When your last name is Playfair, Fort St. James will always be the family stomping grounds.
For Spokane Chiefs right winger Jackson Playfair, the son of an NHL coach, the chance to show hockey fans from the Fort what he's capable of on the ice in a WHL rink two hours from home rarely presents itself. So when the Chiefs came this week to play the Cougars, their only trip to Prince George this season, the 20-year-old Playfair made sure his grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins and his summertime buddies knew about it and came out to show their support at CN Centre.
"I played a couple game here against the Cariboo Cougars [while with the major midget Fraser Valley Bruins] but with my dad's work we were always gone in the winter," said Playfair. "This is home and it's a pretty surreal feeling coming home and being able to come and play up here is something special to me. I didn't get to play here last season because I got traded."
This is Playfair's second stint with the Chiefs. He played 98 games for Spokane over two seasons before he got traded to Tri-City last January. The six-foot-one, 210-pound winger was all set to finish his junior career with the Americans but was released and put on waivers after 16 games and the Chiefs' general manager Tim Speltz jumped on the opportunity to claim him Nov. 6.
"He's a character guy and he's another big body and we needed some size up front," said Chiefs head coach Don Nachbaur. "He's a 20-year-old and he's a great person in the locker room. He's taken some steps from last year and that's what every kid wants to do is progress.
"He's got a goal to be a pro and that's what drives him every day. He's a good student of the game and his skating and level of conditioning are at a higher level. He's been solid since we reacquired him."
Playfair was on the Chiefs' top scoring line to face the Cougars, playing with Adam Helewka and Carter Brooks. He picked up one assist in Tuesday's 5-4 win and through 34 games with Spokane and Tri-City he has six goals and 13 points.
"Those are two guys who are fun to play with and you know any time you're out there you have an opportunity to score," said Playfair, after Tuesday's game. "Don [Nachbaur], being from Prince George, understands how much this means to me and I can't thank him enough for that. He and my dad were training partners growing up and he understands what it's like to come back and play at home."
Playfair is the oldest son of Jim Playfair, an Arizona Coyotes associate coach. His 17-year-old brother Austyn plays centre for Tri-City. After Wednesday's game Jackson had a flight booked from Prince George to Phoenix, where he'll spend the Christmas break with his family.
Jim, like his brother Larry, was an NHL defenceman who played nine seasons in the Edmonton and Chicago organizations before he retired and took up coaching in 1993. He was an assistant coach with the Calgary Flames in 2004 when they made it to the Stanley Cup final against Tampa Bay. Jackson says he'll never forget walking out onto the Saddledome ice as a 10-year-old to hug his dad after the Flames eliminated Detroit to advance to the final.
"It's been an amazing experience, it's something that I've learned life goals from and with hockey it's obviously helped me understand what's coming my way if I decide if this is the route I decide to keep going on," said Jackson, who played most of his minor hockey in Calgary.
"I have to pry him a bit to get advice and it's such a golden tool to have someone who's been through it and does it for a living. As a kid, I couldn't ask for much more, being around those guys and in the room and the sticks and equipment and all that stuff. I grew up idolizing those guys and now I'm kind of getting to the age where it's not as much as dream. If you put in the work it can become a reality."
