Columbus Blue Jackets center Alexandre Texier of St. Martin D’heres, France will miss the 2022-23 National Hockey League season because he is entering the NHL’s Substance Abuse and Behavioural Health Program. The program is a jointly organized between the NHL and the National Hockey League Players’ Association.
2021-22 NHL season
Texier played his fourth season with the Blue Jackets in 2021-22 and had 11 goals and nine assists for 20 points in 36 games. He had a zero plus/minus rating, 12 penalty minutes, two shorthanded points, 59 shots on goal, 20 faceoff wins, 12 blocked shots, 13 hits, 16 takeaways and five giveaways. Texier had career highs in goals, points, and shorthanded points.
Two Shorthanded Points
Texier had the first two shorthanded points of his National Hockey League career in 2021-22. The first shorthanded point was a shorthanded goal at 8:42 of the first period on November 20, 2021 in a 3-2 Blue Jackets loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at the T-Mobile Arena. The goal came from Jake Bean of Calgary, Alberta and Zach Werenski of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, which put the Blue Jackets up 2-0 at the time. Interestingly, it was one of two shorthanded goals scored in the game as Reilly Smith of Mimico, Ontario scored at 4:45 of the third period to tie the game at two.
Texier’s second shorthanded point came in a 7-4 Hurricanes loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. It came at 18:04 of the first period with an assist on a shorthanded goal by Gustav Nyquist of Halmstad, Sweden. At the time, the Blue Jackets took a 3-0 lead. Columbus actually took a 4-0 lead, but the Hurricanes scored seven unanswered goals to win the game by three.
Injury
Texier broke his finger in a 6-0 Calgary Flames loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on January 26. At the time of the injury, he had played only six shifts and had four minutes and 58 seconds worth of ice time. However, the fractured finger was not the only reason why Texier did not play the last three months of the season. According to NBC Sports, he was suffering from personal issues too.
Statement from Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen:
According to TSN, Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said the following:
“Alexandre Texier and I recently had a very long conversation in which he indicated to me that he was not ready to resume his career in the NHL at this time. While we are disappointed Tex will not be joining us for the 2022-23 season as we anticipated, his mental health and well-being remain our top priority and we will continue to support him in any way we can.”
Statement from Texier:
According to TSN, Texier said the following:
“During the past year, I have experienced some personal issues and challenges and I feel I need to be close to my family at this time. I have love and respect for the city of Columbus, the Blue Jackets, and the fans as everyone has always treated me first-class. I truly appreciate the support, help and empathy I have received from team management, the coaching staff, doctors, trainers and my teammates. This was a hard decision, but it is the best one for me right now.”
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
