Plekanec: ‘One of the luckiest hockey players in the world’ 

MONTREAL – The bread to butter, the ice to cream, the straw to a berry and the turtleneck to a goatee.

One of those things is not like the other, but for Tomas Plekanec the formula that characterized his signature look was every bit as important and inseparable.

“It was just a coincidence,” Plekanec said in an interview on HabsTV in 2021 about wearing the turtleneck. “It was nothing planned or something I really wanted to wear. It just took my game up [a notch] and stuck with me.”

Look good, feel good, play good, they say.

One of those, he was still doing in the Czech Extraliga. The other, not so much. Last season, Plekanec produced at a near point-per-game rate with his hometown club, HC Kladno but after nine games this year, his body gave in and forced him to call it quits on Oct. 28, following a professional career that spanned over two decades.

“My back has some kilometers on it,” the 41-year-old laughed, referencing the wear and tear that he endured throughout parts of nine seasons in Europe and 15 more in the National Hockey League, almost all of which were played in a Canadiens uniform.

On that note, Habs fans are likelier to associate the words “Tomas Plekanec” and “retirement” to 2018. Fair to them, that’s when the Kladno, CZ native hung up his skates – and his turtleneck – on this side of the Atlantic, mere days after his 1,000^th career NHL game.

“I was probably one of the luckiest hockey players in the world,” admitted the former Hab on what it meant to be a Montreal Canadien. “It’s the best hockey town in the world. I’m not just saying that because I played there, but it’s just the way it is.”

Plekanec, or “Pleky,” as he’s known to teammates and fans, didn’t just understand what it meant to play in Montreal, he embraced it. And like nearly everything else, he did it quietly. 

“I wasn't in the spotlight. I was never looking for attention, but I enjoyed the attention from the fans toward the team,” admitted the 2001 third-round pick. “I loved to play in front of 20,000 people every night. It doesn’t get better than that.” 

And the fans, well, they loved him back. The one-time alternate captain became a household name in Montreal and a mainstay in the Canadiens’ lineup during the 2005-06 campaign when he made his mark as a two-way forward, equally effective at one end of the ice as he was at the other.

Brendan Gallagher, another purebred Canadien, played six seasons with the veteran centerman and flourished under Plekanec’s leadership when he entered the league as a 20-year-old.

“He brought it every night. He was just as consistent as they came in the League,” offered the Habs’ No. 11. “Year after year, he did his job, and he did it exactly as you'd expect him to do.”

“He was a guy that a lot of opponents hated to play against,” continued Gallagher. 

Retirement has always come with an asterisk for Plekanec, who’s never ventured too far from the rink before looping back around. “I think this might be his third or fourth retirement,” Gallagher joked.

Already, Plekanec has boarded Czechia’s National Team staff as an assistant coach. Now, only time will tell whether he stays behind the bench or if he hops back over the boards for one last ride.