In conversation with . . . Josh Gorges
Josh Gorges is a professional hockey player from Kelowna.
He played all of his minor in Kelowna and made the jump from bantam AAA to the Rockets as a 16-year-old. In 2004, he captained the Rockets to a Memorial Cup championship won on home ice at Prospera Place. He also won a silver medal in Finland as a member of Canada’s junior team.
He attended elementary school at St. Joseph’s and high school at Immaculata Catholic and later Kelowna Secondary School. The defenceman played 783 NHL games with stops in San Jose, Montreal and Buffalo.
He spoke with Penticton Herald managing editor James Miller at a Rockets function last week when the team announced it will bid to host the 2020 Memorial Cup.
HERALD: What was the highlight of your minor hockey career?
GORGES: There’s not one specific moment. We had some good teams. We were in the provincials one year and, if I remember correctly, we were one win away from going to the finals. All of the coaches, they changed almost every year, helped in some way make me who I am today and the type of player that I am. HERALD: Did you play other sports? GORGES: I played everything when I was young — soccer, lacrosse, baseball and at school it was basketball and volleyball. It wasn’t long and by the age of 11 or 12-ish, when I started spring hockey, I began to realize I was pretty good at this hockey thing and that’s all I wanted to do. I still love playing other sports. Still, to this day, I’m an athlete at heart, but hockey was the only thing I ever thought about.
HERALD: Was winning the Memorial Cup the highlight of your junior career?
GORGES: No question. I remember riding into the game to the final. We were staying across (the lake) at the Lake Okanagan Resort. Me and some of the older guys knew it was going to be our last game in junior hockey. This was it. It was the final of the Memorial Cup.
We crossed over the bridge and as soon as we got into downtown Kelowna, we’re looking out and we saw mounds of people everywhere with signs and jerseys and dancing in the streets, and the game was still three, four hours before it started. I had been here my whole life and I had never seen Kelowna like this — support, energy, enthusiasm for everything.
I remember when we won. The buzzer went. I knew where my family sat in the stands. I remember looking over at them and thinking, “wow, I can’t believe how my junior career has ended.” I was fortunate enough to play for this great organization, fortunate that it was in my hometown. I got to stay at home and experience my entire junior career with my family. As much as it was a great moment for me, I know it was probably as big of a moment for them sitting in the stands and they were able to share it with me. HERALD: What’s your favourite road trip? GORGES: Vancouver is always special. Vancouver is an amazing city, I love Vancouver. That’s the home game for me. I have family members who live in Vancouver and it’s the closest trip for my family to come down and watch. Good and bad, it always costs me a little extra money buying tickets for everybody because it’s too hard for them to come out east.
But, Chicago is hard to beat. I just love that city. There’s a feel to it, a culture, it’s beautiful, the water coming through the streets, the bridges. I grew up a Blackhawks fan so to play in Chicago . . . I actually had my first NHL game in Chicago. My dad was also a Blackhawks fan. HERALD: How did that work? GORGES: Chris Chelios. My dad was a Stan Mikita fan. A couple of his brothers were Montreal Canadiens fans, and another was a Vancouver Canucks fan, but he was a Blackhawks fan. Whatever my dad did, I did. Whoever he cheered for, I cheered for.
HERALD: How do you feel about Internet trolls? Austin Matthews from the Toronto Maple Leafs is being lambasted online right now by fans.
GORGES: I’ve seen it first-hand, seen it happen to other players. I got rid of my social media Twitter because I was tired of reading what somebody thinks who I have no idea who they are, where they come from, what their experience is.
You just don’t know. It could be a 15-yearold kid or a 60-year-old man. I guess people have the right to say what they want to say, but I also think it’s cowardly for some people to sit behind a computer and feel they can absolutely rip somebody apart, not knowing what that person is actually going through. I’ve always said, a guy’s going to have a bad game, a tough stretch of hockey, and you’re getting paid for this, you need to perform. They’re absolutely right — that’s our job. But, nobody ever thinks what if something’s going on in that guy’s life.
What if a family member just passed away, what if they found out a family member had cancer, what if one of their kids is sick and they’ve been up all night and didn’t get any sleep? A lot of things people don’t know about and we’re not going to talk about it as professionals. Our job is to show up and play. When some of the ridiculous things people say — I think it’s hurtful, it’s almost like bullying. That’s the way of our world and you learn how to deal with it.
HERALD: What’s the greatest compliment you’ve ever received in your career?
GORGES: During one of our playoff runs when I was in Montreal, early on, we didn’t have a captain at the time and CBC did a piece on me. They had my mom and dad and grandparents at the house, filming them, talking with them.
We had a great game and ended up winning it. After the game, Don Cherry said, “If Montreal ever needed a captain, this is your guy.” He said I reminded him of (Doug) Harvey, back in the days. I’m a huge Don Cherry fan, always have been. I love listening to him still to this day. When I hear him say something nice about me like that, it’s a pretty humbling moment.
HERALD: Do you have children and do they play hockey?
GORGES: I have two boys. They don’t play. They’re still too young. I hope they do play. I think this game has given me so much. Learning how to coexist with people, learning how to be a team player, learning how to be a leader and listen to leaders and follow direction. I don’t know if I would have learned and grasped all of this if I didn’t play sports. This game, especially in Canada, it gives you so much more than what you expect.
HERALD: What do you think of the huge strides Canada has made in women’s hockey?
GORGES: It’s not just in Canada, but also in the States. I think it’s great to see. It really is. This isn’t and shouldn’t be a sport only for boys to play. When you think about Canada, hockey is Canada, Canada is hockey. It’s what we do and it should be there for everybody to enjoy and experience. To see women now having professional leagues and being able to continue playing — not just tournaments at the national level, but beyond — I think it’s great for the sport. HERALD: Your advice to kids. GORGES: Enjoy it. Play with passion. Play with heart. This is what we do in Canada. At some point, if you’re lucky enough to make it, it becomes a business. It’s your livelihood. It’s what you do to take care of your family. While you’re playing, enjoy every minute, enjoy the games, the friendships and the trips.