Sadlon Arena will likely be packed to the gills tonight for the Barrie Colts’ playoff game against the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Among them will be at least a dozen or so proud grandparents of Colts players. As you may expect, grandparents bring a unique perspective and a special rooting interest to a team that has rolled through the Ontario Hockey League since the trade deadline and is up 1-0 in its Eastern Conference best-of-seven quarterfinal series after a dominating 10-2 Game 1 win on Thursday night.
Beau Jelsma, despite leaving the game early in the third period, and Brandt Clarke combined for 10 points on Thursday. It would be easy to say they were trying to impress their grandparents — Clarke’s nana and both of Jelsma’s maternal grandparents were in attendance — but that’s the case at most games.
Sheila Clarke and Michael and Darlene Papaioannou rarely miss a game. Ditto for Steve and Glenda Cardwell, the grandparents of Colts overage sniper Ethan.
All five grandparents and many other family members will be in attendance tonight when the Colts take on the Bulldogs in Game 2. Puck drop is at 7:30.
“We are just really proud of him, the young man he’s (become),” Michael Papaioannou said before the game started on Thursday.
If you imagined in your head what typical Canadian hockey grandparents would look like, the Papaioannous pretty much fit the description — I thought I was looking at my own when I ascended the stairs to our prescribed meeting point in front of the Colts store.
The truth is, before they were hockey grandparents, Michael and Darlene gave Beau’s mom, Penny, the platform to become an elite figure skater. She was Canadian national novice and then junior pairs champion and even spent a year in Barrie attending the Mariposa School of Skating.
“I think it’s really about the same,” Darlene said when asked if she sees some similarities between her daughter’s career and her grandson. “To become a good athlete is a full commitment, the exercise and the (training).”
A frequent presence growing up, Beau is not around his grandparents’ house as much as he was when he was younger. He’s in Barrie, of course, but he’s left a reminder: The Papaioannous’ garage still bears the scars of their grandson practising his shot.
“I told him he’s going to pay to fix it (someday) if he ever makes it to the NHL,” joked Darlene.
Well, maybe she was only half-joking, but it has worked. About 20 minutes after his grandmother told the story, her grandson scored a beautiful goal. He later scored another on a breakaway while shorthanded and added two assists.
By his estimation, Michael says he’s seen 55 Colts games this season and clocked about 80,000 kilometres on his car watching his grandson play. He’s retired from cutting hair and only recently sold his skate-sharpening shop in Tillsonburg.
“I even went to North Bay,” he remarked, which is about a five-hour drive from his home.
Sheila Clarke raised twin boys, including Brandt’s father, Chris, and has lived in Barrie for more than a decade. She has been a Colts season-ticket holder since that time, and it was a happy coincidence her grandson was selected by the Colts four years ago in the OHL Priority Selection. He’s billeted with her in her south-end home the past season-plus but got the boot this February, shortly after returning from helping Canada win gold at the World Junior Championship.
It was nothing dodgy; Sheila had a long-planned house reno that was about to start.
“To me, he’s still the little boy playing mini-sticks in my basement,” she said. “He is such an enthusiastic kid. He always was, and he just loves hockey. He has always been like that.”
Sheila is a widow. Her second husband, Harry, died, as did her first husband, Tom, her five grandchildren’s papa. Retired from working with the Ministry of Health, she ended up in Barrie after spending many holidays and vacations near Big Bay Point. Before that, she was in Hamilton and both of her boys went to McMaster University. Chris is now an orthodontist in Ottawa (where Brandt grew up) and Geoff is a lawyer in Toronto. Geoff accompanied his mother to watch his nephew play in his first OHL playoff game on Thursday night.
“I used to use hockey as a carrot with my boys,” Sheila explained. “They both played to a high level themselves, but they (also) knew that without (school), there was no hockey.”
Brandt’s stellar play and good performance with both Team Canada and a months-long stay with the Los Angeles Kings is getting most of the ink these days, but he’s not the only hockey player in the Clarke family. Older brother Graeme is a New Jersey Devils prospect and recently was called up for that club’s West Coast trip, though he didn’t see game action. They played just once against each other in Barrie, three years ago, just before the pandemic struck. Sheila (and her family) were in attendance and a picture of the boys was on her fridge until it had to be packed away when work started on her kitchen.
Granddaughter Mackenzie recently helped Ontario win bronze at the Canada Winter Games and will play NCAA hockey next season at St. Lawrence.
If the Papaioannous and Sheila Clarke drew on a host of typical parenting experience supporting their grandsons, Steve Cardwell has the added perspective of having been a player himself. He played for the Oshawa Generals and had a pro career that included 53 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins and 152 more in the World Hockey Association. After retiring, he had a long run with Labatt and is now a semi-retired publican. He catches most Colts games, save for time spent in Florida this winter, where he’d tune in on television.
Ethan’s father, Justin, played at Western Michigan University, and his uncle, Matt, was also a player. Steve offered an interesting comparison and contrast to the game he played decades ago.
“One big difference is shift length,” he said, pointing out players are only on the ice for about half the time compared to when he was a player. “Now they (change) every 30 to 40 seconds … It wasn’t unusual to see it be a minute-and-a-half or even two minutes when I played.
“Also, it is now four-line hockey. All four lines play now.”
Steve Cardwell’s grandson is nearing the end of what has been quite a hockey journey: five seasons but only playing four because of the pandemic cancellation two years ago. Ethan has played on both sides of the border. His first OHL team was in Saginaw and he even spent some time in Sweden during the shutdown. You could almost feel Steve Cardwell replaying his grandson’s junior hockey journey in his mind, knowing it is about to enter a different phase; Ethan, a San Jose Sharks prospect, turns pro next season.
“I think the (most proud) we are is to see how Ethan likes to interact with fans,” Steve explained. “He’s always there to sign autographs after a game and quick to put a puck over the boards in warm-up. We really like seeing that, how he likes to give back.”
And whatever differences there are between now and more than five decades ago when Steve Cardwell played junior hockey, there are some undeniable similarities: “As a former player, the sounds and the smells in the arena, they (never go away). That has also has been really fun to see going to Ethan’s games.”
Fingers crossed, that fun continues as long as possible this spring.
