A few rounds after he was picked third overall in the recent QMJHL draft by the Halifax Mooseheads, defenceman Malik L’Italien was at the team’s table speaking with one of the team’s players.
L’Italien was telling forward Shawn Carrier about how he’d love for Halifax to draft a speedy forward from Montreal named Jayden Napon. As L’Italien made his case, he heard the name Jayden Napon announced over the loudspeakers. Excited, he spoke to the team officials.
“I was just, like, so happy,” said L’Italien. “I was like, ‘Did you guys just draft him?’ They didn’t know he was my best friend.”
L’Italien and Napon, 16-year-olds who share the same birthday, first met more than a decade ago and are longtime best friends who have often played on the same teams.
“I was so happy because the Mooseheads is the best organization and I knew I was back with Malik, so that’s why now I’m working so hard to hopefully make the team next year,” said Napon.
The pair have chemistry from years of playing hockey together, but that bond was also built playing intense games of “mini sticks” indoors, where participants play on their knees and use tiny plastic hockey sticks.
“We were kind of cheating,” said Napon. “Me and Malik, we were putting ourselves together against his brother and another guy, so we were really strong.”
The bond also came from sleepovers and hanging out together. Given the shared birthday, it’s a tradition to celebrate at L’Italien’s home and then at Napon’s on the next day.
This past season, Napon played midget AAA hockey for the Laval-Montréal Rousseau-Royal, while L’Italien played at Stanstead College, a Quebec prep school just north of the Vermont border.
Napon, who is 5-10 and weighs 160 pounds, is a left winger who can score. L’Italien, who is 6-2 and 190 pounds, is an offensive defenceman comfortable anywhere on the ice.
“He’s dangerous, like, he moves so well and has a great shot,” said Napon.
While they can’t be linemates, they’d love to be able to share the ice together with the Mooseheads.
“I think we’re a bit of a cheat code, I would say,” said L’Italien. “And because we know each other … we know, like, the plays we’re doing and stuff.”
While L’Italien is a lock to make the team, Napon, a fifth-round draft pick, has a tougher path forward. But the opportunity to again play on the same team as his best friend gives him extra motivation.
“It’s something that pushes me,” said Napon. “Because even though it’s far from home, if I’m with him, it’s a boost because I’m not gonna be alone.”
