A Day in the Life of a Hockey Nerd
Attending three elite-level games in one day isn't impossible if you're in a big Canadian city and there's a perfect OHL, NHL and PHF storm brewing on the same date
“You want to do what?” my wife asks with that look on her face that every married guy can recognize in an instant.
“I’m going to go to three hockey games in one day and write about it,” I say. “It’s going to be great.”
“That sounds boring,” she says. “I wonder if I’d be able to go to three plays in one day. I guess if I did, I’d write about the different plots and characters. And I guess hockey is kind of the same. You’re welcome.”
So with the approval of upper management, I embark on a mission that could only be completed in a large Canadian city such as Toronto – to attend three elite-level games in three different leagues in the same day. For me, that day is Sunday, Jan. 29. The journey begins with an Ontario Hockey League tilt between the Mississauga Steelheads and Ottawa 67’s at 2 p.m., continues with a rare Sunday late-afternoon Toronto Maple Leafs’ game against the Washington Capitals at Scotiabank Arena, and is capped off by the Premier Hockey Federation’s All-Star Game, slated for a 7 p.m. puck drop just up the street at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (nee Maple Leaf Gardens).
Welcome to A Day in the Life of a Hockey Nerd.
1:03 P.M.
I embark on the first leg of my journey, from the east end of Toronto (all right, it’s Scarborough, OK?) to Mississauga, a trip Google Maps tells me is 40 kilometres and will require 38 minutes. At the time of departure, the conditions are what Torontonians would call, “A frigid winter blast” or, “Mother Nature’s revenge,” but would be referred to in my hometown of Sudbury as, ‘It’s snowing out, eh.”
1:45 P.M.
I turn on the street named after the most tolerant and patient women in history, Rose Cherry Place, and park at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre. Plenty of good parking available.
1:47 P.M.
From another car, I hear the voice of super-agent Pat Morris, who has just finished introducing Steelheads GM-coach James Richmond to defenceman Matthew Schaefer of the Halton Hurricanes Under-16 team. Morris believes Schaefer will go first overall in the 2023 OHL draft. “Ahead of Ryan Roobroeck in London?” I ask. It looks as though the four last-place teams in the OHL draft lottery will be the Oshawa Generals, Niagara Ice Dogs, Erie Otters (with the Kitchener Rangers having an outside chance) and the Soo Greyhounds. Some of it will have to do with the needs of the team picking first. More of it has to do with whether or not the prospect will report.
Morris then tells me to get into the building, “because if Kai Schwindt scores five points again, I’m going to get you season tickets and (Kai’s mother) Laura will pick you up and drive you to all the games.” Indeed, a Steelheads game I attended early in October was highlighted by a three-goal, two-assist performance by Schwindt, another Morris client. I was there to write this heart-wrenching piece on the Schwindt family. Kai is the second of three hockey-playing Schwindt brothers, who went undrafted, but signed an entry-level contract with the Florida Panthers after a training camp invite.
2 P.M.
It’s a pretty good crowd for a Sunday, by Steelheads’ standards at least. Owner Elliott Kerr says there were about 3,000 tickets distributed and attendance is recorded at 3,201, but looks about half of that. The Steelheads were ranked as the No. 8 team in the Canadian Hockey League in the pre-season and were expecting to compete for a championship, but have been sabotaged by sub-par goaltending. Instead of competing for a title, they sold off OHL stars Owen Beck, Ethan Del Mastro and Luca Del Bel Belluz at the deadline to build for the future.
“When J.R. and I talked about it, we said, ‘If we’re going to do this, we can’t get back a bunch of second-round picks. We need players,’ ” Kerr says. “So from the (2022) draft, we have the fifth pick (Porter Martone from Peterborough), the sixth pick (Jack Van Volsen from Sarnia) and our own pick at 13 (Lucas Karmaris). That’s a pretty good haul. And now we’re not only looking to make the playoffs, we’re hoping to get home-ice advantage in the first round.” The deals were made Jan. 7 and the Steelheads go into this game riding a 6-2-0 streak since then. Go figure.
2:02 P.M.
