Dad’s Trip – Columbus

They are standing leaning against cold steel railings or sitting on cold metal benches watching their sons make their way through an arduous off-day practice.

How many times over the years have these same men taken up similar perches in arenas from Estevan, Saskatchewan to Markham, Ontario to Victoriaville, Quebec to Hrusica, Slovenia to Kramfors, Sweden?

Hundreds? More like thousands.

The sounds of the pucks striking the boards, the distinctive crunch of skate blades digging into the ice, are distinctive and apart from velocity and volume perhaps, those sounds are the same whether you’re watching 10-year-olds who can only dream of being an NHL player or a group of players who have seen that dream come true.

So, for the fathers of the Los Angeles Kings, this afternoon in Columbus, Ohio brings back powerful memories of days long past and provides a reminder of the many miles traveled both literally and figuratively by these athletes and by extension by their respective families.

“It’s awesome. You get to share experiences with (the other dads) and they really get it,” said Pat Jeannot father of Kings forward Tanner Jeannot, a retired school administrator from tiny Oxbow, Saskatchewan. “They’ve been through the ups and downs just like we have. They understand exactly where you’re coming from. Just to connect with the dads you kind of realize that we all kind of feel the same things about the game in terms of what the pressures are for the boys and things like that.”

Watching the boys practice or play a hybrid game of soccer and volleyball before the morning skate on this two-game dads’ trip that includes visits to Columbus and Detroit is a reminder that none of these dads envisioned this is where their sons’ hockey lives would take them back in the beginning.

“The journey has been great. You don’t think about all the time that you’ve put into it, you’re just doing something with your kids right?” said Jeannot who has been on dads’ trips in Nashville and Tampa Bay where Tanner played before being traded to the Kings last off-season.

“We’re very proud that they’re here. For sure. But I’ve got two boys and one was a hockey player and one was a water polo player,” Jeannot added. “Kids lead you to where they want to go. They show an interest in something you try to give them opportunities with that.”

The history of National Hockey League dads’ trips dates back to Barry Trotz and the fledgling Nashville Predators in the late 1990s. Trotz had read a story about the Buffalo Sabres inviting a couple of dads on a road trip. Figuring the expansion Predators were in for a couple of long seasons Trotz approached GM David Poile about bringing all the dads for a couple of games.

They went to Buffalo and New Jersey, won both games, and a tradition was born.

Most teams have some version of the trip. Some have a trip for mentors. Many teams have a moms’ trip and there are already plans in the works for a Kings moms’ trip next season.

On this trip there are mostly fathers although Joel Edmundson, who lost his father to cancer several years ago, has invited his older brother, Jesse. And Kevin Fiala has brought his grandfather, Jan, on the trip.

There are many layers to a trip like this.

At its most basic level it’s an opportunity for bonding. You get some deep-down conversations, which is good.

On another level, a trip like this is a rare opportunity to step into the NHL world and see first-hand all the moving parts that make an NHL team run.

Before the first team meeting of the trip players were loosening up in a workout area near the locker room. The dads wandered freely and chatted with training staff.

“It’s been really interesting asking the staff what they do and they just take the time,” Pat Jeannot explained. “I know they’re busy but they always take the time to explain.”

A short while later Kings head coach Jim Hiller gathered the dads and players in the cramped visiting team’s locker room at Nationwide Arena to go over video in preparation for Saturday’s game against Columbus, the first of two games on this dads’ trip that will conclude Monday in Detroit.

Some of the players sat on the floor while others wedged into stalls with their fathers.

Hiller directed a video session that was as much a reminder to the fathers about the qualities that have helped make their sons NHL players as much as it was a reminder to the players of the attention to detail that is so integral to the team’s success thus far.

If the fathers were expecting to be treated to eye-popping offensive plays or thunderous checks during the session they would have been disappointed.

Instead, Hiller showed clips of players in a recent win over defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers routinely getting mauled in front of Florida netminder Spencer Knight.

The clips showed players battling for the puck in the offensive zone, regaining possession and putting pucks towards the net.

Defensive clips showed players battling in their own zone to keep Panthers players from high danger scoring areas and working to recover pucks and transition to offense.

The message was simple yet subtle. Doing the right thing – which is to say doing the hard work – doesn’t always yield a goal.

“Too often if we’re not playing well, or other teams aren’t playing well, you see guys standing over here,” Hiller said, pointing to the perimeter of the ice surface.

“No one’s paying a steep enough price to get to the net-front. It’s hard because the defensemen make it hard on you,” Hiller explained.

