Even with a missing tooth — one of the upper middle incisors, no less — Chicago Blackhawks rookie Louis Crevier still flashes a huge grin when talks about how he lost it.
Pointing to his gap, Crevier said, “This one, I don’t know where it is. It’s lost in the Fifth Third Arena forever.”
It happened during practice on Feb. 20.
“It was like 15 seconds into my first drill,” he said. “It was the power play/PK, it was Beauvy (Anthony Beauvillier) who shot at my stick, and it went right there. So it’s just a hockey play that happens.
“I wish at least it would have been in the game, like a blocked shot or something.”
Beauvillier was sheepish about it.
“Aw, I felt bad,” the forward said. “Just an unfortunate play. He just got a stick there and the puck came up. … It wasn’t fun to see.”
Beauvillier apologized and said Crevier “was good about it.”
Crevier said he joked with Beauvillier: “Us French guys got to stick together.” Crevier can make light of it now, but it was pretty unsightly at first.
“I had a couple of crooked ones, like they’re still a little bit out of place right now, (I needed) a couple of stitches,” he said. “The missing teeth aren’t bad, it’s more I’ve got to get braces now too. So that part I like a little bit less. But I’m a real hockey player with the missing tooth. It’s a good stereotype.”
“This one I don’t know where it is. It’s kind of lost in the Fifth Third Arena forever.”
—Louis Crevier on his front tooth getting knocked out during practice Tuesday pic.twitter.com/w3TOmAdhcu
— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) February 24, 2024
Not everyone in his family shares his humor.
“My mom was kind of pissed because I had braces for two years when I was younger,” Crevier said, laughing.
After getting fixed up, he ate for the first day or so.
“Eating kind of sucks right now because I can’t chew really with those guys,” he said, referring to his front teeth. “So I’ve got to put all the food in the back of my mouth.”
Coach Luke Richardson said some players still consider losing teeth a rite of passage.
“It’s just kind of the nature of the game, it’s always kind of had that little bit of a look,” he said.
But it’s not the only badge of honor.
“I don’t think the look (of a missing tooth) is the toughness part,” he said. “I think if someone gets hit and they get up and keep playing is the toughness part.
“Sometimes that doesn’t mean a hit to the face, it could be a blocked shot anywhere (on the body). That’s more of a sign of playing through a little bit of pain.”
He added a bright side: “At least we have better dentists and better dental work now. They can put some better looking replacements in.”
Philipp Kurashev agreed — not that any player looks forward to it.
“I mean, of course you don’t want to lose teeth, but sometimes it comes with hockey,” he said. “I’ve lost some of mine and, yeah, it’s not fun. … It sucks. It’s not nice.”
The only other annoyance for Crevier: He has had to wear a full face shield, which he said was “weird a little bit at first.”
And he can’t even be the Hawks player most associated with wearing the fishbowl mask — rookie Connor Bedard has become synonymous with the “bubble” since returning from a broken jaw.
Bedard said his injury doesn’t make him concerned about losing teeth.
“I guess it’s a chance, but you’re not really going out there worrying about it,” he said. “Maybe the odd time in practice if your stick’s out and you see the puck coming, you might throw a glove over your mouth. But I don’t think you ever think about it too much.”
When the comparison to Bedard’s mask was brought up, Crevier deadpanned, “I want to be just like him. I don’t even need it. I just want to look like him.”
