P.K. Subban was the NHLer who left the biggest impression on Zonnon.
Bill’s parents, Augustin and Mathilde, immigrated to Canada from Togo, Africa to attend college and then start a family. They had two children, Bill and his younger sister Keshia, who plays hockey at one of the top prep school programs in North America, Stanstead College. Augustin and Mathilde knew nothing about the country’s most popular sport when they first arrived.
“But obviously, everyone knows that hockey is so big here in Montreal, so it’s almost impossible to not hear about it or not watch any of the games,” Bill told Mears and Talbot. “My love for it started when I was around five or six years old, watching P.K. Subban and the Canadiens.
“So, I told my parents I want to start playing hockey. I went to the store, and we got some gear, even though I didn’t know anything about hockey. And obviously, over time, we kind of realized I was pretty good at it.”
Throughout Bill’s hockey journey, Augustin and Mathilde have brought unwavering positivity.
“My parents are super chill. They don’t tell me anything about my games, honestly, because they don’t know enough,” Bill said with a smile. “But you know, I find it pretty crazy, like… even if we lose 10-nothing, they’ll still find a way to tell me I had a good game.”
He has so much admiration for his mom and dad, first-generation immigrants who built a life from scratch. Augustin works as a quality control manager for a concrete company, while Mathilde is a senior cash analyst at a bank. They made sure their children realized the value of hard work and respect.
“I have so much love for them. You know, I’m here because of them,” Zonnon said. “They went through so much to be in a position they are in today. For me as a kid growing up, I had to look at them and use them as mentors. I think when people watch me play, they talk a lot about my compete, but I just think it runs in the family because of my parents. They started with nothing, and look where they are now. It’s a great story, I think, and it takes drive. I get it from them as well.”
Academics have always been important to Augustin and Mathilde, so they supported Bill moving to Lake Placid at age 14 to play at Norwood School for a couple of seasons, even though it was a big adjustment.
Bill then got drafted by the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and returned to Quebec, though he was still far from home, with Montreal a seven-and-a-half-hour drive away.
After putting up 83 points (28G-55A) in 64 games during his third season with the Huskies, Zonnon was a top prospect going into the 2025 NHL Draft. Shortly before the event, which took place in Los Angeles, Zonnon got the chance to meet Subban for the first time after they had started messaging a couple months prior. The interaction meant just as much to Subban as it did to Zonnon.
“For his story to be connected to me playing in the NHL is really, really cool,” Subban said. “Really cool. Part of me still has to pinch myself when that happens. It’s really flattering, but it’s insane to me, because it feels like yesterday I just started playing in Montreal. It still kind of blows me away.”