Ultron and Yoda, just like home

The Bulldogs, and their opponents, bring special mementoes from home

REGINA — J.P. Laciak is frantic.

“It’s not here,” he says as he rifles through one of the dozens of boxes and bags of supplies the Hamilton Bulldogs have carted out to Regina. “I know I packed it.”

A feeling of impending doom swells as the search continues. Clearly, the team’s Memorial Cup fate hinges on Laciak finding this very important item — whatever it is.

Ten minutes go by and the Bulldogs trainer inexplicably lifts a smiling green Jedi from the surface of the table in his treatment room. Eureka.

“I found it!” he shouts to equipment manager, Kasey La Morre. “It was inside Yoda the whole time.”

The item that sparked this commotion turns out to be a gunmetal grey action figure no more than an inch tall. Meet Ultron, a member of the Marvel universe and one of several makeshift mascots that made the trip from Hamilton with the Bulldogs staff — partly out of superstition and partly out of their desire to make this foreign rink in the Prairies feel a little more like home.

“We just started collecting all these trinkets,” Laciak explains. “The players kind of rally around them, as weird as that may seem.”

On top of the tiny pieces of plastic, La Morre has installed decals with inspirational words and phrases on the walls of the dressing room, a logo on the carpet and nameplates above the stalls. Like Laciak, he’s trying to channel the sights of FirstOntario Centre — the team’s base in Hamilton — and the players appreciate the effort.

“You look around and it’s all Bulldogs stuff, not a plain dressing room like you’re on the road somewhere,” says defenceman Jack Hanley. “It helps a lot.”

The tournament’s other out-oftowners — the Swift Current Broncos and Acadie-Bathurst Titan — have likewise brought along little pieces of home. A giant poster, for example, reminding players of what they need to do to be successful in the playoffs has been affixed to the wall of the Broncos’ dressing room. Covered in the players’ signatures, it’s a symbol of the team’s willingness to do whatever it takes to win the championship — “a binding contract,” says head coach Manny Viveiros.

The Titan, meanwhile, has surrounded itself with slogans like, “All in to Win.”

“It reminds us what we were successful in during the season,” said bench boss Mario Pouliot.

Back in the treatment room, Laciak is carefully placing a string of labels in front of his Marvel army — Jack O (Whitby’s Hanley) is The Hulk, Nursey

(Hamilton’s Isaac Nurse) is Iron Man, and Gleas (Michigan native Ben Gleason) is Captain America.

The ritual is orderly. Practised. Routine. “I actually think it’s kind of a superstitious thing for J.P.,” Gleason, another rearguard, jokes. “Pretty much every guy he gives massages to or works on, he does it in the same order, the same time.”

Laciak smiles. He won’t admit it, but, like Gleason, he knows this line of action figures is as much for him as it is for them. “Everyone misses home and they feel more comfortable at home than anywhere else, so when you see that stuff it helps,” he says.

Notes: Most Bulldogs will be joined by their families in Regina, and John Gruden is no exception. His son Johnny, however, won’t be making the trip. The 18-year-old winger with the U.S. National Development Team Program will be at the NHL combine in Buffalo.