Westgarth has brains and brawn
New addition suiting up Friday at home
For not the first time, Kevin Westgarth is asked to reconcile his Ivy League education with his toughguy persona.
Peeling off gear after Thursday morning’s practice, the Calgary Flames’ newcomer certainly looks the part of ruffian. Large frame. Long hair. Shaggy beard. Misshapen right paw.
“It’s funny,” says Westgarth. “George Parros and I were at Princeton. And there’s some other Ivy League guys. Then there’s guys who played junior. It takes all kinds (to be enforcers).
“But once you get over that superficiality, I think, at the heart of it, are guys who want to do whatever they can to help the team and protect their teammates and, beyond that obviously, they want to play hockey.”
First for Westgarth, the son of veterinarians, had been nailing down a college education.
So, in 2003, he followed a scholarship offer — and his big brother Brett — to Princeton University.
While playing there, Westgarth worked on a psychology degree and cackled at his sibling’s choice of major — mechanical and aerospace engineering.
“I always laugh about engineers,” says Westgarth. “They’re smart enough to get through arguably the hardest program, but not smart enough not to do it. I laugh at that.”
Joshing aside, the 29-year-old can probably be considered a decent judge of brain power.
Who, then, is the smartest player he’s ever come across?
“That’s a good question,” says Westgarth. “Because I’ve played with guys who are probably smarter than people that I went to school with, who might not even have their highschool diploma. That puts things in perspective. We saw that (dur- ing the 2012 NHL lockout). George and I were pretty involved. But then you have guys that played junior. It doesn’t matter. Their ideas can be as good, if not better, than ours.
“So smartest guy? Ron Hainsey’s pretty good, a pretty quick guy. Jay Harrison is certainly a thinker. Peter Harrold.”
Westgarth’s four years at Princeton, by any definition, were well spent.
Degree in hand. NHL contract, from the Los Angeles Kings, upon graduation.
And, not insignificantly, he also met a member of the women’s basketball squad, a six-foot-one forward named Meagan who would one day become his wife. She happens to be the daughter of jut-jawed Bill Cowher, longtime coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Forget Brian McGrattan—Cow her is one intimidating dude.
“We’ve always got along extremely well,” says Westgarth. “I think he’s always enjoyed hockey, but he’s become a true fan now.”
As a sounding board, as an inspiration, Cowher has been there for him.
“He gets it, too, obviously,” Westgarth says. “He himself ... was always on the edge his first couple years, then finally made it (with the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns). During (my) years of playing in the minors, it was an incredible resource to have a guy who had been there, albeit in a different sport. Just a great sport mind, incredibly supportive of myself and Meagan.
“Obviously my parents love me and support me and all that, but to have the other half of the family as supportive? Pretty great.”
Westgarth has done his part, too, adding to the Cowhers’ bulging trophy case — which includes the 2005 Super Bowl and Meagan’s Ivy League scoring titles — by getting his mitts on the 2012 Stanley Cup. What does that mean?
“Oh, everything,” replies Westgarth. “That’s the dream, that’s the goal. Obviously, the funniest part of it is, once you do it once, you just want to do it again, get (your name) on there as much as possible. It’s a hell of a time, a hell of a thing to have done as a team.”
Sidelined by a hand injury for the entire spring, Westgarth had nevertheless been there every stride of the way.
“Pretty special thing to see, how good everyone got, how detailed everything was — I don’t think there was a missed pass after mid-April,” he says. “Our path was incredibly strange. Honestly, at no point after we got up two (wins) to nothing against Vancouver in the first round ... it just seemed like it was predestined.”