When did you realize that hockey might take you beyond the local rinks?

Well, uh, during my, uh, you know, teen years, uh, 13, 14 and so forth, I played with the West End Bearcats and, um, Thunderbanny is a real, has a really rich and long-term history of hockey development.

And, uh, my particular team, we were able to be city champions three years out of four, a couple of years of Bantam, a year of Midget.

I was a team leader on those groups, uh, probably wearing a C with the Bearcats and, uh, We had great success.

And I think at that point, probably I was dreaming like so many Canadian kids would about the potential for the future.

I was actually contacted, drafted, if you will, by the Sault Ste.

Marie Greyhounds of the OHL at that time.

Was hockey itself still the main attraction? Like, or were you playing for seven different groups of friends?