WEARING HIS HEART ON HIS SLEEVES
Benn has proven his ‘Never Quit’ motto is more than words
Any Canadiens player who doesn’t want to be recognized when dining out in Montreal shouldn’t bring Jordie Benn along.
A baseball cap pulled down low and maybe a pair of sunglasses can be enough for some Canadiens players to go out incognito. But it’s impossible to hide Benn’s big, bushy beard.
“A few of the boys want me to shave it off so I quit getting recognized,” Benn said in the Canadiens’ Brossard lockerroom after a practice this week. “As big as hockey is here, it is kind of hard to recognize someone without their gear on and their helmet on. But when you have a giant red beard, it’s kind of a giveaway.”
What can also make Benn stand out in a crowd are the sleeve tattoos adorning his arms. Benn got inked for the first time when he was 20 and went to a tattoo artist to watch his roommate get one. The artist asked Benn if he wanted one also and Benn said he had thought about it and had an idea.
“He said: ‘Go in that room right there and we’ll get it done right now,’” Benn recalled. “So I just went and did it.”
Thirty minutes later, Benn had the words “Never Quit” on his left arm.
“I didn’t think I’d ever have the nuts to actually pull it off,” Benn said about that first tattoo.
“Never Quit” were words Benn and his brother Jamie — captain of the Dallas Stars — heard often while growing up in Victoria, from their father and grandfather, both named Phil. Jordie’s given name is also Phil — actually, it’s Phillip Jordan Ellis Benn.
“Ellis is my mother’s maiden name,” Benn said. Does anybody call him Phil? “A couple of high-school buddies,” Benn said. “And (teammate) Phil Danault calls me Phil every now and then.”
The tattoo that means the most to Benn is the one on his right arm that reads “Papa — 19242014” — in honour of his late grandfather.
“My dad’s dad was a special man in our lives,” said Benn, who is expected to be in the lineup Saturday when the Canadiens visit the Ottawa Senators in pre-season action (7 p.m., TSN5, RDS, TSN Radio 690).
“He was one of my best friends and he was always around when I was young and it’s kind of something to remember him by. He always made us laugh. He was just one of those guys you wanted to hang out with. Obviously, being a grandfather, he spoiled us pretty good. All we remember as kids is camping trips and stuff like that. We have old videos of him playing with us in the pool and just being that second father figure. My dad raised us right because of him. He was just a special man.”
Benn’s father and grandfather weren’t hockey players. Ball was their sport and Benn’s father was good enough at softball to play for Canada at the Pan-Am Games. Jordie has fond memories of summer nights sitting in the stands in Victoria with younger brother Jamie, older sister Jenny and their grandfather to watch his father play baseball or softball. Jordie and Jamie were both put on skates when they were about three and quickly developed a passion for hockey while also playing baseball in the summer, coached by their father.
“He would chime in on our hockey, too, which he didn’t know much about,” Benn said. “We took it with a grain of salt. But it was more life lessons we learned from my dad and my grandfather … never quitting. We owe a lot to both of them.”
Jordie was not selected at the NHL Draft and Jamie — one of the NHL’s biggest stars today — was a fifth-round pick by Dallas. Never Quit. As for the tattoos that followed those words in ink, Benn said: “They say getting tattoos is addictive — and it is. You get one and it hurts and then once it’s done you’re like: ‘Maybe I won’t get any more.’ But then you give it a couple of months and you get the itch again.”
Benn has been a steady performer on the Canadiens’ blue line since being acquired from the Dallas Stars last February in exchange for Greg Pateryn and has been paired with Mark Streit during training camp. Benn has also become more comfortable living in Montreal and being recognized almost everywhere he goes.
“You’re under such a microscope here … that’s for sure,” he said. “But it’s nothing crazy … you just get used to it. I can’t speak for other players, but I’m ecstatic to be here and hopefully here for a long time.”
While the ink on Benn’s arms is there permanently — something anyone getting a tattoo has to think seriously about before getting one — what about the suggestion from some teammates to shave off the beard so he won’t be so recognizable?
“Never,” Benn said. “Not going to happen.”
My dad’s dad was a special man in our lives. He was one of my best friends and he was always around when I was young and it’s kind of something to remember him by ... My dad raised us right because of him. He was just a special man.