Hayzee’s Mailbox- Part 1

 Good day folks!

Welcome to the first edition of “Hayzee’s Mailbox.” In this segment I will try my best to answer all the questions I seem to repeatedly receive around the rink.

I hope this provides you a glimpse into my journey within hockey. Fingers crossed it provides a laugh. Maybe even helps a younger reader navigate their own path in the sport. Whatever you are here for, let’s help you find it.

From growing up in Kamloops, on the North side of the river in Brocklehurst, to playing this incredible game for 16 years. There have been a lot of laughs along the way, a few tears and so many amazing memories made. So here it is, the inaugural edition of “Hayzee’s Mailbox.” Enjoy!

When did you first start hockey? What was your favorite part? - Preston, Boise ID

Well Preston, that there is a great question and a fantastic way to kick off the Mailbox.

I started playing organized hockey at 5 but my dad used to take me skating all the time before that. He would carry me around the rink until I could start making my way around the ice on my own two feet. I started on these “bobsled” skates with double runners we used to strap onto our winter boots. I then graduated to single blade skates like we wear now. I would get to the rink and push the “bar” (the contraption that kept me upright when Don’s back gave out) all around the ice. We had no shortage of ice in Kamloops. Our training would bounce back and forth between Brock Rec (the backdrop of many high school stories) and the Sports Centre on Mcarthur Island. From there I went through a program called “Peter Puck.” This program was an introduction to hockey. Kind of like kindergarten for aspiring tykes like myself.

From there it was into league play with the City of Kamloops. That’s me at 5 years old on the famous ice of Kamloops Memorial Arena, at the east end of Victoria Street. The level was called “Peanuts” back then and it looks like I played for the Royal Inland Hospital Employees Union. (Check out those old gloves! Cuffs all the way to the elbow pad) My coaches were Jack Chernoff and the late, great Dave Robinson. I can’t tell you if I liked hockey or not. I don’t really recall much other than that’s where I met one of my best friends, the “Buffalo Man” himself, Taylor Bradley. My favorite memory of those days had nothing to do with hockey. My favorite memory was driving with my mom (Vicki) to the rink, listening to Starship’s 1985 hit “We Built This City.” To this day, when that song comes on, it’s like sitting shotgun with Doc Brown, hitting 88 mph in the Delorean and going back to 1985. Loading up the car and making the trek across the Overlander Bridge to the South Shore of Kamloops, absolutely pushing that cassette and the cassette deck to their operating limits. (PS. Still one of my go to plays when I am around a jukebox) Thanks for the great question Preston!

What happened to your nose?  How did that happen? I want to look away….but I can’t! - Garret, Saskatoon SK

Welp, might as well get this one out of the way early. Thanks for the line Garret. Appreciate your entry. It’s letters like this that really peel back the layers for our readers.

My “beak” hasn’t always been the way it looks now. As a matter of fact, I inherited this nose from my father Don. He was blessed with it by my grandmother, the late Nellie Hay, who still holds the world title for “Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich.” I never remembered the nose comments until it started getting busted up. Those facial traumas turned it into the crooked mess you see on my face presently. I remember the first time I broke it like it was yesterday. It was my first year of junior hockey in the WHL (1996/97) with the Tri-City Americans. We were in Red Deer Alberta playing the Red Deer Rebels in the Centrium. It was in the third period and I was trying to box out one of the Rebels forwards, a guy you may have heard of, Aaron Asham. Search his name on YouTube and you can watch him do this to somebody not named Hay. To this day I don’t know what it was. Perhaps it was the cross checks I was liberally directing into his kidney area. Maybe he had been having a bad day and reached his limit. Or perhaps he saw my beautiful face and thought, “man, does that nose ever look breakable.” I don’t know if we will ever truly know the reason, but Mr Asham decided that his elbow was going to test the structural stability of my sniffer. Guess it wasn’t up to code because my eyes filled with tears, my head started to throb and my nose started to leak blood uncontrollably. It wasn’t pretty, but that was the first in a handful of “nasal fractures” I sustained playing hockey. After a few you lose count, they just all seem to run together. I can’t recall what the grand total is now (probably to do with all the broken noses) but I think we got up to 5. The picture above is at my first training camp with the Vancouver Canucks in 1999, beside my last nose fracture that I sustained playing in Japan for the Tohoku Freeblades during the 2013/2014 season. I tell anyone that will listen, “it used to be straight!” Here is that evidence. 

