Nikolas Hurtubise: Twice the gain

The Concordia goaltender discusses his journey to becoming the foundation of a breakout Stingers squad

SportsFeatureSamuel Kayll — Published January 14, 2025 6 minutes

Before each game, the Concordia University second-year men’s hockey goaltender performs the same warm-up routine—twice. 

“It’s nothing special, but it takes a long time,” Hurtubise admitted, adding with a smile, “I get [to the rink] way too early.”

Yet in Hurtubise’s case, a double warm-up seems to be perfectly in character. That same hard-working mentality has led to his rise from the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) to his position as Concordia’s starting netminder. As the Stingers continue their conference-best start to the season, it’s impossible to ignore the contribution and stability Hurtubise has brought to the team. 

“He’s had a really good first half to the season,” Stingers head coach Marc-André Élément said. “He’s a key, key player for our program.”

Early adversity and QMJHL success

As a child in Mirabel, Que., Hurtubise gravitated towards hockey at an early age. His father played in the QMJHL as a goaltender, so the choice was natural. 

“I told my dad, ‘I want to be like you,’” Hurtubise said. While his hockey journey started at five years old, he moved into the net around seven. From there, his career took off.

“When I started playing, I was probably average,” Hurtubise said. “I became good compared to the other kids around 12 years old, so peewee, and it took off from there.”

Hurtubise’s talent led to major interest from junior hockey programs, but the journey wouldn’t come easily. At age 17, Hurtubise entered training camp with the Victoriaville Tigres, looking to earn a spot. Instead, he was cut. 

“I was coming off a great year in triple-A, and I got cut,” Hurtubise explained. “They had a 20-year-old and an 18-year-old, and they needed time to trade one of them to make me a spot.” 

On top of that, Hurtubise suffered an injury that limited his availability for over three months. 

Hurtubise admitted he took the setback “pretty hard.” But he was called up a few times during that span and played well enough to earn the team’s attention. 

“It took a lot of mental toughness to go back and show them that I deserved a spot,” he added.

Once Hurtubise arrived in the QMJHL, he thrived. As Victoriaville’s starting goalie in 2020-21, Hurtubise ended the regular season with a 10-4-1 record, then helped guide the Tigres to their first QMJHL championship since 2001-02. The following year, Hurtubise was traded midseason to the Saint John Sea Dogs. The same season, the Sea Dogs won the Memorial Cup, with Hurtubise being named to the tournament all-star team and winning the Most Outstanding Goaltender award at 18 years old.

Hurtubise credits his coach in Victoriaville, Carl Mallette, as a major influence on his hockey career due to his trust in Hurtubise’s abilities.

“Usually the teams that win in the Q[MJHL] have goalies that are either 19 or 20,” Hurtubise said. “We had a great team and we were trying to win, and he trusted me at my highs and lows.”

After so much success in junior hockey, Hurtubise was ready to take the next step. At Concordia, he would find the perfect fit. 

Concordia comes knocking

When Hurtubise finished his final year of junior hockey in 2022-23 with the Sea Dogs, his first step was to get closer to home. With Concordia offering an obvious destination, the second step involved head coach Élément. 

“I had a meeting with Coach Élément, and he was high on me,” Hurtubise said. “I could see the trust and the excitement that he had to get me here.”

 Hurtubise also acknowledged the team’s recent success as another factor.

“[Concordia’s] a good program—they’ve been good the past ten years,” he said, “so for me to come closer to home in a great program was the main reason.”

Elément pointed to Hurtubise’s junior hockey success as a key for Concordia’s pursuit. 

“He’s someone who we’ve been after for a while,” he said. “He’s a winner, he’s a gamer. We were after him big time.”

After a rookie season spent sharing time in net with Jordan Naylor, Hurtubise entered the 2024-25 season ready to secure the job. With the team’s full support, Hurtubise and the Stingers started the season on fire, holding a record of 17-1-2 and Hurtubise recording 13 wins and a .909 save percentage. 

Naylor witnessed Hurtubise’s ascension first-hand. The fourth-year goaltender has noticed a sizable jump not just in Hurtubise’s skills on the ice, but in his mentality as well.

“Seeing how he’s grown from last year, his confidence and his level of play have risen so much,” Naylor said. “He’s been incredible this year.”

Hurtubise credited the team and coaching staff as a major reason for his success. 

“When members of the team trust you, you feel a bit bigger in net,” he said. “The whole team has been playing awesome, so to have the trust of my teammates and coaches has been huge to me.”

Hurtubise described the team’s goal to play unified when working out of tough scenarios. 

“If you go out there as 20 people, it’s like flipping a coin. You can have three guys playing great, three guys playing bad and the rest playing average,” he said. “We always try to go out there as one, which is huge in big games because we can work our way out of trouble.”

Naylor’s relationship with Hurtubise reveals a close bond between the netminders. 

“We’re close in the room, we’re really good buddies. We’re on the ice with our goalie coach every day so I can see how he works and he can see how I work—it’s healthy competition,” Naylor said. “I’m really happy to see him doing well.”

When it comes to the rapid rise of the Stingers this season, Hurtubise isn’t coy about taking pleasure in proving people wrong. 

“I think a lot of people thought McGill would be the top team in Montreal and probably in the [Ontario University Athletics (OUA) conference],” he said. “So every day we come here and we work and we win and win, that feeling of proving people wrong makes me feel in my place here.”

But don’t mistake Hurtubise’s excitement for resting on his laurels. The goal for him—and the Stingers—is very much clear to the whole team. 

“For us, it’s clear that we’re trying to win nationals,” he said. “I think we showed that we’re a top team in the country, not just the OUA. We showed the OUA that when we play well, no one can play with us.”

And to do so, Hurtubise emphasized the willingness to reset, in victory and defeat. 

“It’s still the same because, win or lose, we try to reset and restart,” he said. “We come back to practice and try to build our game.”

A top seed, conference championship, national title—it’s all on the table for the Stingers. And Hurtubise’s performance will no doubt be scrutinized on a larger scale by the end of the season. But for a player who prepares twice before every game, perhaps the pressure will come half as hard.

This article originally appeared in Volume 45, Issue 7, published January 14, 2025.