On the small world of hockey, and the human side I love about it
AKA you never know when you'll run into the parents of an NHL player you've cover when at the rink.
Let me tell you a fun “small world,” story.
On Thursday this past week I was in Toronto for the quarterfinals and semifinals of the OHL Cup, a tournament that brings together showcases some of the best 16-and-under teams ahead of the OHL draft.
Like many people, one of the reasons I was there was to watch Kade O’Rourke, a 15-year-old defenseman for the Toronto Junior Canadiens that has applied for exceptional status to the OHL.
Here’s the funny thing, I’ve known O’Rourke since he was a 5-year-old fan watching Texas Stars game. I’ve kept in touch with the family as Kade moved from Texas to Ontario to pursue a hockey career, and later this week I’m sitting down with the family for a long story that’s going to run on Kade’s journey in Elite Prospects (which I will make to link to/share here as well).
You might have heard Kade’s name this week because he was highlighted in the headlines segment on Hockey Night In Canada.
Fittingly, that segment also featured the first ever guest on Algorithmically Incorrect Hockey, Elliotte Friedman.
Anywhom, they’ll be more Kade O’Rourke stories in the future.
But I also want to talk about the small world nature of the hockey universe, and have a discussion about the “inside baseball” nature of treating people the right way.
While I was walking around the building at OHL Cup I ran into Joe Pavelski, the former Dallas Stars forward, and now accomplished golfer that we’ve highlighted before at this site.
Joe was there watching his son, Nate, play in the OHL Cup for TPH Hockey, we chatted briefly for a bit before someone else recognized it was Joe Pavelski and asked him for a picture.
A couple minutes later I started talking to the person standing next to me, just randomly about the hockey game in front of us and then his wife, who was sitting in front of us joined the conversation.
She recognized me from doing the DLLS show, expressed her sympathies about what happened there and mentioned that she would be checking out the new show that Robert Tiffin and I put together.
It was Wyatt Johnston’s parents, Margot and Chuck, who had come to watch Nate Pavelski play in the OHL Cup after the Pavelski family had taken their son in during his NHL rookie season.
We spoke about hockey journeys and Wyatt’s path, about how he was on the ice already by the time of his first birthday, and how fascinating it’s been as parents to watch hockey go from a passion to Wyatt’s profession — which he happens to be quite good at.
It wasn’t a formal interview or anything, just a couple people chatting about hockey and human journeys, and it’s one of my favorite parts of this job. There are so many stories, so many human touch points that can connect in surprising ways, and it gives you a better appreciation for it all.
It’s also a good reminder, for this field, about being human about it all. That while it’s easy for us to talk about players in a video game style, they are assets plugged into the system, we need to stop and remember the human being as much as possible, that somewhere at home their mom or dad are reading and writing everything you’ve said, and that you never know when you might see those people face-to-face.
Not to pat myself on the back — even though I am — but it’s one of the things that I believe I’ve done pretty well in my career, being respectful while also maintaining an ability to be critical. I’ve had people bring that up to me before, both players and their families, and I think it’s why I’ve been able to tell some fun and unique stories.
With that, it’s time for me to head upstairs and watch warmups between the Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild. Happy Sunday and thanks for reading.