The Toronto Star has published a cool story about ordinary people who once played minor hockey with guys who went on to the NHL.
I've known no such honours, but being from southwestern Ontario means frequently bumping into NHL players or friends of NHL players.
Working in St. Thomas, I was part of the machine that followed Joe Thornton from a kid to watch in minor hockey, to a local Jr. B star, a top player in the OHL and No. 1 overall NHL draft pick. His mom asked me to help track down a Team Canada photo our company had taken of Joe and Mario Lemieux - the shot is now a treasured part of the Thornton collection. When drafted out of the OHL, Joe did a charity event for St. Thomas hockey and the newspaper I worked for. It included a meet and greet in our office and a photo session with local kids, including my own tot.
When I was working in Uxbridge, the NHLers everyone seemed to know included Keith Acton, now an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Basil McRae, now a part owner of the London Knights and a scout for the St. Louis Blues.
Around London, Brian Campbell of the Chicago Blackhawks seems to have the highest profile, next to Leafs farmhand Nazim Kadri. Strangely, the two best NHL players from London - Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings and Jeff Carter of the Philadelphia Flyers - don't seem to have the local profile they deserve.
On the rise is Logan Couture, profiled in an excellent article in The London Free Press today by splendid sportswriter Ryan Pyette.
My favourite Couture story is from a local family friend, a London fire department captain who also happens to be a trainer with my son's team.
When Logan was a boy, his dad and the family friend took him to an NHL pre-season practice happening at a nearby arena. Logan's photo was taken with Jeremy Roenick. Fast forward a few years and Logan is drafted by the San Jose Sharks while the same Jeremy Roenick is playing in the twilight of his long, productive career. Of course, he's shown the photo of Logan as a child.
Turns out I had an obscure connection to the Nashville Predators and should have made more out of it a week ago when I was in Nashville to see the Preds play the Blackhawks. No. 13 for the Preds, Nick Spaling, and I went to the same high school, albeit in dramatically different eras.
What NHLers have you met?
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| Adam and Joe Thornton. |
Working in St. Thomas, I was part of the machine that followed Joe Thornton from a kid to watch in minor hockey, to a local Jr. B star, a top player in the OHL and No. 1 overall NHL draft pick. His mom asked me to help track down a Team Canada photo our company had taken of Joe and Mario Lemieux - the shot is now a treasured part of the Thornton collection. When drafted out of the OHL, Joe did a charity event for St. Thomas hockey and the newspaper I worked for. It included a meet and greet in our office and a photo session with local kids, including my own tot.
When I was working in Uxbridge, the NHLers everyone seemed to know included Keith Acton, now an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Basil McRae, now a part owner of the London Knights and a scout for the St. Louis Blues.
Around London, Brian Campbell of the Chicago Blackhawks seems to have the highest profile, next to Leafs farmhand Nazim Kadri. Strangely, the two best NHL players from London - Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings and Jeff Carter of the Philadelphia Flyers - don't seem to have the local profile they deserve.
On the rise is Logan Couture, profiled in an excellent article in The London Free Press today by splendid sportswriter Ryan Pyette.
My favourite Couture story is from a local family friend, a London fire department captain who also happens to be a trainer with my son's team.
When Logan was a boy, his dad and the family friend took him to an NHL pre-season practice happening at a nearby arena. Logan's photo was taken with Jeremy Roenick. Fast forward a few years and Logan is drafted by the San Jose Sharks while the same Jeremy Roenick is playing in the twilight of his long, productive career. Of course, he's shown the photo of Logan as a child.
Turns out I had an obscure connection to the Nashville Predators and should have made more out of it a week ago when I was in Nashville to see the Preds play the Blackhawks. No. 13 for the Preds, Nick Spaling, and I went to the same high school, albeit in dramatically different eras.
What NHLers have you met?
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