Frozen Four: Quinnipiac linemates, lifelong friends, near NCAA title

TAMPA — They defer to their first language when on the ice, though at this stage, very little language is needed.

Quinnipiac linemates Christophe Fillion and Cristophe Tellier, raised roughly 10 minutes apart in the sprawling southern Quebec city of Sherbrooke, estimate they have played together on nine hockey teams, dating to around second grade.

And clairvoyance superseded communication long ago.

“It’s, like, so easy,” Tellier said. “I don’t need to look. I know where he is. We don’t really talk on the ice, to be honest with you. We just see each other.”

But when they do talk, teammates tend to pardon the pair’s French, with good reason. To this point, nothing has been lost in translation. Certainly not games, and definitely not opportunities.

Second-seeded Quinnipiac (33-4-3), which has reached the NCAA Frozen Four for the third time in the last 11 seasons, enters tonight’s national title game against top-seeded Minnesota having won 15 of its last 16 games. In a 4-1 win against unseeded Ohio State in the national quarterfinals, Fillion and Tellier each scored and assisted on the other’s goal.

In Thursday night’s 5-2 national semifinal triumph against third-seeded Michigan, each assisted on Zach Metsa’s goal with seven minutes to play that gave the Bobcats a 4-2 lead.

“I miss a pass, then they talk French, so I don’t know if it’s about me or what,” linemate Victor Czerneckianair said, chuckling. “Nah, it’s all good. They’re great guys, great together. They really have that true friendship. It’s unbelievable.”

Born 26 days apart in 2000, Fillion (pronounced FILL-ee-on) and Tellier (TELL-yay), both 22, have known each other since kindergarten. They began playing organized hockey together when they were around 7 — Tellier’s dad, Marc, was the coach — and soon were biking to each other’s homes for video games and street hockey.

Their odyssey has taken them to a smorgasbord of prep and juniors-level stopovers. They have played together for the Bishop’s College School in Sherbrooke, the amateur-league Iowa Wild, junior Wenatchee (Washington) Wild, junior Muskegon (Michigan) Lumberjacks and now the Bobcats.

The biggest flareup they can recall: a scuffle in a hotel room while playing for Iowa as teenagers around five years ago.

“I don’t know, he pissed me off or something, and then we started fighting in the hotel room,” Fillion said, looking at Tellier. “He gave me a bloody nose, or I gave you a bloody nose, and something like that happened.

“And we played the best game of our lives, I think, after that, on the same line. It was crazy.”

During the college recruiting process, they told every interested school that they were a package deal. Today, they reside together with two other teammates in a two-story house (two baths, four bedrooms, basement) just off their campus in Hamden, Connecticut.

“It’s close-knit,” Czerneckianair said. “(Fillion and Tellier are) always speaking French; I never know what they’re saying. But you can just tell they’re bonded together. They’re like brothers, so it’s unmatched, for sure.”

The two were separated as linemates this season when injuries forced coach Rand Pecknold to do some juggling. They were reunited against Ohio State and teamed with Czerneckianair again Thursday night.

In those two contests, they combined for two goals and five assists.

“They’ve grown up their whole lives together playing,” Pecknold said. “And they have this little knack of finding each other. And you can’t really teach that type of thing.”

Now, they’re on the cusp of entering college hockey lore, side by side. The way they dreamed.

“It’s unbelievable,” Tellier said.

“We were talking in the car on the way back after we won (against Ohio State). We were like, ‘Hey, we’ve been together since we were 5, and now here we are in Tampa together.’ Even for our parents to be together and stuff, it’s a surreal experience, and it’s fun to live it with this guy, to be honest.”

Contact Joey Knight at jknight@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Bulls.

• • •

Sign up for Lightning Strikes, a weekly newsletter from Bolts beat writer Eduardo A. Encina that brings you closer to the ice.

Never miss out on the latest with the Bucs, Rays, Lightning, Florida college sports and more. Follow our Tampa Bay Times sports team on Twitter and Facebook.