Men’s hockey: From digging fuel lines to fuelling Canada’s energy line
GANGNEUNG, SOUTH KOREA— Rob Klinkhammer hasn’t forgotten his summer job back in junior hockey. Digging ditches will stick with you.
His stepmother got him the job at ATCO Gas in Alberta.
“I was making big bucks at the time for a junior hockey player. I think I was making 18, 19 bucks an hour,” the Team Canada winger recalled Friday at the Pyeongchang Winter Games. “I thought I was a millionaire.
“But it was long, hard days, 10-hour days. I was doing a lot of manual labour. I was digging down to gas lines so the welder could get in there and change out gas lines. So it was a lot of hard work and it motivated me to work harder in hockey because I didn’t want to do that kind of job for a living if I didn’t have to.”
A long way from that to the Olympics, a reporter remarked.
“It’s kind of funny where you come from,” Klinkhammer said with a laugh. “But I truly believe that kind of made me into the player and the man I am today — just good hard-working effort, a pretty honest guy. I owe a lot to that.”
The 31-year-old from Lethbridge, Alta., continues his blue collar-role with Team Canada, playing on a line with Eric O’Dell and Maxim Lapierre. Just ask Swiss captain Raphael Diaz, thumped by Klinkhammer in the first period of Canada’s 5-1 win Thursday.
“I’d like to get a hit like that every shift if I could,” the six-foot-two, 216-pound Klinkhammer said.
“That’s our job to be physical. That’s our line. We’re not going to lead the team in scoring, but we are going to lead the team in hits. That’s what we’re there to do.”
He did come close to scoring, ringing a hard shot off the post.
“That line plays hard. They’re a big line. I think they give us some energy,” head coach Willie Desjardins said.
The Canadian men take on the Czech Republic on Saturday at the Gangneung Hockey Centre. The Czechs edged South Korea 2-1 in their tournament opener.
With the NHL stars back home, Klinkhammer and his largely unheralded teammates are carrying the Maple Leaf here. They are cherishing every minute.
“People ask me if this was ever a dream. Like no, it was never a dream,” he said. “I never thought this would be a possibility, playing in the Olympics for Canada. I’m not going to go take Sidney Crosby’s spot.
“So it’s just an unbelievable experience. I’m taking every minute in and I’m so thankful to be here.”