Phillip Danault says Yanni Gourde has been a pest since Victoriaville
Phillip Danault said Yanni Gourde has carried the same edge since their junior days, calling him a tiring player who was always in an opponent’s face. The Canadiens forward drew a straight line from three seasons together in Victoriaville to Gourde’s current role as a playoff nuisance.
Victoriaville forged Gourde
Danault and Gourde played three full seasons together with the Tigres de Victoriaville from 2009-2010 to 2011-2012. Danault said Gourde was "un peu plus offensif à l’époque, mais il a toujours été ce genre de joueur fatigant" and added that he was "toujours dans la face de l’adversaire."
"Ça a toujours été son identité," Danault said a few hours before the fourth game of the series. The point was not a compliment wrapped in nostalgia; it was a description of the same pressure Gourde brings now, after years of making life difficult for the other side.
Gourde’s climb to Tampa Bay
That identity held through the hard part of his career. Danault said Gourde had not been drafted and spent six seasons in the minor leagues, including two ECHL stints, before establishing himself in the NHL.
Gourde then won two Stanley Cups, and Danault said he played a key role in the 2021 run by supplying depth on the third line. Danault also said, "En plus, avec les années, il a pris de la confiance, il s’est battu un peu, il est devenu un homme" and "Il a toujours été un travailleur acharné et il a toujours travaillé plus que les autres."
Montreal still knows the style
That old profile fits the player Montreal keeps running into. The article says Gourde became a target of Canadiens fans during the series after mocking Arber Xhekaj and bothering Montreal’s defensemen in Game 2, which lined up with the junior reputation Danault remembered.
Danault said, "Il a gravi les échelons un par un et a fini par gagner deux coupes Stanley" and added, "Deux coupes lors desquelles il a joué un rôle important. En tout cas, en 2021, en amenant de la profondeur sur la troisième ligne." The comments came on April 27, after Tampa Bay general manager Julien BriseBois brought Gourde back at the trade deadline last year, following the expansion draft move four years earlier that sent him to Seattle.