Prior to the national anthem, there is a moment of silence held to honour Hazel McCallion, the former mayor of Mississauga and a force of nature, who died earlier that day at the age of 101. McCallion, a former women’s hockey player, was instrumental in having the arena built and getting an OHL team in there in 1998, the travesty known as the Mississauga Ice Dogs, who were birthed and driven into the ground by Don Cherry. (The team won 27 games in its first four seasons. Twenty-seven. Four teams in the OHL have more than 27 this season.) Mississauga has since had the Majors and Steelheads, who have had varying degrees of success. But it’s always, always going to be a grind in Mississauga. In fact, Kerr is entering into talks with the City of Mississauga to renew the arena lease. “We’ll get something short-term done,” Kerr says. “Two or three years.”
3:14 P.M.
The Steelheads are hanging in there against the best team in the OHL, in part because the additions to the lineup have invigorated them and in part because the 67’s are playing their third game in 43 hours, a dreaded three-in-three weekend. But at 10:18 of the second period, Montreal Canadiens’ prospect Vinzenz Rohrer opens the scoring for the 67’s and they score two more in the next six minutes to blow the game open. On the plus side for the Steelheads, 18-year-old defenceman Stevie Leskovar scores his first career OHL goal.
4:22 P.M.
After the game I’m standing in the bowels of the Paramount Food Centre with agents Wade Arnott and Dave Maloney, who are there to get some face time with their clients on the 67’s. Maloney is there to chat with 67’s overager Logan Morrison, one of Ottawa’s big deadline acquisitions. Morrison was pivotal in the Hamilton Bulldogs’ run to the Memorial Cup last season and the 67’s are looking for a repeat.
Ottawa coach Dave Cameron makes his way into the corridor and, like his players, he’s a little fatigued. The 67’s played at home Friday night, then hopped on a bus to Belleville, where they stayed Friday night. They travelled to Mississauga Saturday morning, checked into a hotel there and went to Hamilton for their game Saturday afternoon. They stayed in Mississauga Saturday night, then played Sunday, before getting back on the bus for the ride back to the nation’s capital.
By Sunday afternoon on a trip like this, you’re just trying to get out of the game without any injuries. A 4-2 win and four of six points on the road trip has Cameron pleased. “We’re fortunate that we have good depth and we’re capable of running four lines,” Cameron says. “And the great thing is we get to do it all over again next weekend in Flint, Saginaw and Sarnia.”
4:45 P.M.
Back on the road and flying to downtown Toronto in Sunday traffic. By puck drop, I’m heading north on Yonge Street. I could go straight to Scotiabank Arena for the Leafs or go a little north to the Mattamy Athletic Centre where the women’s game is, then take the subway down to the Leaf game. I opt for the latter. Veteran move by me. I’m even able to pick up my media credentials for the women’s game on the way.
5:50 P.M.
I make it for the final minute of the first period, just moments after Nicklas Backstrom scores to make it 1-0 for the Capitals. It’s a special occasion for the Leafs and their captain, as John Tavares is playing in his 1,000th career game. Some of us in the press box talk about whether or not Tavares belongs in the Hall of Fame or the Hall of Really Good. (I’m in the latter camp at the moment, but things could change, such as if Tavares is a driving force behind the Leafs finally winning their first Stanley Cup since 1967.)
Watching Tavares in this game brings back some fond memories. I recall the night of Sept. 23, 2005, three days after Tavares’ 15th birthday, when he played his first OHL game in Kingston. He was playing in the league a year early because he had been Hockey Canada’s first “exceptional player” and in the first period of his first OHL game, Tavares was out killing a penalty when he took the puck behind the Oshawa Generals’ net, surveyed the ice, then skated the length of it and held off multiple defenders before scoring his first major junior goal. Exceptional indeed.
The Leafs have gone all out, holding a ceremony for Tavares prior to puck drop. All of his teammates are wearing T-shirts and hats that read “JT1K”. And Tavares is clearly feeling it. Early in the second period, he helps set up Michael Bunting for a power-play goal, then digs the puck out from behind the net at the 7:00 mark to set up another on Morgan Rielly’s first goal of the season. Yeah, you read that right. (I later learn on a television broadcast that Tavares leads the league in 1-on-1 battles won.) Truth be told, Tavares is having a terrific season for the Leafs, contributing big goals and assists, such as the two he has this day. “It’s hard to get to,” Tavares says of the milestone. “You want to be going out there and be playing well and contributing. Obviously, I have an important role and I’m counted on in a lot of areas and I take a lot of pride in that. I take a lot of pride in my craft.”
