Matheson's face lit up as he reminisced, as it did when he spoke about how his parents kept the spirit of Christmas alive throughout his childhood, even going so far as to wrap "Santa's gifts" with a different wrapping paper from their own. Matheson said that he strives to reach that level of commitment with his family today. He certainly has an even greater appreciation for his parents' sacrifice of sleep on Christmas morning, especially since he was already an early riser to begin with.
"Now that I'm a parent, I'm paying for it because my son wakes up early," he said with a smile.
Holiday traditions also provide an opportunity to feel a deeper connection to home. While Matheson's familiar with his surroundings, Montreal has served as an offseason destination for the defenseman for several years.
Honing his craft on the rinks of the West Island, he played for the Midget AAA Lac St. Louis Lions before packing his bags and moving over 1,800 kilometers southwest to Iowa to play for the United States Hockey League's Dubuque Fighting Saints in 2011-12.
From that point onwards, Matheson's career kept him away from Montreal, with stops in Boston (NCAA), San Antonio and Portland (AHL), and Florida and Pittsburgh (NHL). He and Emily would come to Montreal to train in the offseason.
In many ways, their transition back to the 514 has been relatively seamless; it's easier to adapt to a city you're already familiar with. But Matheson admitted that it's taking him some time to switch his perspective of the city from seasonal pitstop to homebase for the foreseeable future.
"I grew up here, idolizing the Canadiens and watching every game," he shared when we interviewed him on November 12, one week prior to his regular season debut with Montreal. "So, even once I made the NHL and was kind of coming back here to train, it was always, 'Oh, this is where I am in the offseason.' So, to be here during the season for an extended period of time and being with the Canadiens has been weird. I feel like until I actually start playing, it won't settle in as normal."
He took a step towards establishing a greater sense of normalcy when he pulled on his bleu-blanc-rouge threads for his first regular season appearance as a Hab against the Philadelphia Flyers during the team's annual Hockey Fights Cancer Night at the Bell Centre on November 19. He marked the occasion with a goal in a thrilling 5-4 shootout win.