TAMPA, Fla. — As Yanni Gourde graciously opens the front door of his four-bedroom, South Tampa house, he has one important question.
“You good with dogs?”
You’d better be. Savi, a 100-pound Bernese Mountain Dog, greets guests as if they’re long-lost family members. Savi pounces, her blend of black, brown and white fur a blur as she bounds through the rental home, which is a couple of blocks from Bayshore Blvd. The entryway has a white shelf for shoes and bags, while the rest of the floor is covered with baby gear: a bouncy chair, stuffed animals and a play area for “tummy time.”
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You see, seven-month-old Emma rules this roost.
There are palm trees and a pool in the backyard, but the living room is the warmest spot. There are framed family photos on the mantle, including one of a newborn Emma sleeping next to Savi. Hanging above the fireplace are three stockings, one each for Emma, Yanni and his wife, Marie-Andrée.
The couple met as teenagers, with the high school sweethearts bouncing around a half-dozen cities while Gourde chased his improbable dream, going from undrafted (in both junior and the NHL) to a top-line role with the Lightning. Victoriaville. Kalamazoo. Worcester. Syracuse. San Francisco. Marie-Andrée laughs thinking back on how she’d often make Yanni his pregame pasta meal in the bathroom of hotels in which they lived.
“It’s been an adventure,” she said.
The Christmas tree, covered in white and yellow bulbs and flanked by presents, has been along for the ride, folded up and packed at several different stops.
But not this year.
This is a special Christmas for the Gourde family. It’s Gourde’s first as a father, as Emma arrived during the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in May. There’s a lot to be thankful for this holiday, which comes just a few months after Gourde’s life-changing contract: a six-year, $31 million extension signed in mid-October. Gourde said he couldn’t eat the morning the deal was finalized.
“We just couldn’t believe it was possible,” Marie-Andrée said.
Yanni sits on the couch, plops Emma on his lap and smiles.
“We’ve finally found a home.”
Happy #Nationalpuppyday to my not so little puppy anymore ! pic.twitter.com/fWOfJaTTWN
— Yanni Gourde (@YanniGourde) March 24, 2018
Yanni and Marie-Andrée met when they were 14 years old in high school.
They were in math class.
“He was so annoying,” Marie-Andrée said, laughing.
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Yanni agreed, admitting he was the class clown.
“I was all over the place,” he said. “I would get under people’s skin.”
You mean, like you are on the ice?
“Oh yeah,” he said. “But I’ve gotten better. I’m older now.”
Yanni is from Saint-Narcisse, a neighborhood outside of Quebec City. He grew up idolizing another undersized, Quebec-born kid, Martin St. Louis, whose improbable rise to the Hall of Fame inspired many. Marie-Andrée is from another Quebec city, Sainte-Marie. She knew about hockey, but she had no idea about the grind and travel until she started dating Yanni, who spent three seasons in Victoriaville.
“It’s not like he could come home on weekends,” she said.
Their first date was to a drive-in movie theater, a double feature with a couple of French films. The first one was “Bon Cop, Bad Cop,” about two Canadian police officers chasing a serial killer.
“I don’t think we made it to the second one,” he said.
They were an instant fit. Gourde proposed in 2013 on a getaway to Charlevoix in Northern Quebec. They had dinner, then took a walk by the Saint Lawrence River. He got down on one knee. She said yes. They got married in 2015.
“Were you nervous asking my dad for permission?” Marie-Andrée asked.
“Oh yeah,” Gourde said. “But I’m an old-fashioned guy. It was the right thing to do.”
Gourde had trouble making teams as a kid, getting cut three times from his hometown midget Triple-A team. After going undrafted in juniors, Gourde made calls to several teams in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League looking for a tryout.
Victoriaville, coached by Yanick Jean, gave Gourde a shot. And they were rewarded as Gourde racked up 221 points in 199 games. Jean said Gourde reminded him of another undersized forward, David Desharnais, who went on to play for the Montreal Canadiens.
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“Yanni was just a late bloomer,” Jean said. “Just keep fighting, and good things will happen.”
Gourde’s first couple of stops were relatively close, Victoriaville and Worcester, Mass., the AHL affiliate of the San Jose Sharks.
But as Gourde got shuffled across the country to San Francisco, demoted to the ECHL and then sent to Kalamazoo, Mich., it tested their relationship. In a couple of cities, Gourde lived in a hotel. They enjoyed the little things, like free coffee in the lobby. They got to know hotel staffers by name. They got cozy and resourceful, getting a microwave and small cooker for meals. While Yanni took his pregame naps, Marie-Andrée would cook pasta and other easy-to-make meals.
“She had a better setup in Syracuse,” Gourde said. “They had a kitchenette.”
Gourde moved a lot. There were just eight games in San Francisco, two separate stints in Worcester. Thirty games in Kalamazoo. A lot of times, the couple would pack up her old BMW to the brim.
“I’m an expert packer,” Gourde said. “What is that game called, ‘Tetris?’ It’s like that. I can make anything fit.”
