An OHA Local Legends Family Day Special!
By: David McPherson
Cambridge, ON – Hockey runs in the family; for others, hockey runs the family. No matter the syntax, the sentiment is the same. In honor of our newest regional statutory holiday—and to paraphrase the late great Badger Bob Johnson—“[Family Day] is a great day for hockey.”
Hockey connects families and connects generations. The roots of our official national winter sport run deep. Ice hockey’s roots in Canada were planted long before the late Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, in 1967, declared the gravitas of this pastime to our identity. Our ancestors played some form of hockey before the sport—let alone our country— had an official name.
The jokes about generations of Canadians born with skates on their feet, or having a stick in their hands before they can walk, are not exaggerations. Hockey, like the jerseys we don, representing our town, city, school or country, is a part of the fabric of our country and a layer of our identity.
Hockey, played for the wrong reasons—when parents get too involved or take away the joys of the game and replace it with a win-at-all-costs mentality—can tear families’ apart. But, that’s an anomaly. Mostly, hockey unites families; whether it’s parents huddled with other households on the cold benches of an arena somewhere watching their child score their first goal or a teenager watching an NHL game with their grandparents on a couch somewhere on a Saturday night, the game creates these shared memories.
Many siblings share hockey dreams and the list of family members who made it to the NHL are endless and form part of the game’s lore: the Howes, the Espositos, the Sutters, etc. But, it’s not just about those that ‘make it’ to the big leagues, it’s about the fathers and mothers that get up before dawn, put a pot a coffee on, and the family members who volunteer to coach in minor leagues from St. John’s to Victoria.
Hockey is the tie that binds many Canadian families. On this Family Day, I share some of the ways hockey has woven its way into my life and family from the moment I first strapped on a pair of skates and unsuccessfully chased the Zamboni at the Bob Johnson Hockey School in Aspen, Colorado. Every August, from the time I could walk until several years after I learned to talk too much (No surprise one of my childhood nicknames was “motormouth”) our family—in the name of hockey—made the three-day drive from Waterloo, Ont. (where I was a perennial right-winger on the local AA team) to this Rocky Mountain town.
We were the lone Canadians and the counselors always chided me in the dressing room about my funny accent, eh! A difference in my speech, which in my formative years—and before I travelled more—I did not understand.
Hockey-mad families, like ours, made the pilgrimage to this mountain town every August, from zip codes across the United States: places like Peoria, Illinois; Medina, Minnesota; and Madison, Wisconsin. One summer, I befriended a camper from France who was billeting with Eric Eisner, son of Michael ( the former chairman and chief executive officer of the Walt Disney Company).
Year after year, many familiar faces returned and many new faces arrived—campers, counselors and coaches—to create new friendships. For us, this opportunity would not have happened if my father was not a friend of Bob Johnson, whom he coached with while completing his PhD at the University of Wisconsin. And, despite only seeing our Aspen families once a year, these relationships remained strong and there was a bond that endured long after we stopped making this 2,600 kilometer journey each summer. Off the ice, we shared meals at local restaurants or hiked through fields of wildflowers with the reward of a cookout complete with marshmallows and sing-a-longs gazing in wonder at one of the most photographed places in Colorado: Maroon Bells.
Most people talk about the gifts and lessons that hockey gives: sportsmanship, friendship, respect and discipline. What I love about the game is how anyone who has ever played the sport is part of a special family.
Hockey families, like all households who enroll their children in sports or extracurricular activities, make sacrifices, both in terms of time and money, to give children an opportunity to participate in a broader community. I feel fortunate and grateful to my family for their sacrifices and for giving me the gift of hockey; it’s a gift that keeps on giving today.
About the Ontario Hockey Association
TheOntario Hockey Association (OHA) was founded on November 27, 1890, and is the governing body for the majority of Junior and Senior hockey in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is a Member Partner of the Ontario Hockey Federation which is one of thirteen Provincial and Regional Branches of Hockey Canada.
It is comprised of three Junior hockey leagues and two Senior hockey leagues: Junior A – Ontario Junior Hockey League; Junior B – Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League; Junior C – Provincial Junior Hockey League, Senior –Allan Cup Hockey (AAA) and Ontario Elite Hockey League (AA). For the 2024-25 season, these five leagues encompass 125 teams.
The objectives of the OHA are to foster and encourage the sport of amateur hockey, to conduct competition in the various categories established, to determine teams for entry into the inter-branch competitions that may be provided by Hockey Canada, and to provide for the affiliation of other hockey organizations.
The OHA provides administrative resources, coordinates programs, services and events for hockey participants and provides support to various Development Programs for coaches, officials, trainers and players, Safety and Risk Management Issues and offers resources for Harassment and Abuse education.
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For more information or to set up an interview, please contact:
Chris McCleary
General Manager, Operations & Marketing
Ontario Hockey Association