Nowadays I don’t even notice it. Unless I go out to eat or we have our annual family photo. I say when we go out to eat because our waitress, who is usually a little older, always looks at my face in utter sympathy when I place my order. “Honey, what happened to your poor nose?” is usually what comes out of her mouth. “This? You should see the other guy!” I awkwardly reply as I explain how I would like my fries & gravy. Every time I go through it I think of a scene in one of my favorite Chris Farley movies, Tommy Boy.  It’s that part in the diner after Richard has just tatooed him across the cheek with the 2x4. He’s asking Richard if there is anything on his face. Richard, very uncomfortably keeps dodging the question and then Helen (the waitress) walks over to their table and gasps,”Geez, what happened to your face?!”

People have asked why I don’t get a “nose job” now that my hockey career has concluded. It’s funny, it becomes a part of the story. My story. I earned this nose. When you see former players, especially the ones that have been through some epic battles, you pause and reflect. You can see the nasty scars on their faces where sticks tore through their skin. A limp in their step from a bad knee injury or the arthritis in their hands as they grasp their beverage unsteadily. There is always a handful of guys with the gap in their smile where a tooth used to be. You start to understand they paid the price. That they left a little piece of themselves in some rink, somewhere in the world because they loved the game. I respect that. I really do. I wear my off center schnozz as a badge of honor these days and look back on those times with a lot of pride & a very grateful heart. I was fortunate to do something I truly loved for 16 seasons. “Those were the days…” I boast to my boys about my time in the game when I sit and reminisce. Of course when I reminisce, I am undefeated and Aaron Asham never got that elbow in.

Thanks Garret! Looking forward to your next letter.

Dear Darrell. Long time listener, first time writer. I am a diehard Seattle Seahawks fan. I loved that they brought back their throwback blue uniforms this past season. My question is this: do you have a favorite uniform you have worn in your career? If so which one was it? - Jake, Lowman ID

This is an all time question Jake! Lowman Idaho in the house! The Sourdough Lodge in Lowman sponsored our first DHHD Holiday Hockey Camp and it has some great grub. Stop in if you’re driving through. Tell them Darrell sent you!

I have a couple uniforms on my list that are in my Hall of Fame. Probably a couple of the best minor league hockey logos of all time and then a European setup I absolutely loved wearing. Here they are in chronological order. 
 Florida Everblades 2000/2001-  This whole setup was clean. The old school Hartford Whalers color scheme, the unique Gator logo on the chest and the hockey wrinkle on “Everglades” in the team name. It was simple and I thought the white uniforms were so crisp. The team gave me my blue jersey when I left and it’s still a favorite in my collection.

Manitoba Moose 2001/2002-  This is the best minor league hockey logo of all time. It was in that era where teams were getting “cartoony” or “serious” in their logo design. This logo walked the line of doing both and achieved what most didn’t, looked good! The color scheme was magnificent too. The black, teal and bronze just worked. These were the days when the minor league affiliate didn’t have the same color scheme as their NHL parents. Times have changed and most organizations have adopted a unified color scheme between the two levels. This happened to lower costs and if you got called up to the NHL, you didn’t need to wear different equipment. You can look at the current landscape of NHL/AHL partnerships to see what I mean. Most of them share the same base colors which means they share the same color helmets, gloves & pants. Those home whites had a great look. I have always been a sucker for a clean, white uniform. Kinda like Tom Cruise in Top Gun when Pete “Maverick” Mitchell rolls out in his Navy Whites….(“Top Gun Anthem” plays in the distance. Go ahead and hum it with me)

It’s classic and works on every level. When I was still playing, whites were the jerseys you wore at home. Nothing beat a Saturday night in the Winnipeg Arena, coming out of the tunnel in that uniform, getting a huge 2 points, then wheeling over to the “Tijuana Yacht Club” to celebrate with the boys and a couple frosty ones!

