Ten years ago, they passed each other on the ice rink their father had built in the backyard. Today, they play together in the QMJHL amphitheaters, within the same team and the same trio. If the level and the stakes are different, the complicity between Jules and Raoul Boilard remains the same.
Jules has just turned 19, Raoul is 17. They are not twins, obviously, but their blood connection is obvious, we see when we join them in the lobby of a hotel in Boisbriand. Their team, the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, is in town to face the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.
The brothers joined the Drakkar this season, after a year in British Columbia. They decided to change their initial plans to play at an American university – we’ll come back to that.
Two brothers on the same major junior team is not exactly a common thing. Especially since Jules and Raoul Boilard were not predestined to become hockey players.
Their father was a talented alpine skier in his youth. Their mother was a basketball player. Their uncle? He won the Vanier Cup with the Rouge et Or of Laval University in football. Sport is therefore part of the family; hockey, not quite.
“The plan was for us to be skiers,” says Jules.
“Our father introduced us to skiing when we were little,” says Raoul. That was our number one sport. To prepare for the ski season – there is a downtime before the snow falls – we played hockey with the aim of being better at skiing, sliding and all that. Finally, we had a little meeting with our parents! »
The brothers preferred hockey, and the Boilard parents got on board with the project “100%”, says Jules. Quickly, their father began setting up a small ice rink for them every winter in the backyard of the family home in Sherbrooke.
“We were on the ice together, so our chemistry may have started from there! “, says Jules.
At the time, Jules and Raoul were playing at the Grégoire Hockey school. Jean-François Grégoire is one of those who taught them the basics of sport. This same Jean-François Grégoire who is currently their head coach at Drakkar.
“They were arena rats,” the coach reveals.
“There was a year when I stayed in Sherbrooke, I gave private lessons,” he continues. I boarded the rink with them on Sunday morning at 7 a.m. […] We did the exercises, I gave them challenges. After that, I was getting videos; they were at home, shooting pucks in the afternoon. »
Jules and Raoul have always pushed each other, more often unconsciously than the other way around.
“I remember, sometimes, Jules would take shots from behind on the ice, and I would say to myself: finally, maybe I’ll go too! », says Raoul, laughing.
” No choice ! When the other goes, you have to go! », adds Jules with a smile.
The Boilard brothers were always good at school, a priority for the family. Raoul even skipped a school year in primary school. “I still had an easy time at school, and that allowed me to skip a year of hockey,” he explains.
So he found himself in the same class, and the same team, as Jules. Inseparable, you say?
In 2021-2022, Jules and Raoul made their place in the lineup of the Cantonniers de Magog, in the Quebec U18 AAA Hockey League. That year, they committed to the University of Nebraska, thereby signifying their disinterest in continuing their career in the QMJHL. Raoul was nevertheless selected by the Gatineau Olympics in the fourth round at the end of the season. Jules had also been selected in the fourth round the previous year, by the Rimouski Océanic.
In 2022, the two brothers therefore headed to British Columbia, to play in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) before entering university; “a good year of learning,” notes Jules.
Back in Quebec for the summer, the Boilards resumed training together, as usual. But on the eve of the QMJHL draft, they received an unexpected call from Jean-François Grégoire.
“He told us: “We exchanged your rights in Baie-Comeau.” It took us by surprise,” recounts Jules.
Many family discussions followed. And long conversations with Grégoire. The latter wanted to convince the two brothers that the Drakkar was the best option for them.
“I didn’t want it to just be a decision based on the fact that we know each other well,” says the coach. I didn’t want to play that card. I wanted them to feel comfortable coming to us, that they would never have regrets. »
Listening to the brothers talk, after their first two months in the QMJHL, it’s mission accomplished…
“It was a big decision, but we don’t regret it,” says Raoul.
After 22 meetings, the Drakkar sits at the top of the Cecchini circuit rankings. Jules has 22 points and Raoul, 21. The brothers live in the same family, train together, study together and play together on the same trio.
“We get along well off the ice, and that translates well onto the ice,” notes Raoul. We have good chemistry. We feel good. »
“I know how Raoul thinks. Raoul knows how I think,” adds Jules.
The two attackers are making headlines at the start of the season. Raoul is in his first year of National League draft eligibility; he is also considered one of the best Quebec prospects.
“In Quebec, the scouts didn’t know them,” says Jean-François Grégoire. It’s like the element of surprise and curiosity at the same time. They want to see a lot. »
The goal of the two brothers is, naturally, to reach the professional ranks. Even if it means being separated one day…
“We are a force together,” Raoul said. If it can continue, so much the better, but if not, it’s not the end of the world. »
“As long as we can, we’ll help each other,” adds his brother. We love each other and we will help each other. »