Filling out Yanni's Nexus app is such a pain..especially when it asks for every home address you had in the past 5 years #hockeylifeproblems
— Marie-Andrée Gourde (@marieandreeraby) October 16, 2015
No matter where they were, though, they always made it home for Christmas back in Quebec.
There was one Christmas, however, they’ll never forget. One holiday season that changed their paths for the good.
It was in 2013. And Gourde’s hockey career was at a crossroads.
He had just moved from Worcester in the AHL, one step away from the NHL, back down to San Francisco in the ECHL, where his team played in the “Cow Palace,” a unique barn of sorts which had a 35-step stairway from the ice to the locker room. When the baby-faced Gourde showed up in San Francisco, one of the players thought Gourde was another player’s son. The ECHL team in Kalamazoo wanted to bring Gourde in, believing he’d help them make the playoffs.
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Gourde was still young, 22, but he didn’t want to spend his life languishing in the minors. The money and lifestyle weren’t good enough to support a family, which he and Marie-Andrée knew they wanted. Yanni had studied civil engineering in school, and it’s something he could pursue once he hung up his skates.
The couple had a heart-to-heart.
“We decided to give it one last shot,” Marie-Andrée said.
“You have to start supporting your family at some point,” Gourde said.
Marie-Andrée decided to make the best of it. On one of her visits, she made a huge Walmart run, buying holiday decorations and other stuff for their place. Yanni made it count on the ice, amassing 15 goals and 34 points in 30 games. Before a game around Christmas, Marie-Andrée found out that her husband had earned another 25-game tryout with Worcester. He was headed back to the AHL.
She went to the arena, trying desperately to get Yanni’s attention. The worst thing that could happen was Gourde getting hurt and blowing a chance at another pro shot.
“Coach just wanted me for one more game,” Gourde said.
Gourde played, stayed healthy, and the couple headed back to Quebec for Christmas. They drove through a wicked storm, but they were happy. They had something to celebrate. His career had been given new life.
After dominating in his 25-game tryout with Worcester, Gourde’s agent called, telling him he had NHL offers. The team that wanted him? The Lightning.
“The rest,” Gourde says, “is history.”
A great summer, a new contract and 2 hips surgery later..it's hockey time again! Have fun in Tampa, I love you❤️ pic.twitter.com/G6rXBdIWFp
— Marie-Andrée Gourde (@marieandreeraby) September 18, 2016
Gourde, back in his living room and holding his daughter, said he wouldn’t be here without his wife.
Marie-Andrée has studied business in school and has helped her family’s faucet-manufacturing company. But she’s largely put her life on hold for the love of her life. Marie-Andrée said it was worth any sacrifice, and their path has made them more appreciative of what they have now.
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“She’s been with me all along,” Gourde said. “I’ll forever be grateful. I wouldn’t be able to do it without her. She’s been amazing to me. She allows me to live my dream. At the same time, she put aside her dreams, doing that for us and for our family.”
That's 6 years ago..Yanni and I use to drive to Montreal to watch the Habs every now and then. Today Yanni is playing here. Unreal feeling pic.twitter.com/xahwJ1XNvB
— Marie-Andrée Gourde (@marieandreeraby) April 7, 2017
Their family got bigger at 4:42 p.m. on May 1.
That’s when Emma Kate Gourde was born in a Tampa hospital. The Lightning were in Boston for a second-round playoff series, but Gourde stayed back for the induced labor.
Gourde was there in the delivery room, donning sky-blue scrubs, to welcome his baby daughter into the world. Gourde, 26, cradled the top of Emma’s head with his left hand, using his right to comfort his wife. Gourde couldn’t stop smiling as they posed for their announcement photo.
“An amazing experience,” Gourde said. “Unreal.”
Gourde made sure his bride and baby were healthy and happy, but then Marie turned to him.
“OK, get going now,” Marie said, recalled Gourde. “I know you have a big game to catch.”
Emma Kate Gourde pic.twitter.com/W8sMuF0EQS
— Yanni Gourde (@YanniGourde) May 2, 2018
Marie-Andrée brings Emma to most every Lightning home game.
The brown-haired, blue-eyed girl with chubby cheeks is a lot like her dad: full of energy, happy and hard to contain.
As Gourde sits on his couch on a recent Friday in his black sweatsuit and hat, he spends most of his time juggling his pride and joy. He holds Emma up as if she is an airplane. He kisses her belly. He caresses her curly hair as she rests on his leg.
The Gourdes are finally settled in. While they’re still renting, they plan to go house hunting eventually. The good news is no more hotels, no more pregame meals cooked in the bathroom.
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“No, Emma,” Gourde says to his daughter in his baby voice. “No more of that.”
The Gourdes planned to spend the three-day holiday break back home in Quebec but will celebrate Christmas with Emma and Savi in Tampa on Dec. 25, Christmas Day. They’ll open the presents under the tree. They’ll check out their stockings.
And they’ll probably take another family photo, one they can add to their mantle.
Their first Christmas.
Joe Smith can be reached at [email protected]. Follow @JoeSmithTB.
(All family photos: Joe Smith / The Athletic)
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