Alain Vigneault had to hitch a ride with the Senators to get back to New York
That’s... not how things normally work.
With three days off for a holiday break, those who work in the NHL - from players to trainers to just about anyone you can think of - get the chance to spend a little quality time with their families.
This is, undoubtedly, a good thing. Everyone deserves the chance to go home for the holidays!
... Except sometimes that can cause problems. And not even the stereotypical “family constantly argues” problems.
No. With the holidays taking place in the middle of winter, it can cause travel problems, like it did for Alain Vigneault.
As the Ottawa Citizen reported, Vigneault, who went back home to Gatineau, QC for the holidays, got... stuck. Much of the area was blasted with freezing rain - there is literally video of people skating on the streets in nearby cities - so this understandably threw a wrench in his plans to get back to New York in time for the Rangers’ next practice.
And their next game, which so happened to be against the Senators. Gatineau and Ottawa are so close that Vigneault would no doubt be travelling out of Ottawa anyway, and with a certain charter flight needing to go exactly where he was going, well... he joined them.
Why not, right? If Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello were spending their Christmas together...
Vigneault hitched a ride with his opponent, and got back just in time to beat them. And so everyone had a happy holidays.