In Roch Carrier’s 1979 short story “The Hockey Sweater”, a young Roch experiences childhood devastation in rural Quebec. His mother writes a letter to department store owner “Monsieur Eaton” to order a new hockey sweater, rather than filling out the catalogue’s English order form.
Roch is expecting a Montreal Canadiens sweater to arrive in the mail, featuring the name and number of hockey idol Maurice “Rocket” Richard. Roch and all of his friends live for hockey, and are fans of the “Rocket” and the beloved Canadiens. When a Toronto Maple Leafs hockey sweater is delivered instead of a Canadiens jersey and his mother refuses to send it back, Roch is very upset and is shunned by his friends.
On Saturday, December 10th at Showplace Performance Centre, the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra (PSO) will present this classic Canadian story as part of the PSO’s holiday concert, “A Nutcracker Christmas”, sponsored by Swish. As a special treat, Montreal Canadiens hockey legend and Peterborough native Bob Gainey will narrate the story while the PSO performs music composed by Abigail Richardson-Schulte to illustrate Roch’s childhood tale. Bob will be wearing one of his jerseys, which will be signed and raffled off in support of the orchestra.
Bob is no stranger to great hockey rivalries. He played in the 1976 Canada Cup, won the Stanley Cup five times as a player, the Frank J. Selke Trophy four times, and the Conn Smythe Trophy once. After his retirement as a player, he worked as an NHL coach or general manager until 2010. Though much of his storied career was spent with the Montreal Canadiens, Bob admits that while growing up in Peterborough, he and many of his friends were fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
When Bob was about the same age as young Roch in The Hockey Sweater, the Leafs were Stanley Cup champions. The team had many strong players, and rather than idolizing one player in particular, allegiances were divided among the young Leafs fans. Bob remembers having a special connection to Leafs captain George Armstrong, although he admired all of the players.
Unlike Roch, Bob grew up with a television at home. He says Saturday nights spent watching Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) on TV were “craved, anticipated, enjoyed.” Those Saturday night games provided all of the inspiration he and his pals needed to become hockey heroes themselves the next time they met to play.
“Rather than simulate every aspect of one player,” Bob says, “we mimicked the most recent exploits viewed on HNIC. A goal by Keon, a save by Bower, a body check by Armstrong, a temper tantrum by Coach Imlach … replayed over and over in the driveway ball hockey game or the outdoor rink.”
Bob and his friends were always trying to get to the rink to play hockey, whether with or without permission from parents. Even when permission was granted, he and his friends often pushed those boundaries and stayed later at the hockey rink than they were supposed to stay. For Bob, the ‘home rink’ was Riverside Park in East City.
“Two sheets of ice, one for pleasure skating, the other for hockey. On Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons everyone you knew was there,” he says.
Bob recalls those happy childhood winters outdoors in Peterborough.
“Living in smaller homes with bigger families, the common refrain from parents was ‘go outside and play.’ So we did,” he says. “The ice was for skating. The snow for sliding, building forts, snowball fights.”
He also remembers just as fondly “the wonderful feeling of warmth, when entirely soaked and spent you would re-enter the home” after an afternoon or evening of playing outside.
In addition to their NHL hockey idols, Bob and his friends followed the players of the Peterborough TPT Petes.
He remembers that this was facilitated “more often via the radio, as Thursday night home games were not an option [to attend] with school on Friday.”
As a teenager, Bob realized that he would likely have a chance to play with the hometown Peterborough Petes. Indeed he starred with them beginning in 1972, and after two seasons with the team he was drafted by Montreal Canadiens general manager Sam Pollock. His 16-year NHL career saw him play 1,160 games, scoring 239 goals and a total of 585 points. In the playoffs, he added 182 games with 73 points, including 25 goals. Bob was a major defensive hockey talent, once called “the world’s best all-around player” by Soviet national team coach Viktor Tikhonov.
Later as a coach and general manager, Bob led the Stars organization to the Stanley Cup finals, winning the championship in 1999, and made major player acquisitions for the Montreal Canadiens including goalie Carey Price. Bob was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992. In 2008 his number 23 hockey sweater was retired and raised to the rafters of Montreal’s Bell Centre. Young Bob grew up to become a famous Canadiens hockey hero just like Roch’s childhood idol, Maurice Richard.
Bob is now an acquaintance of The Hockey Sweater author Roch Carrier. They met through a common interest, their support of the Atwater Library in Montreal. Bob has discussed his participation in the PSO’s performance of The Hockey Sweater with Roch.
“I think he is pleased that his story continues to attract Canadians’ interest, that it still touches people,” he says.
Bob is looking forward to his part in bringing the story to life for its Peterborough debut, although the musical talent in the family is his sister Maureen, who has played the piano and been involved in choral singing for most of her life. Bob says, “My role with the PSO allows me a new experience. To be on stage and participate with a symphony orchestra will be very special.”
Already very familiar with The Hockey Sweater, Bob has a unique perspective when he looks back on his own childhood with the tale in mind.
“Having now been on both sides of this Toronto Maple Leafs-Montreal Canadiens rivalry, I understand better the trauma that young Roch would have gone through,” Bob says. “I can’t claim to have experienced anything that difficult! There were setbacks, disappointments, rink time missed for different reasons. These disappointments mark us in some way, and when similar situations show up again, we have those experiences to use as a guide.”
For young hockey players in the Peterborough area who are training hard and dreaming of pursuing a hockey career like Bob, the hockey legend suggests, “Dreaming about and visualizing our goals is a necessary and wonderful way to project your future. Dreams mixed with work, sacrifice, persistence and discipline can and do come true.”
VIDEO: “The Sweater”
A 1979 short based on Roch Carrier’s story, directed and animated by Sheldon Cohen with script and narration by Carrier, courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada.
Hear Bob narrate The Hockey Sweater at the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra’s presentation of A Nutcracker Christmas on Saturday, December 10th at 7:30 p.m. Children and adults alike will delight in excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s beloved and timeless Nutcracker. There will be seasonal favourites, a carol sing, and the Kawartha Youth Orchestra will join the orchestra to help get everyone into the spirit of the season.
Update Dec 5 2016 – The show is sold out. Tickets are $30 for adults and $10 for students, available at the Showplace Performance Centre box office at 290 George St. N. in downtown Peterborough, by phone at 705-742-7469 or 1-866-444-2154 (toll free), or online at www.showplace.org.
