Greg Gardner is back for his second kick at the can in the Prince George Cougars alumni golf tournament today and that means the rest of the alumni players are about to get schooled.
That has nothing to do with Gardner's ability. He's not a scratch golfer and won't be blasting 300-yard drives on the course at Prince George Golf and Curling Club. But he will be talking with his old teammates about his new job with the Western Hockey League as manager of education services.
"I'm slowly getting accustomed to this working lifestyle and I'm enjoying it," said Gardner, a native of Cold Lake, Alta., who now lives in Calgary. "Right now I'm working with the guys who have graduated the Western Hockey League and are moving on to access their scholarships.
"We want to make sure the players take care of their education. We all want them to succeed in hockey and go on and play professionally and make a career, but we know that doesn't happen for everyone."
Gardner took over a position created two decades ago by Jim Donleavy. In 1993, Donleavy established the WHL's scholarship program, which pays WHL players the cost of tuition, books and mandatory fees for one year at any post-secondary school in North America for every season they play in the league. Since the program began, the WHL has given out more than 5,000 scholarships worth $17 million.
Donleavy stepped down from the WHL in December 2013 and has been working with the league as a consultant. Donleavy will be working alongside Gardner while he learns his duties. Now four weeks into his job, he works during the season with each team's education advisor to monitor the progress of players who are going to school to make sure the league's policies and procedures are being followed. Bud Burbee was the Cougars' educational advisor when Gardner was with the team. The position has been held by Brent Arsenault since 2007.
Gardner is a sparkling example of a high-achieving hockey player who also excelled in the classroom. After five seasons in Prince George he left the Cougars in 2008 and had a brief stint at the end of that season in the AHL with Portland (where he played with former Cougar Tyler Bouck), then enrolled in the physical education program at the University of Alberta, where he was captain of the Golden Bears his last two seasons in the CIS. After he graduated with a degree in human kinetics he joined the Colorado Eagles of the ECHL, where he played the past two seasons before the WHL hired him.
"In the second half of the season playing in Colorado I knew I had to start looking at what I was going to do after hockey and the second day I was back I saw the posting on the Hockey Canada website and I was fortunate enough to get the job," said the 28-year-old Gardner.
"I want to pass on to the kids (that) I've been through the whole experience, right from being drafted into the WHL all the way to continuing on to use the scholarships. I'll lean on my past experiences and it will be easy for me to relate to those kids."
Gardner was named an Academic All-Canadian three times and in 2012-13 won the Dr. Randy Gregg Award for outstanding achievement in hockey and academics and community involvement.
Gardner still owns the Cougars team record for most career games played (338). He collected 54 goals and 119 points as a centre.
He also played 20 playoff games, 15 of which were in the memorable 2006-07 season. The Cats made it to the third round of playoffs that year, losing out to the Vancouver Giants in a five-game Western Conference championship series.
"I loved my time in Prince George, it's a great city and the fans were unbelievable," he said. "That 19-year-old year was some of the best times I've had in hockey. You could hear in the dressing room the fans in that barn from where we were sitting. It was an amazing experience."
Before he got to the Cougars, Gardner played summer hockey in Edmonton with Cougars centre Nick Drazenovic. Drazenovic's father Davor broke the news he'd been drafted by the Cats and at age 16 he moved away from his parents' home in Calgary.
"It was difficult at first, all the travel we have playing in Prince George, but it makes you be disciplined if you want to succeed with your education and my parents always stressed to take care of your education first," said Gardner.
"A big reason I chose that route to the WHL was to eventually access that scholarship program. You don't realize it at the time but then when you're graduating with people who had to go through that whole process and forking out the bill for school and they're in debt and you're coming out with no debt it gives you a huge advantage."
Gardner plays at least once a week in Calgary and arrived in Prince George Thursday night, in time for a practice round at the PGGCC Friday morning. The tournament begins with a shotgun start at 10 a.m.
