Family offers Rangers home advantage
Kitchener Rangers billets the Daubs have been a second family to hockey players for 20 years
KITCHENER — Brian and Cailin Daub were on the same page from the start but didn’t even know it.
Before discussing it, the parents of two young children — Ainsley and Ben — both read the same newspaper article back in 1998 that said the Kitchener Rangers were looking for billets.
“I read the paper on Saturday and forgot,” recalled Brian. “My wife read it at a different time. Somehow we struck up a conversation about it.”
The Kitchener couple talked to the Rangers first thing Monday. A few days later, Blueshirts rookie defenceman Andrew Yardy was living in their renovated basement.
Now, 20 years later, their kids are adults and they live in a different house but one constant remains — a Rangers player is still part of the family.
“It has been unbelievable,”
said Brian, of their double decade run. “I think the reason we have kept doing it for so long is because of the friendships and relationships we have formed with the kids and their families too.”
The Daubs are just one of about 20 billets on the Rangers’ roster each season. Almost all are based in Kitchener-Waterloo and, preferably, close to the Aud and Grand River Collegiate Institute, where the high school aged players attend.
“It’s a big step for a parent to allow their 16- or 17-year-old son to move away from home to live with another family,” said Rangers general manager Mike McKenzie, who has run the team’s billet program for the past seven years.
“Overall, we want to find a supportive and safe place. People forget sometimes how young these guys are. They have the same things going on in their life that other teenagers have.”
And a good billet can help smooth the transition.
Every house is different. Some billets are older with no kids while others might have a toddler a few doors down the hall. Most house one player but some double up at times.
All billets must pass a police check and receive a monthly stipend to help with the food bill as well as two tickets to each home game.
The Daubs have billeted the Rangers’ import players for about the past decade since they’re both teachers and can help with English lessons (Brian teaches Grade 5 at Smithson Public School while Cailin is a special-education teacher at Chicopee Hills).
Swedish forward Rickard Hugg moved in ahead of his rookie season last year.
Before arriving, the Kitchener clan sent the Huggs a welcome video so that everyone could meet the family and see the Swede’s new surroundings.
“I can’t say enough good things,” said the 19-year-old, who has his own bedroom and bathroom on the second floor of the Daubs’ house. “I have a really good relationship with them. It’s like they are my second family.”
Brian and Cailin aren’t hockey super fans. They go to Rangers games, but not every single one. And they try to create a neutral environment in their home.
“We don’t talk hockey unless they want to,” said Brian. “It’s kind of a sanctuary away from the game.”
That mentality meshed well with Czech native Radek Faksa as the Dallas Stars forward rarely talked about hockey postgame. Swedish centre Gustaf Franzen was the exact opposite and wanted to dissect the details as soon as he got home.
“Each kid is different,” said Brian. “We don’t ever replace their parents by any stretch but sometimes they just need somebody to talk to.”
Justin Azevedo lived with the Daubs for four years and, like many players, faced his share of pressure.
“He was so ready to pack in hockey,” recalled Brian. “It was a hard situation for him.
“We just encouraged him to keep going because it was his passion. Sometimes they are just so overwhelmed with the experience of being a hockey player.
“I think at some point they all sort of experience that.”
Azevedo persevered and won an OHL scoring title while leading the Rangers to the Memorial Cup final on home ice in 2008. He currently plays pro for Russia’s Ak Bars Kazan in the Kontinental Hockey League.
Bridging the cultural gap is also important to the Daubs. They try to learn and participate in the traditions of the countries their “kids” come from.
So they took part in Name Day with Swede Patrik Andersson when he lived with them and also lit a bonfire in their backyard to celebrate Walpurgis Night.
They learned to make goulash and bread dumplings for Faksa and when he wanted free rein on the preparation of his meat, it was granted.
“He’d have these sausages that he’d boil and I’d say: ‘You aren’t going to boil those are you? You have to barbecue them,’” said Cailin.
“He’d say ‘Cailin you barbecue everything.’”
In the early days, players would tag along with the Daubs and their children to fall festivals or movies.
All of them get their own Christmas stocking and when they stay in Canada for the holidays, like Franzen once did, they get to meet the relatives at family gatherings.
It all leads to a strong bond that continues long after their days with the Rangers are done.
The Daubs have been to Azevedo’s wedding. They’ve watched Jamie Minchella’s two girls grow up through Facebook posts. And they continue to visit the families of some of their current and former live-ins across Europe.
Faksa even invited Brian to attend a father and son weekend put on by the NHL’s Dallas Stars a couple of years ago.
“We were treated just like the players and flew on the team plane,” he said. “It’s one of those experiences you can never pay for.”
There are trips to NHL rinks, too, years later, if their former players are lucky enough to crack the pro ranks.
“It’s awesome,” said Cailin. “We realize that they’ve realized their dream. Obviously we’re proud but we can only imagine how proud their real families are.”
But the Daubs are equally happy for the boys that don’t make it and go on to become great husbands, fathers and successful in other careers.
“That’s pretty exciting for us, too,” said Cailin.
Each kid is different. We don’t ever replace their parents by any stretch, but sometimes they just need somebody to talk to. BRIAN DAUB