Great honour
NHL alumnus Colin White proud to learn he will be inducted into Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame
The call came “out of the blue” a couple of weeks ago for Colin White.
That’s when the New Glasgow native and two-time Stanley Cup winner with the New Jersey White Devils learned he would be inducted into the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame this coming November.
“This is something I take a lot of pride in,” White said in a telephone interview from New Jersey, where he works with the Devils’ alumni association, helping to grow the game at the grassroots level all over the Garden State, taking part in clinics and visiting schools and hospitals.
“It’s obviously an honour, and very humbling to be in a class of the calibre of those people,” he said of being inducted into the N.S. sports hall.
“I wasn’t expecting it, that’s for sure.”
The big stay-at-home defenceman spent 12 seasons with the Devils, winning his first Stanley Cup as a rookie in 2000 and a second one three seasons later. He hung up his skates for good after spending a year with the San Jose Sharks.
Although he spends a large part of time in New Jersey, White summers in Pictou
County and hasn’t forgotten his roots.
“Growing up in Pictou County, I had so much help and support along the way,” he reflected.
“Being an athlete, you definitely don’t do it alone.”
White remembers his first NHL game late in the season of 2000, which was against the Tampa Bay Lightning (he can’t remember whether the Devils won or lost, only that “I was really nervous”).
A few weeks later, he’d be living every Canadian kid’s dream, lifting the Stanley Cup after New Jersey beat the Dallas Stars in the final (where childhood friend Jon Sim had won a Cup one year earlier).
“To every person that has helped me along the way, thank you. There’s too many to list, but they know who they are.”
White, who will turn 40 next December, said he enjoys his new role with the Devils.
“As a player, you don’t get to deal with the fans too much because you’re always focused on playing. Then when your career is over, to give back to the fans who supported you all those years, it’s really something.”