Watling
Storm Stories is a Guelph Storm original weekly feature for the 2012-13 season spotlighting current Storm Players and giving readers a behind-the-scenes look at the player’s lives on and off the ice.
For Guelph Storm forward Patrick Watling, growing up in Sault Ste Marie meant two things; he would get to play a lot of hockey, and he would probably have to wear a winter coat if he wanted to go trick-or-treating on Halloween.
Watling spent his early childhood skating and playing shinny on the backyard rink that his parents built at the family’s home.
“I spent so much time on that rink,” Watling says. “It was great. My parents put a lot of work into building that rink for us and even put up legitimate boards so we could actually play on it.”
Thinking back to that time, Patrick’s mother Jennifer can still feel the weight of a snow shovel in her hands.
“My husband and I would be outside shoveling tons of snow off of this rink and flooding the ice at -40°c temperatures.”
When it comes to growing up in the Sault, Guelph’s checking center and chief penalty killer wouldn’t change a thing.
“It was fun. You couldn’t go to Canada’s Wonderland every day, and it was freezing cold from the lake all the time. But it wasn’t too big, wasn’t too small. We had a really close community. It was home. ”
Watling, who spent this past summer in Guelph working out with the Storm fitness staff , has managed to add a whopping 25 pounds to his frame to help out with his down low game this season. But before Watling called the Sleeman Centre home, there was “The Pee Wee”.
“Patrick’s father traveled a lot for work during those early years, I had a full time job, and my daughter was just a baby at the time,” Jennifer says. “Patrick had a lot of 7:00am practices and I can remember bundling up my daughter in blankets since winters are brutally cold in Sault Ste Marie and the rinks are even colder.”
“In that small community all the kids played at one arena: The Pee Wee. They would have six teams all on the ice at the same time for practices with each team using a third of the ice surface. The parking lot was always full so the kids would have to get dressed in the stands.”
Off the ice the busy nineteen year old has shown interest in the field of engineering and has taken several courses at the University of Guelph as part of the bio-medical engineering program.
But make no mistake, engineering is Plan B.
“My dream and my goal is to be drafted – I want to make the NHL. I was ranked high enough last year by central scouting and I didn’t get taken. That experience just motivated me to work hard all summer long and I’m going to keep working hard throughout the season and I hope the scouts notice.”
And while Watling maintains that he would be happy to be a part of any one of the thirty NHL teams, he has his sights set on one in particular.
“The Colorado Avalanche, 100%.”
Watling’s mother Jennifer grew up in Montreal, Quebec and is a devoted fan of the Montreal Canadiens as well as legendary former Canadiens goaltender Patrick Roy. By the time Watling was old enough to start watching hockey, Roy had already moved on to the Colorado Avalanche as part of a blockbuster trade back in 1996. It’s no surprise then that Watling, who shared his mother’s appreciation of Roy, switched allegiances and decided to cheer for the Avalanche.
Jennifer Watling chalks up her son’s worship of Roy to an early childhood experience.
“One summer at the age of eleven, Patrick and his friend were participating in a prospect tournament in Toronto. We were at the arena waiting for one of the games to start, and it had been a long day. My daughter was six years old at the time and was starting to get restless, and I was starting to question the amount of time and money that we were comitting to Patrick’s hockey career. Well, at that very moment, Patrick Roy walked through the doors! It was like an epiphany, I couldn’t believe it. It was very surreal.”
“My husband Terry is named after Terry Sawchuck, and Patrick himself is named after Patrick Roy,” Jennifer adds. “My son was able to meet and get a picture with his childhood hero. I never questioned anything again – whatever it takes!”
During the opening weeks of this young season, Watling has played hard in his role and has been visibly stronger on the puck thanks to the countless hours spent sweating in the gym in the off-season. If he continues to bring the fight to the ice every night, NHL scouts should take notice. Whichever path Patrick Watling takes, he has a bright future ahead of him.
Rich Davidson is a freelance hockey writer covering the Guelph Storm this season. Follow Rich’s work at:
www.rdsportswriter.com
