His dad named him after Baltimore Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr., the ironman of Major League Baseball.
If that wasn't enough to inspire Prince George Cougars right winger Cal Babych to pursue great things in sports, he only had to look to his father as an example.
As a hockey defenceman, Dave Babych was a two-time NHL all-star who played 19 seasons in the league with Winnipeg, Hartford, Vancouver, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Cal's uncle Wayne (Dave's older brother) was a nine-year NHL right winger who had a 54-goal, 96-point season for the St. Louis Blues the same year Dave broke into the league.
Now it would be totally unrealistic to expect 17-year-old Cal to follow in their footsteps to the NHL but he's playing in the right league to develop those qualities. Both Dave and Wayne Babych cut their teeth as juniors in the Western Hockey League.
"I don't remember my dad playing that much, I think I was three when he retired [from the NHL] and I was four when he played in Switzerland," said Cal. "It would have been cool to see him play.
"One thing he taught me is you control your own confidence, no matter what's happening with the coaches or the GM, you control how you play."
Now in his second WHL season after being traded to the Cougars last week by the Calgary Hitmen for a seventh-round choice in the 2016 bantam draft, Cal made his Prince George debut Wednesday against the Lethbridge Hurricanes. He turned it into a memorable night when he scored his first goal as a Cougar into an empty net to put the finishing touches on a 6-2 win at CN Centre.
"It definitely feels good, coming to a new team and getting the first one," said the five-foot-10, 179-pound Babych.
"I work hard, I'm a two-way player and I can contribute offensively when I get the opportunity. I've always been pretty good around the net. Defence is definitely first with me."
Babych scored three goals and had three assists in 41 games as a rookie for the Hitmen last season. He picked up three assists in one game with Calgary, his only game this season before the trade was made.
Babych joined the Cougars on the road Sunday in Vancouver, a 6-1 loss the Cougars hope to avenge this weekend. They host the Giants tonight and Saturday at CN Centre.
He played Wednesday on a line Kody McDonald at centre and Aaron Macklin on the left side and that unit's physical presence and persistent puck pressure kept the Hurricanes on their heels on many of those shifts. Babych came close to scoring a couple times and the 17-year-old McDonald notched the first goal of his WHL career on a long shot from just inside the blueline.
"I thought that line was one of our best lines," said Cougars head coach Mark Holick. "The Harkins line provided a lot of offence for us but I thought [Babych's] line got us going. They had some energy, they were physical and they were kind of the spark we were looking for.
"He brings a strong work ethic, he's got a good stick, his feet are good and I like his instincts. He's not afraid to get into traffic, he's in those hard areas. He's young, he's 17, and there's a lot of room for improvement, but we like what we see so far."
Babych and Cougars centre Jansen Harkins have known each other for years and are good friends, having played minor hockey together while growing up in North Vancouver. They were teammates until they went to midget and they train together in the off-season.
"We had a lot of chemistry playing together in bantam and he's definitely a great player and it's a great feeling being on his team," said Babych. "He's one of the better players on this team and I'm sure he'll go high in the NHL draft this year."
Harkins ended up with the major midget Vancouver Northwest Giants, while Babych moved on to play triple-A midget for the Penticton-based Okanagan Hockey Academy.
"Cal is a good all-around player, very skilled and very good offensively and if he gets the opportunity he can do good things for this team," said Harkins. "It was good for him to get that first goal out of the way. Any time you can chip in offensively it builds up your confidence and helps your play later in the season."
