SHAWINIGAN, QUE. - Growing up as elite players approximately three hours and three months apart, Thomas Chabot and Gabriel Gagne would have locked horns in minor-league hockey tournaments.
They also battled during their first two Quebec Major Junior Hockey League seasons, Chabot as a defenceman with the Saint John Sea Dogs and Gagne a winger with the Victoriaville Tigres.
But they started to develop a bond at last year’s NHL entry draft in Sunrise, Fla. — when the Senators selected Chabot in the first round (18th overall) and Gagne in the second (36th) — and it grew tighter two weeks later at the team’s summer development camp.