Lillehammer Ice Hockey Club 2009/2010- Going to Europe opened my eyes to a lot of new things. New languages, new cultures, new food and in hockey: new uniforms. In Europe, uniforms are adorned with sponsorships from helmet to skates and everywhere in between. You looked like a NASCAR flying around the ice in these uniforms. I preferred the North American style because these looked too busy in my humble opinion. The colors sometimes clashed with the sponsors logos on the sweater and it was just a lot. These tarps were different. The big “L” on the front, bookended with 2 stars was legit. These Lillehammer jerseys and uniforms checked all the style boxes for me.

Good colors-check. Good logo-check. Both home/away kit looked good-check. Enjoyed wearing-check. For a hockey jersey in Europe, this one was the closest I have seen to hitting the bullseye in all my travels.

Thanks for the fabulous question Jake and for following along at home. Will be looking forward to your next submission.

Where has been your favorite place to play hockey? You have played all over North America and overseas, is there one place that “sticks” out? - Vicki, Kamloops, B.C.

 Another good question and a really hard one to answer. This is tough because A.) I played in some really great places. B.) I don’t want my friends in those other places thinking I am throwing shade where they live and C.) Each spot along the way had its own things that made it great. I don’t want to say that “one” is my favorite and that leaves out all of the others. It’s like asking me what my favorite ice cream is? I love all ice cream. In a cone, in a shake, mixed with candy and toppings and put in a cup. I am an equal opportunist when it comes to cream that’s iced. It’s ice cream! Can there be a wrong answer? Apologies for getting off track. I may have answered favorite treat as well.

I don’t know what criteria you are looking for so I am going to go with one of my faves then list the reasons why it took the top spot. The answer is…Cortina d’Ampezzo Italy!

This place was like living in a postcard. It was amazing! This little village nestled in the Alps, 90 minutes north of Venice is where I spent the 2012/2013 season playing. Spending an extended amount of time here was one of the greatest gifts I have received outside of playing the game. There were so many things to love about playing in Cortina. Here are a few of my faves.

Number 1- Look at the above photo. Everyday I woke up, I looked out my window to this. This town was my home for 7 months! He shoots…he scores! Number 2- The Food. If you’re a foodie or love to eat, this place is for you. The freshness of the food and the responsible portion size meant you could keep your figure crushing pizzas and pasta all season. That was right in my “hot zone” for food. Being close to Germany as well, you could find a good schnitzel if you got a little fatigued on Italian cuisine.

Number 3- The coffee. Anybody that’s been around me long enough knows I love my coffee. My preferred Java of choice is from back home in Canada. A Tim Hortons Dark Roast is my go to cup of coffee. I love those early morning skates like “Breakfast Club” at 5:30 am when I can enjoy it in my travel tumbler as we help players improve. Nothing better. But Italy changed my coffee appreciation. When I got to Cortina, everyone told me I would become a “wine and cheese snob” because of the quality and abundance of both of those locally. But my goodness, the coffee was so good. This was my first foray into espresso. After every meal we would have an espresso. Became part of the magic of the meal and if you have been fortunate enough to dine in Italy, it’s magic. Number 4- The people. The community was so kind and welcoming. Any group that goes home midday to take a 3 hour break is doing life right in my books. Even when you witnessed an argument, it was like watching the opera. The hand gestures, the accents, the eloquence. It is something to behold. I just watched Disney & Pixar’s “Luca” with my boys and couldn’t help but laugh at the accuracy of their depiction of Italy. It is a place I miss waking up in. Being able to tour this picturesque region made this rank #1 on my list. 

Thank you for that thoughtful submission Vicki.

We are going to call it a day and say ”Hayzee's Mailbox” is officially closed. Part 1 was fun to write and can’t wait to get some more letters to make part 2. Thanks to everyone that wrote in and the fantastic questions you asked. I hope I was able to answer them to your satisfaction and that you learned a little more than you were expecting. 

Appreciate your time in reading this and your support of all things DHHD!

Written by: Darrell Hay

March. 5/2024

About the author: Darrell is a former professional hockey player & operates DHHD in Boise Idaho. He likes breakfast foods, Roots hoodies, cola flavored Slurpees and is an Olympic caliber afternoon sleeper. If you wish to be part of a future segment of the mailbox, please send questions to [email protected]

Thanks for reading!