Forever A Hitmen: Ryan Getzlaf

This piece was originally published in the 2014-2015 Official Hitmen Hockey Yearbook 

By Lance Doucet

For the 11,436 people who packed the Scotiabank Saddledome on January 18, the night was about honouring an alumnus and one of the greatest players in Calgary Hitmen history. For those who know Ryan Getzlaf best, though, it was about reflecting on who he was when he arrived in Calgary, and who he became after four years in a Hitmen jersey.

When a much younger Getzlaf arrived on Scott Lorencz’ doorstep in the fall of 2001, it is fair to say that neither of them quite knew how much their lives were going to change over the next decade. Getzlaf, a Regina, Saskatchewan native, was in town to begin his first Western Hockey League season after being selected by the Hitmen in the 2000 WHL Bantam Draft, and Lorencz had been assigned as his billet. Over the next four seasons that Lorencz boarded Getzlaf, he experienced the whirlwind that is life in junior hockey.

“Ryan has always carried an aura about him that he was going to make it. Anything he wanted to accomplish, he was going to do,” said Lorencz. “His hairline might have changed, but I still see him as the 16-year-old kid when he first came to our door.”

Following a rookie campaign in which he scored nine goals and nine assists, Getzlaf exploded offensively during the 2002-03 season with 68 points. That summer, he was taken 19th overall by Anaheim in the National Hockey League Draft.

“As a 16-year-old, he scored two or three goals that were just incredible,” remembered Mark Stiles, the original play-by-play voice of the Hitmen. “He was a special player early, and the longer he played with the team, the more that proved to be true.”

Getzlaf completed his junior career with 233 games played, collecting 215 points including 95 goals. He was a first-team all-star, a Hitmen team captain, and twice represented Canada at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, winning gold in 2004.

But those statistics are only part of what made the Hitmen superstar so great. For all the points he racked up, Getzlaf is equally remembered for the tremendous contributions he made to the Calgary community.

“Playing in a big city like this, I got exposure to a lot of different things that maybe you wouldn’t in other cities in the WHL,” Getzlaf explained. “In Calgary, they instilled in us a sense of the importance of community. I’ve been able to take that to Anaheim as well as still keep some programs running here.”

One of those programs is Getzlaf’s Gamers, which allows kids the chance to see a Hitmen game from a suite at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Supported by the Hitmen, TELUS and Kids Up Front, it’s now in its seventh season, and Lorencz does a lot of the heavy lifting to keep the program running while Getzlaf is playing for the Ducks. Back in Anaheim, Getzlaf also contributes to a number of other charities, and in September he hosted the fourth annual Getzlaf Golf Shootout to raise awareness and fund research to find a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

When you add those charitable efforts to his junior and professional resumé (which includes a Stanley Cup championship and two Olympic gold medals), you begin to get a sense for the kind of person the Hitmen were excited to honour.

“It’s bringing back a lot more memories than I first thought it would, just being here seeing a couple of the guys upstairs that I played with and kind of going over things,” said Getzlaf prior to the ceremony. “My time here in Calgary was such a blessing and a great time. I played with so many great guys. We experienced so many things together – all the bus rides, all those kind of things that made me who I am today.”

With the Hitmen preparing to take on the
Regina Pats on a chilly Sunday afternoon, Getzlaf arrived in Calgary for the inaugural Forever A Hitmen ceremony. After addressing the current Hitmen players, the former junior team captain took to the red carpet on Saddledome ice and was greeted with a standing ovation. With him were his family, former teammates and others who were close to him during his time in Calgary. After watching a video tribute, a Getzlaf banner was raised, joining three other players previously honoured by the Flames and Roughnecks with this “Forever” distinction.

At the ceremony, Lorencz smiled at the thought of explaining Getzlaf’s junior career to the Anaheim forward’s father-in-law. For those, like him, who only know Getzlaf as a Duck, the Forever A Hitmen event was bigger and more lavish than he anticipated.

“To tell him this is not only where [Getzlaf] played, this is also where the Flames play and where Ryan plays whenever he comes back to Calgary – he couldn’t believe this was a junior team’s facility,” said Lorencz. “The whole ceremony was very tasteful and well done. I couldn’t be more excited about seeing that banner up there.”

“It was cool. Watching that banner go up was a blast,” said Getzlaf. “Having my family there was a great experience. Obviously I didn’t know my wife when I played here, so to be able to share this with her, to let her see how I grew up and became who I am, is special.”

Unlike any other player immortalized in the Saddledome rafters, Getzlaf will get to skate in an NHL game under a banner which reads his name. It is a special honour, befitting someone who at a young age adopted the city as his own, and carved out a legacy for others to follow.