Mother's death fuels Halifax Mooseheads rookie to 'make her proud'

Halifax Mooseheads forward Lou Lévesque thinks a lot about his final interaction with his late mother, Catherine Labelle.

It was September 2022. Just like every morning, she made breakfast for the then 16-year-old. It was early in the day, around 5:30 a.m.

"The big thing I remember is she said to me, like, 'Have a good day, love you,' and I just said bye. That's the last word I said is bye and I did not even look at her, you know," said Lévesque, now 17.

Later that day while at school, he was visited by two police officers from his hometown of Mont-Tremblant, Que. While Lévesque wondered what he could possibly have done wrong, they were there to deliver crushing news: his mother had suffered a cardiac arrest and was in hospital.

Today, Lévesque is in his first year with the Mooseheads and has become a fan favourite. The speedster is averaging nearly a point per game and often plays on the top lines, all while logging time on the power-play and as a penalty killer.

He's motivated by the sacrifices his mother made for him and comforted by his memories of her.

"That's what makes me live right now, as a hockey player, as a guy who's going to school, every day as a person, just to make her proud and use what she was saying to me every day to just find some answers and get better," said Lévesque.

His mother always told him that everything happens for a reason. He draws on that daily, trying to make sense of the tragedy.

Lévesque said his mother was on a respirator at the hospital. All he could do was hold her hand and talk to her. He remembers the realization that even the doctor couldn't really help her.

"You have seven years of work in school for that," said Lévesque. "And you have to wait too, like me. So we are at the same