VANCOUVER, BC – Patrick Roy. Martin Brodeur. Roberto Luongo. Jacques Plante.
The province of Québec has produced an abundance of elite NHL goalies through the years. It’s been dubbed a “goalie factory,” and for good reason when you consider the list above. So it makes perfect sense that Maxime Crépeau, a self-proclaimed “sports junkie” who grew up just outside of Montreal, ended up between the posts.
Even if it happened to be in a different sport.
Certainly, like most Quebecers, Crépeau was drawn to hockey and the Montreal Canadiens at a young age – he remembers playing street hockey with his friends daily. But he was also drawn to baseball, basketball, and football, among other sports.
Anything with a ball, really.
“I remember the neighbour at that time was an old man,” said Crépeau’s father, Rémi. “He was playing golf with him. When he was five or six years old, he was pitching a baseball with his mother there. We had a basketball hoop as well. He was playing every day, for a long time, just practicing dunks and stuff like that. He was always passionate about sport.”
“All the people, all the neighbours, knew him since he was a little boy. And they saw him run everywhere, with his bicycle, with his ball, that’s why the neighbours are so close,” said Crépeau’s mother, Huguette.
“I never played ice hockey on a team, but field hockey, or just in the streets every day. Every day, I just liked to play with some friends, gather two or three guys, and get a game going,” said the 25-year old Crépeau.
Hockey culture in Montreal is vibrant, to the point where it’s even treated like a religion. Crépeau says that if you’re a goaltender in Montreal, you have to deal with constant pressure from the fans. His hockey counterpart whose journey took a mirror image path being born in Vancouver then starring in the pros in Montreal for the Habs, Carey Price, is a perfect example of that.
“He’s one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. You know what I admire of him? It’s not even his goaltending abilities,” said Crépeau. “He’s just doing his thing. He’s so strong mentally and that’s how I look up to him. I know it’s not the same sport, I’m not comparing hockey to soccer, but it’s the mentality.”
Ultimately, and thankfully for the 'Caps, he made the change from pads to gloves, and Crépeau credits his brother for the switch. He also had a couple of European goalkeepers he looked up to while growing up.
“Iker Casillas. He’s the guy I was watching every day in the Real Madrid days. Gianluigi Buffon at Juventus. Still going strong today at 40 years old,” said Crépeau. “When I was even younger, when I started, I was looking up to Fabien Barthez as well. Those are the three I was looking at.”
Three goalkeepers winning the World Cup for their respective countries, inspiring one kid from Québec to do the same and become a professional soccer player, and boy, was he was determined to become one.
“We were telling him, if you get injured, you’re in school. You won’t play soccer all your life. He said you don’t understand, it’s soccer. I’m going to be a soccer player,” said Huguette. “Plan A, plan B, plan C, you can go to W if you want, the answer will always be the same thing. ‘I’m going to be a soccer player,’”
Crépeau joined the the Montreal Impact Academy in 2010, eventually working his way up to the first team and made his debut in the 2017 Canadian Championship against, as fate would have it, his future club in the 'Caps.
But before heading out west, his journey took him to Ottawa first, and it was while on loan to Fury FC in the country's capital that he would break out. Crépeau would record a USL single-season record with 15 clean sheets for Ottawa Fury FC in 31 starts and appearances, en route to winning the 2018 USL Goalkeeper of the Year award.
“So I went down to Ottawa, played, everything went well, and afterwards in the offseason I knew I wasn’t coming back with Montreal because one plus one equals two. I knew where I was with the club and the objective of the club at that moment,” said Crépeau. “I’m thankful Montreal was the first club that trusted me. After that, there’s a moment, bad timing, it’s not the time, I have to go away and get my football done, that’s it. That’s how football goes.”
In December 2018, the 'Caps made the move to acquire Crépeau. Upon his arrival at the club, there were a few familiar faces around the staff - including head coach Marc Dos Santos, who spent five years with Impact.
“So I was on the market at that time. When Marc got the job here, clubs are always speaking to each other. You cannot speak to the agent or the player,” said Crépeau. “Once the trade was made with the MLS office, the GM of Montreal called me and then Marc called me. He said, you know, he’s excited for a new page, building the Whitecaps, a new year, and after that it got announced in the media.”
From Montreal to Vancouver, the adaptation to a new city hasn’t been too difficult, the Québec netminder admitted.
“I like the charm of Vancouver. You get really used to the water and mountains real quick,” said Crépeau. “For my wife and I, it was two or three months of adaptation. But it was more about meeting new people and stuff like that. We adapted really well.”
Crépeau won over the supporters quick with his stellar performance in net, making 26 starts with the 'Caps in his first year in 2019, winning Whitecaps FC Player of the Year honours despite the team's struggles that season.
Things are different for 2020, and the team cannot wait to get back to the pitch once league play resumes.
“These types of things now, we have a foundation. That’s what I’m looking forward to. We have a foundation that we didn’t have last year,” added Crépeau.
With his club resume looking more and more impressive each outing, Crépeau is now contending to be Canada’s #1 goalkeeper alongside 32-year-old Milan Borjan, who plays for Serbian club Red Star Belgrade.
“For me, my role on this team, I know Milan has been great for us. I’m like a little brother to him. We’ve been together for eight years now. He’s seen me grow, I’ve seen him grow as well,” said Crépeau. “There’s that competitiveness in training every day, making each other better. When it comes to game day, I’m 100 per cent behind him. These are my guys, I’m going all in for them.”
If the trend keeps up, international success must not be too far out for Crépeau either.
Not bad for that kid from around the way who always carried a ball.
(Photo credit: Canada Soccer, Montreal Impact)