On the other side of the building, the Capitals are barely engaged in the final two periods and go down 5-1 without much of a fight. Alex Ovechkin is particularly uninspired in this game. I’ve often maintained that this is a group that looks as though it’s already accomplished its mission by winning a Stanley Cup and is satisfied with that. And as long as Ovechkin keeps getting goals and chasing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record, everybody seems pretty content there. It’s all an abject waste of outstanding players and some very good teams.
Speaking of Ovechkin, there are a few interesting moments after the game during the media scrum with coach Peter Laviolette. Because it is a late-afternoon game and there was no morning skate, reporters do not have access to the Capitals players until after the game. CBC National correspondent Terence McKenna and producer Alex Shprintsen are working on a piece about Ovechkin’s ties with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
“A lot of Canadians want to know why Ovechkin has a picture of Vladimir Putin on his Instagram page,” McKenna says.
“I’m here to talk about hockey tonight,” Laviolette says. “Alex Ovechkin is the captain of our team and a good person. He came here to Toronto to play a hockey game and if you have any questions about that, I’d be happy to answer them.”
Shprintsen then speaks to the Capitals media relations director Sergey Kocharov to plead his case to speak to Ovechkin. Kocharov listens and tells Shprintsen to email him and he will provide the network with a response. Ovechkin emerges from the Capitals’ dressing room and McKenna holds out a mic and asks, “Why do you have a picture of Putin on your Instagram?” and Ovechkin keeps walking. (I learn a couple of days later that both McKenna and Shprintsen are in Washington for a meeting with Ovechkin.)
7:45 P.M.
I leave the Scotiabank Arena and take the subway north to the Mattamy Athletic Centre for the last leg of the journey. After a number of high-profile violent attacks on public transit, the Toronto Transit Commission has beefed up security in a big way, both on the trains and in the stations. I, for one, feel very safe.
8:08 P.M.
I arrive at the Mattamy Athletic Centre for the PHF all-star proceedings early in a 4-on-4 game between Team USA and Team World. The PHF has set up a round-robin tournament involving players from Canada, USA and Europe for its showcase event, which is being held in Canada for the first time.
A couple of things strike me as I watch the game. First, it’s great to be at an All-Star Game where the players actually care and are trying. The pace is fact, the passes are crisp and the level of play is higher than I would have expected. The other thing I notice is how few people have attended. I enter the building expecting to have my eardrums pierced with screaming girls in their minor hockey sweaters, but I see very few of them there. That’s an opportunity missed.
But the PHF is growing and it’s making some inroads. In December, the league announced it would be raising its salary cap from $750,000 to $1.5 million per team, which caught the attention of former U.S. college star Daryl Watts, who signed a deal that will pay her $150,000 (U.S.) to play for the Toronto Six next season.
Team World knocks off Team USA 3-2, with all three goals coming from a whirling dervish by the name of Fanni Gasparics, who plays for the Metropolitan Riveters. She’s from Hungary and she started skating at the age of three and playing hockey at the age of seven when she saw a pamphlet posted at her school. Gasparics scores again in the final against Team Canada in a 3-2 loss.
9:35 P.M.
Loren Gabel of Canada is named MVP of the tournament, but it’s impossible not to notice Gasparics. She’s in the interview area after the game and, even in defeat, she’s beaming. “This is one of my best hockey nights ever,” she says. The 28-year-old is playing in North America now because she caught the eye of Riveters coach Venla Hovi when she was playing in the Women’s World Championship last August. In fact, Gasparics was at the airport in Denmark prior to her flight home when she received a text from Hovi offering her a spot on the Riveters.
“I didn’t know what to do,” Gasparics said. “Honestly, my husband and I were planning to start a family, but I decided to come here because we decided I should experience this.”
Gasparics’ husband has a unique perspective, given that he plays pro hockey as well. In fact, that same day, Zsombor Garat won the Hungarian Cup with his team, HC Budapest Jegkorang Akademia. As happy as she is about playing pro hockey, she’s clearly conflicted by it all as well. She wants to start having children and she and Garat have already decided that they will not be apart next season. So either she’ll go back home or Garat will find a team in the same city as a PHF team. “Maybe find him a good team in the U.S.,” she says. “We’ll see.”
10:02 P.M.
Leaving the parking garage on my way home, I feel like it’s been a challenging but very, very good day. For a hockey nerd, it actually doesn’t get much better than this. What a country.
Great article. I really enjoyed hearing about each game.
Really enjoyed the piece Ken. Was also at that same game in 2005 when Tavares made his debut just 5 days after turning 15. And he scred his first goal just as you described it. A beautiful shorty.