On occasions where members of the Montreal Alouettes find themselves in one of the city's myriad watering holes, the typical reaction is a clap on the shoulder and the offer of a free drink.
Linebacker and special-teams ace Walter Spencer had a markedly more sinister experience after leaving a St. Laurent Boulevard nightspot just before 3 a.m. on Monday morning - he was stabbed in the chest at least twice, reportedly with a broken beer bottle, in the midst of an altercation on the sidewalk outside the Koi Lounge.
Police are investigating, though no charges have been laid.
Spencer's teammates learned of the incident at a team meeting Monday evening. The 31-year-old Detroit native is now listed in stable condition in the Montreal General Hospital's intensive care unit.
"I sit next to him on the team bus out to practice; having that empty seat next to me today was pretty tough," said rookie linebacker Marc-Olivier Brouillette, a former university quarterback whom Spencer has taken under his wing. Though professional football players have had their share of early morning scrapes and police blotter incidents in the U.S. in recent years, Monday's was a comparatively rare occurrence for Montreal's CFL team.
Several players acknowledged that as professional athletes, they can make for inviting targets, but none could point to an incident in which they felt threatened.
"You don't always meet the smartest guys in bars, but we're always told to walk away.. … They tell us to be careful and to look out for each other," said safety Etienne Boulay.
Added safety Mathieu Proulx, one of the squad's more recognizable players: "Usually people just say hello, or offer to buy me a shooter."
Proulx suggested the incident likely had less to do with Spencer's profile as an athlete as it did with him being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"How many of you could tell me what Walter Spencer looks like?" he asked a throng of media outside the Alouettes' locker room. "It would be very surprising to me that someone in a bar at 2:50 in the morning knew who he was."
It's not known whether Spencer was accompanied by any teammates on the evening in question - the Alouettes had lost to the B.C. Lions at home two days before - but in any case, he didn't violate any team rules.
"We're not going to let one instance brand us as a football team … our team is well aware of the standards and the province we represent, they city, our owner, and nobody ever wants to do that," said head coach Marc Trestman.
The team also makes a point of educating the players about the downside of Montreal's nightlife.
"We've not had any issues like this. I consider it more of an anomaly or an aberration," Trestman said.
Beyond the immediate concern over Spencer's health - he is reported to have made significant progress since surgery to repair one of his lungs - the Alouettes were also faced with filling a big hole in their lineup.
The seven-year CFL veteran leads the squad in special-teams tackles, and in the words of teammate and friend Paul Woldu, "He's a guy that teams need to double team, who they star on the board."
One personnel decision that Trestman has already settled concerns quarterback Anthony Calvillo, who practised on Tuesday but will not start this weekend's game against Hamilton because a bruised sternum.
"The chances of him playing are not very good from my standpoint. … Just because he feels great doesn't mean he's fully recovered," Trestman said, allowing that he may dress his star pivot as the third stringer.