But the clips presented to the group showed that the Kings’ players were willing to pay that price.

“We are wearing the goaltender down. I know how the story ends so it’s easy to say that,” Hiller said with a chuckle.

The moral of the story is that if you do the right things, the hard things, over and over, like muscle memory, you do get rewarded. And the ending of the story in this case was the first-ever NHL goal by Samuel Helenius who potted the game-winner against Florida after some yeoman work by teammates Jeannot and Jordan Spence.

“All of us can celebrate this one,” Hiller said. “This is what we love. We love to see this. Love to see the guys get in there because it’s such a grind. We didn’t score through all those clips and it just keeps going shift after shift after shift and then ultimately you get this once in a while.”

Hiller left the fathers with this thought, that everyone in the NHL has elite skill but what separates this group is the mental toughness they have developed. And that the fathers should be very proud of those qualities.

“I know that’s true but it was fun to hear it,” said Phil Danault’s father, Alain.

“I’m very impressed. I’m glad to have the opportunity to see in the room what the players are seeing before each games or after each practice with the video. I really appreciated what Mr. Hiller said,” he added.

Peeling back the layers of a fathers’ trip is much like peeling back the layers of a team itself.

How do the pieces all fit together? How do all of the personalities mesh?

How do the newbies fit in with the veteran dads?

Matjaz Kopitar is enjoying his seventh dads’ trip since son Anze joined the Kings in 2006.

The long-time international coach and scout has built bonds with Drew Doughty’s family including father Paul who believes he is on dad trip number six.

And with Randy Lewis, or as Matjaz refers to him, ‘Papa Lewie’, with son Trevor’s return to the Kings.

Sometimes when he’s visiting Anze in California he’ll see dads of players who have moved on to other teams and it’s a reminder that just like teammates the connection between players’ parents is a lasting one no matter career circumstances.

Equally gratifying for Matjaz, though, is to see the excitement for the dads who have never had this experience.

Like Alain Danault.

Although his son is a veteran, having played in the NHL for a decade, this is Alain’s first dads’ trip.

The radio announcer in the family’s hometown of Victoriaville, Quebec, admitted he could barely contain his excitement at coming on the trip. He joked he wasn’t sure who was more excited, the father or the son who knew how much the trip meant to the father.

“My god I’m so excited at this moment to be here with all the parents to share what we all lived together,” Danault said. “That’s fun to see all those guys coming from all over the world. We can really share what we live. Those guys are, in fact we all lived the same thing but in different countries.”

Danault admitted to some nervousness because English is not his first language. But, of course, he is not alone in that and there seemed to be zero issues in communicating with the rest of the fathers as the trip proceeded.

Several hours before the first game of the two-game fathers’ trip the dads were hosted by a downtown Columbus clothing store for a little nourishment and libation and, for some, shopping.

A number of the fathers took advantage to buy some lucky – not to mention highly fashionable – hats. There was a significant round of applause when Sami Helenius, Clinton Byfield, Brent Kuemper and Alain Danault all modelled their new hats before heading to Nationwide Arena.

Later, when Phil Danault scored to tie the game 1-1, Alain tipped his cap to the rest of the dads to great applause. Later he admitted he’d turned the hat around as the Kings were pushing for a tying goal in the third period, a move that paid dividends as Quinton Byfield scored the tying goal with Darcy Kuemper on the bench.

Speaking of Kuemper, he was outstanding, stopping a penalty shot in the overtime and making timely saves throughout. So, clearly, the hats did their work even if the Kings fell in overtime.

And lest anyone think such a trip is only about frivolity to watch these fathers watch their sons is a reminder that NHL games are serious business and the seriousness with which the players take the games is reflected in the seriousness with which their fathers take in the action.

Throughout the evening Adrian Kempe’s father, Michael, reflected the nervous energy of the group standing on his toes during close offensive chances early in the game and then, after Adrian just missed a glorious shorthanded chance, sitting with his hands on his head in a mixture of disbelief and disappointment.

In the end the Kings probably deserved a better fate than the final 3-2 overtime loss suggested.

But that’s not the first time that’s been the case for any of these fathers over the years.

In a room next to the Kings’ locker room after the game the fathers waited until one by one their sons came to collect them. Together they walked in pairs or small groups making small talk as they made their way to the bus that would take them to the airport and the flight to Detroit and the next stop on the trip.

The conversations were muted, likely in the way that conversations all those years ago after a disappointing outcome were muted and filled with words of encouragement and the belief that a better outcome was ahead.