Born with a Work Ethic
Olivier grew up around hockey, becoming a fixture in locker rooms across North America and the world as his father made a living. An enforcer who could score some as well – for example, he racked up 12 goals, 43 points and 302 penalty minutes in 64 games in 1997-98 with Oklahoma City of the CHL – Simon had stints at every minor league level from the UHL to AHL and even spent two years playing professionally in Germany.
As hockey kids often do, Mathieu picked up the sport from a young age. A big kid who had a sense for the game, Mathieu was talented enough to play with older kids growing up and developed a passion for the game.
But as Mathieu went from a kid having fun to someone who was considering a future in hockey, his father’s time in the sport allowed him the perspective to know the game wasn’t everything.
In some ways, the story of Olivier can be told through a simple task – mowing the lawn.
“I didn’t want him to be just a hockey player that trained on and off the ice; I wanted him to be a hard worker in life as well,” said Simon, now an assistant coach for Victoriaville of the QMJHL. “During that time and junior years between 16 and 20, more so toward the early years, he would have two or three contracts to where he would cut the grass at my uncle’s house and a couple of neighbors. He was also responsible for cutting our grass.
“I always tried to instill in him the blue-collar type of personality. Even though you’re some sort of elite hockey player, I want you to have the good values and the hard-working values in life and also be a good person and a good teammate.”
If Mathieu needed inspiration, he only had to look out the window. Simon’s role in the pro game – going from team to team and league to league, always on alert that the gloves might have to drop at a moment’s notice – wasn’t an easy one, and he looked for every edge he could in his training.
“I remember being young, and back in those days the training was different, but we had a big house, a big estate, and he was walking around with the ankle weights and the wrist weights and the old school stuff,” Mathieu said. “The house was big. I remember he would mow the lawn, it would take four hours to do on the hand lawn mower and then the tractor, and he would do all that with the weights.
“To me, it was always part of the deal. There’s no getting around it. You gotta get in the gym. You gotta train. You gotta sacrifice. I saw it as a plus to my game. Being a stronger guy that also worked hard in the gym, that created a difference for me.”
Simon confirmed the story, saying there was a method to his madness.
“I tried to get an edge on other guys that just trained in the gym, right?” Simon said. “It’s a different type of strength, so yeah, (I did that).”
Hitting the Gym
As Mathieu grew older, he was able to turn heads with his hockey skills, and he was chosen in the seventh round of the QMJHL draft by Moncton in 2013.
But seventh-round draft picks in the Q aren’t guaranteed anything, especially when they first step into the league at age 16. Despite growing up on the ice, the biggest area Olivier had to improve was his skating, so he was enrolled in a power skating class. And after years of watching his father put in the work in the gym, he knew the value that could bring to his game.
The hardest part was getting there.
“That first summer, right after I got drafted to juniors, I gained like 25, 30 pounds and grew a couple of inches,” Mathieu said. “I was in the gym all summer grinding it out – riding the bus there, riding the bus back because I didn’t have a ride. It really surprised everyone being a late draft pick making that team, so that became part of my identity as far as being successful in the gym translating well on the ice. Becoming that power-style player was really beneficial and obviously is part of my identity today.”
Each session at the gym operated by Gabriel Hardy lasted two hours and consisted of 30 minutes spent on four different areas – Olympic weightlifting, normal weights, gymnastics and a body weight workout.
“I guess he liked it because I was working out all my life, and to me it was just natural,” Simon said. “But to him – I never pushed him into doing it, but I told him if he wanted to be successful, he had to do that. He did it, and he did it on his own.”
As he put in the work, his career started to blossom. Olivier spent five seasons in the QMJHL, concluding his career with a 27-goal season for Sherbrooke in 2017-18. He then signed in the Nashville organization and began in the AHL, making his NHL debut with the Predators in 2019-20. He then came to Columbus in a summer trade in 2022, opening the door to becoming a regular with the Blue Jackets the past three years.
Looking back at that 2013 QMJHL draft, only two players – Olivier and Samuel Blais – were selected in the seventh round or later, played in the Q and went on to play at least 250 NHL games. The key? His relentless approach to getting better.
Even today, Olivier continues to work out with Hardy each summer to build a base that gets him through the season, and it’s not just all weightlifting. He’s become a big fan of swimming, which allows him to clear his mind and get a good workout in without hitting the gym.
Diversifying his routine is a key to Olivier, who knows his physical strength is established in a way that allows him the opportunity – and perhaps even the need – to work on improving flexibility and athleticism.
“Obviously, everyone has their prototype, right?” Olivier said. “Genetically, I’m more of a power build, more of a pure brute strength (athlete), but if you can develop that into being a more complete athlete, you got a pretty good combo right there. That’s always been the goal.”
The Next Level
While Simon was no stranger to dropping the gloves on the ice, he never tried to impress that type of game into his son.
In some ways, he didn’t have to. Mathieu was a student of the game, and as he tried to find his way as a rookie in the QMJHL, he realized he had the skill set to make an impact in different ways.
As one of the youngest players in the league, he earned some sparse playing time early with the Wildcats but didn't make much of a dent on the scoresheet. Then, a month and a half into his tenure, he dropped the gloves for the first time, fighting Sherbrooke’s Trevor Stacey.
It may not have been the prettiest fight for Olivier – after connecting with some early punches, he found himself on the wrong end of a few heavy rights from Stacey – but he liked what happened next.
“At first I was rotating in and out, and I was trying to find a way to stick and not be in that rotation,” Mathieu said. “So one game I just decided, maybe something I can do different than the others is to maybe mix it up out there. In those days, in juniors you could still have the 45-fights-a-year type of player, so it was easy to find a partner.
“I never got scratched after that. To me, it gave me confidence as well as a player. You had a little bit more space. Obviously guys knew that you would be willing to do whatever it takes.”
From there, fighting has been a hallmark of his game – Olivier led the NHL with 15 fighting majors this past season – but not the only thing he brings to the table. Olivier’s 306 hits a season ago set a CBJ record and placed second in the NHL, and he was also able to use his big body to get to the net and score a career-high 18 goals.
Olivier was one of just three players in the NHL a year ago to top 18 goals, 100 penalty minutes and 200 hits – Washington’s Tom Wilson and Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk were the others – and he was rewarded in March with a six-year contract extension that makes him a building block for the Jackets going forward.
“Let’s face it – he’s if not the heavyweight of the league, he’s right up there of course,” general manager Don Waddell said. “His toughness is obviously great, but Mathieu can play the game, too. That’s what makes this guy a little more special.”
That type of season is what Olivier has built for, and his success was the culmination of many years of hard work and commitment. Blue Jackets fans and his teammates know what they’re getting on a nightly basis from Olivier, and he hopes to help push the franchise back into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“I think I’ve developed a lot of stuff around my identity as a hockey player,” Olivier said. “Everyone knows I'm a physical guy that can stand up for my teammates ... but I feel like the biggest growth I’ve had as a hockey player is developing everything else around that and trying to make myself as valuable to my team as I can and contribute in any way that I can.”
