A FAMILY AFFAIR
( by Adam Esselman / Spokane Chiefs )
If there is one thing Jackson Playfair’s family knows in and out, it is the sport of hockey. Jackson’s father, Jim, and uncle, Larry, both played in the Western Hockey League and professionally after earning distinction as 1st Round NHL Draft selections. Jackson is the middle child of three brothers who all played competitively growing up, with younger brother Austyn now competing against Jackson in the WHL. By her son’s estimation, mother Roxanne Playfair has “logged more hours than anyone in the world in a hockey rink.” Hockey means everything to Jackson Playfair, but not because of the scoreboard. The sport provides a connection to his family, a link to his past and a path to his future.
“Growing up my dad was my hero,” Jackson says. “I looked up to him and I realized that hockey was always what I wanted to do.” Jim Playfair played four seasons in the Western Hockey League, mostly in Portland, and was drafted 20th Overall in the 1982 NHL Draft by the Edmonton Oilers. After bouncing around the AHL and later the IHL, he had a brief 19-game stint with the Chicago Blackhawks before deciding to call it quits on his playing career in 1992. He switched to the coaching side of the bench and quickly earned a job in the ECHL, coaching the Dayton Bombers. After two years as an assistant in the IHL and a leading position in the AHL, Jim settled into an assistant role with the Calgary Flames in 2002. Jim was the head coach of the Flames for the 2006-07 season and has now been an associate coach for the Arizona Coyotes since 2011.
Jackson was able to kick start his passion for hockey at a young age with help and support from his parents, like most kids. However, having a professional coach as a father had certain perks when it came to skating experiences. “I have some really good memories of being a little kid skating on the ice with my dad and the players. We would go down to the rink with Dad and after practice Mom would bring us down,” he recalls. “(She’d) tie our skates on the bench and we would hop out onto the ice. Those were some of my first memories learning to skate and getting a stick in my hand.”
With three brothers all competing in the same sport and a dad who coaches at the highest level, some could expect a little added pressure, but any burden to play was never felt by Jackson. “My dad never pushed us into the sport and never wanted to be overbearing. He was just always there to help us when needed.” While he suspects his mother would disagree and say they had scuffles around the house every day, Jackson says he and his brothers kept their competitive spirit on the ice, for the most part. “We were pretty good. We had battles here or there, but for the most part we just wanted to help each other.”
That supportive nature came in handy earlier this season, when Jackson joined younger brother Austyn on the rival Tri-City Americans. The Chiefs sent Jackson to the Americans at the trade deadline last season, where he remained for 16 games this year before returning to Spokane. Those 16 games allowed Jackson and Austyn the opportunity to call themselves teammates for the first time in their competitive hockey careers.
“To start the year playing with (Austyn) was amazing. Kids only dream about that opportunity growing up, to play with your brother. You’re out on the pond together when you’re younger and that’s something you’re able to do everyday, but then actually being able to do that in this league? That was special.”
After the mid-season return of Jackson to the Chiefs, things changed for the Playfair brothers, as they faced off in opposing uniforms – as division rivals, no less – and competed against each other. “When (Austyn) came over to Spokane the first time, it was different. You want to play your game and your role, but at the same time, that’s your little brother on the other side,” Jackson admits. “That’s not easy,”
“The more we play (against each other), I think it is becoming easier for both of us.”
Jackson Playfair was a young, 18-year-old kid from the northern town of Fort St. James, British Columbia, when he was added to the Spokane Chiefs’ list in September of 2012. Like most players who are given the chance to play at the next level, things happen fast and can catch you by surprise. “It was one of those things that happened so fast,” he remembers. “One day, I got a call from my BCHL team (the Langley Rivermen, pictured above) saying I wasn’t with them anymore and then a couple days later (Chiefs Director of Player Personnel) Chris Moulton gave me a call. He said, ‘we want you to come down to Spokane.’”
As barely a legal adult, a major move in life can be intimidating or unsettling, but with the experiences in Playfair’s past helping him along the way, he was able to make the move to Spokane a more fluent one. “I have traveled around a lot and have been lucky enough to live in different places, whether that be in Canada or the United States, so it wasn’t much of a change,” he explains. “Once you get used to it, you have to put yourself out there and just be an open person.”
The opportunity to share a home with a teammate and a host family helped make Playfair’s transition from Fort St. James to Spokane smooth. “I have been lucky enough to have roommates the whole time in Spokane and be put in a great host family situation. You’re in someone’s home and that’s the biggest part… you really want to become part of their family and I think the closer you get with the host family, the easier it is,” he continues. “I have been lucky enough to be with the same family for two years now.”
“I love Spokane and it has been home to me for these past couple of years. Leaving for a little bit and coming back has been like a homecoming for me… that has been real exciting.”
Even though he feels a lot of love and support from his host family and teammates, who have become much like a second family, he still faces the challenges of being away from family and friends back home. “Missing family is tough and missing your friends who are out doing different things is tough as well,” Playfair says.
Being involved in hockey at the WHL level means there is very little down time, and especially with a father who is coaching in the sport professionally, any opportunity the family has to get away and spend quality time together – away from the responsibilities and chaos – is cherished. They still have a cabin in Fort St. James that they try to visit together every summer. “It has always been that summer is family time for me,” Playfair recalls. “As I get older, hockey has become more of a job to me than just a hobby. When you get that free time and you are able to spend that time with family, you are blessed.
“Whenever I get the opportunity to go up to the cabin, get in the boat with the whole family and float around on the lake… it is awesome. Those are days that you really don’t do much, but those days are the most fun for sure.”
Family time is something that is cherished by the Playfairs, and since the family is spread all over the map, they are not always able spend that time face-to-face. That doesn’t stop Mom and Dad from keeping up with their busy kids. Like most parents, the Playfairs are extremely proud of their sons and try to watch as many of their games as they can. Online webcasting through the WHL has helped significantly.
“My mom has told me stories that when mine and Austyn’s games are on, there is nothing else going on in the house,” Playfair laughs. “My mom and dad have both laptops open and they have both the games on. They switch back and forth when they hear mine or Austyn’s name mentioned so they can watch our shifts.” This, of course, is on nights when Jim isn’t behind the bench coaching the Coyotes. Apparently those years at the rink haven’t burned Roxanne out just yet.
With only 20 regular season games left for the Chiefs this season, Jackson Playfair’s Spokane Chiefs and WHL playing career is coming to an end. Barring injury, he will finish with over 200 combined regular season and playoff games played over four seasons, putting him in the top 100 in franchise history. He does not expect it will be the last step in his hockey journey.
“I am going to try to play somewhere next year and take the year, then, to make up my mind on where to go from there,” he explains. “I would like to continue to play as long as I can.”
Even when the bell eventually tolls on Playfair’s playing career, he expects that he won’t be moving far, likely just losing some gear and moving back to a standing position. “I would like to coach … hopefully I will be able to step into coaching when I am done playing.”
Following in the footsteps of his dad into the coaching ranks and staying involved in hockey is something that Jackson Playfair plans to do, and fits a path that seems almost too obvious or too simple. Many Playfairs – fathers, brothers, wives and mothers – have been involved in hockey, to the point where the sport is as much a part of the family as anything else. “Ever since I was a little kid, I thought that was really cool.” Hockey helped turn Jackson into the person he is today, and he relishes the idea of continuing that legacy in the future. Then there will be even more games to keep track of.
Adam Esselman, originally from Minnesota, is the Chiefs’ Public/Media Relations Intern for the 2014-15 season and a current Gonzaga University graduate student studying Sport & Athletic Administration.
