From NHL to peewee
Ancaster ‘house dad’ brings pro experience to AAA Bulldogs
When the Hamilton Jr. Bulldogs beat the top peewee AAA team in Ontario to win the Ontario Winter Games on the weekend, you can bet a few parents on the other side knew exactly who it was that was coaching the champs. Hockey parents tend to notice when former big-name pros are behind the opponent’s bench.
Chris Gratton would qualify as that. If you followed hockey in the 1990s and early 2000s, you know all about him.
Funny thing, though. The news that their coach is a big deal is likely going to be very eye-opening for his players. The 12- and 13-year-olds on his roster know he played somewhere when he was younger but best he can tell, none of them know he played in the NHL. At least, none have ever mentioned it or asked about it. And he’s certainly never brought it up.
“They ask me if I used to tape my ankles when I played,” he laughs.
No. Not exactly.
As many will recall, the now-42-year-old Ancaster resident was the third-overall pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1993. That was the franchise’s second year in the league which meant he had to absorb a few seasons of losing.
However, when he became a free agent in 1997 he hit the jackpot. The size-craving Philadelphia Flyers loved his combination of skill and a six-foot-three, 220-pound body, and signed him to a huge deal.
That set him up for life and eventually allowed him to find his way into coaching.
The self-described ‘house dad’ hadn’t planned on finding his way back into hockey. But when his oldest son Zachary — he has three daughters, as well, who he’s coached in soccer despite a self-described limited knowledge of that sport — decided he wanted to play hockey, Gratton signed on. First for house league in Ancaster, then for AA and eventually with the AAA Jr. Bulldogs. “I thought it would be a great experience to coach him,” he says.
It has been. Even when his son got cheeky and decided to wear No. 78, one number better than the 77 dad wore through most of his NHL career.
Gratton’s own father only coached him for one season when he was really young, so this has been new. But it’s been terrific, he says. Not only have the kids been fun but they’ve done really well. They’ve won their league championship, won another tournament, finished second in a huge event in Chicago, and capped it all with their win over the powerhouse Mississauga Reps on the weekend.
It’s a huge commitment. Planning practices, driving all over Ontario and basically working at this nearly seven days a week takes time.
The team will have played more than 70 games this season when everything wraps up.
His pro past has also created something else.
When he shows up at a rink, people know it’s him. He’s aware that he’s being watched, which is always in the back of his mind if the temptation to lose his cool arises.
“Oh, absolutely,” he laughs.
So he bites his lip. But he’s not going to lie, that temptation does arise at times. Kids’ hockey is intense these days. Refs can make tough calls. Parents have points of view that sometimes differ from his. He’s seen other coaches lose their minds and is determined not to follow that lead.
The president of the Jr. Bulldogs’ organization echoes that. He says Gratton never screams or yells.
Calls him a gentleman.
Which is not to say he’s not competitive. You don’t make it to the NHL without being hypercompetitive. And that doesn’t vanish when you retire. So now he directs his competitiveness into seeing the kids get better and making sure all want to come back and play the next year.
“It’s a game,” Gratton says. “It has to be put into perspective sometimes.”
Even more unusual, he tells them to do something other than play hockey in the summer. Try some other sport. Have a break. Spend some time at the cottage or just chilling with family. Don’t be on the ice 12 months a year.
This can be a bit of a hard sell when there are dreams of making the NHL and everyone else is telling them they need to
play spring hockey and summer hockey and taking skating lessons and go to shooting clinics and do dryland workouts all off-season.
Gratton says those big-league dreams are healthy as long as it’s the kids who want it. It can’t just be for mom or dad. And not just for the money.
“There’s no question it can happen,” he says, “but it’s a long route and a long journey.”
Which, he points out, is still a long way off when they’re still in middle school.