Most hockey players quench their thirst with water when coming off the ice. Zachary L’Heureux is not most hockey players.
A video of the 19-year-old Halifax Mooseheads forward drinking mustard on the bench has been viewed more than 86,000 times on social media after the official QMJHL account posted it to their Twitter account this week.
In the video taken on Sunday during Game 2 of the QMJHL semifinal between the Mooseheads and Sherbrooke Phoenix, L’Heureux — a first-round draft pick of the Nashville Predators and well-known hockey agitator — takes a swig out of a small bottle of mustard and immediately displays a look of sheer agony before handing it back someone on the bench.
The six-second video has caused dozens of Twitter users to chime in. Most replies featured one common question: “Why?”
It didn’t take too long for users to point out that there may be a health benefit to drinking mustard.
“In case anyone is wondering, it’s to prevent cramping,” wrote one user.
Scott MacIntosh, communications manager for the Mooseheads, confirmed the team regularly keeps mustard nearby to prevent players from experiencing leg cramps.
The team has since posted a video on Wednesday of the Montreal native talking about his mustard shot.
L’Heureux is currently in Quebec with the Mooseheads, who play Sherbrooke in Game 4 of their playoff series on Thursday night.
According to an article in Healthline, the science behind the effectiveness of using mustard as a remedy for cramps still isn’t fully understood, but some have theorized the electrolytes contained in mustard might be the reason why some find it to do the trick.
This isn’t the first time a hockey player throwing back mustard has made national headlines.
In 2019, forward Mark Letestu of the Winnipeg Jets opted against the bottle and went with a mustard pack.
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