with somebody instead of being on his own," Eric Dubois said. "When it's your first NHL season, we felt that it would be better for him to focus on hockey and learn from an older player about how to prepare yourself to perform every night. When 'Savvy' came forward with 'P-L,' I thought it was the best thing that could ever happen to him."
He had a reason for feeling that way, other than just knowing Savard was an NHL veteran. Eric also coached Savard for part of one season in the QMJHL with Baie-Comeau.
"Knowing 'Savvy' from coaching him, I knew he was a great person," Eric said. "So, for parents, especially for my wife, it gave her confidence about leaving her son with them."
Pierre-Luc has enjoyed it too. He's even starting to pitch in around the house, babysitting occasionally and chipping in with groceries.
"They're great," he said. "They said, 'We're doing this as a favor for you,' and I think now they're like, 'OK, maybe you can help a little bit more.' So, whether it's babysitting or doing the groceries every once in a while, I really appreciate what they're doing for me. I'd do anything to help them out."
CLEVELAND BOUND
Sunday was an off day for the Blue Jackets, who split their fathers' weekend back-to-back with a therapeutic 6-0 victory Saturday night against the New Jersey Devils, making Nationwide Arena pulsate with noise.
Dubois scored the first goal, in the first period, just as he did in Washington to tie the game Friday. The second one of the weekend was the tipping point, though, for a deluge of Blue Jackets goals that followed.
"We knew we had it in us," he said. "Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you don't. To get a game like that helps the confidence a lot. We're in a good mood, having a day off [Sunday]. Everybody's going into the day off in a good mood."
That includes his dad, who planned to rejoin his team in Cleveland on Sunday. That departure required no airports, though, and no flight delays or loudspeakers.
All they needed was Pierre-Luc's car, two hours up I-71 and a decision about which of them should drive. Would Eric be content letting "P-L" drive, or insist on getting behind the wheel himself?
"Depends on whether he's tired or not."