Dan Hamhuis talks to his Vancouver Canucks teammates about what it was like playing for the Prince George Cougars, when their foot-stomping crowds were the talk of the Western Hockey League.
As a 15-year-old kid from Smithers, it left an indelible impression that followed him all the way to the NHL. Hamhuis wants that deafening roar to return to the stands at CN Centre, and that's a big part of the reason he bought a piece of the Cougars franchise.
"When I played and the other team's coach would call a time-out, this place would be so loud he could not talk to his players," Hamhuis said during Tuesday's public gathering at CN Centre, held to introduce the team's new ownership group.
"Sometimes [the coaches] would take them down to the tunnel [to be heard] and people would start stomping and it wouldn't work. It really shows the knowledge of hockey and the type of fans that are here. This community completely embraced the team when I was here."
Hamhuis's introduction to the crowd Tuesday got the fans out of their seats. His speech followed a recorded message from Eric Brewer, the other NHL connection in the ownership group, who was unable to attend.
Seeing the long line of people, including his father Marty from Smithers, who gave up their lunch hour to meet and greet the new owners left Hamhuis encouraged about better days ahead for hockey-starved fans whose team has missed the WHL playoffs five of the past seven seasons.
"Today was hopefully a sign of good things to come," said Hamhuis, who played for the Cougars from 1998-2002 and now plays for the Vancouver Canucks. "This city is full of great hockey fans and the change was probably good and hopefully it will bring that interest back throughout the whole north.
"The change of ownership here will bring some energy and excitement back into it but it's on our ownership group to follow that up and make a great fan experience in the arena, making sure the team's very involved in the community and most importantly putting a great product out on the ice for the fans to watch."
Hamhuis is looking forward to sharing with current Cougar players his experiences of making the jump from junior to the NHL when he skates with them this summer in training camp. As long as they are still playing in the NHL, Hamhuis and Brewer won't have much time to devote to the Cougars business operations but will have a say in any hockey decisions, including the next order of business -- hiring a general manager.
"There's been quite a bit of interest, more that gets directed towards Greg [Pocock] but in my hockey circles too I've been talking with a few people who have interest and it's an exciting opportunity," said Hamhuis.
Among the potential candidates are Doug Soetaert, former GM of the Everett Silvertips, Spokane Chiefs current head coach Don Nachbaur, Cougars director of player personnel Todd Harkins, and Cougars head coach Mark Holick.
"I've indicated I have interest and I know it's a tough job at this level but if you surround yourself with people you know and trust and can work with on a day-in, day-out basis, and if that's what they choose I'm all ears," said Holick. "If it's not, I've never had difficulty working with anybody and I've been in the game a long time."
Holick, who is under contract for the next two seasons, has already been told he will be the head coach heading into the new season. Like the players, he's looking forward to seeing more people in the building.
"You feed off energy and they're knowledgeable crowds here too so they know when to get excited and when to get on to you when they need to motivate you and there's no doubt it helps," said Holick. "Playing in front of a full house would be a treat for the players and certainly it would be intimidating for teams coming in here."
Holick has no doubt the involvement of Hamhuis and Brewer to help sell the team to prospective players and their families will pay dividends for the Cougars.
"It's quite flattering to have two guys who have the resumes that they do and the success they've had on the world stage and to have that resource will be quite valuable for us in getting guys to come to Prince George," said Holick.
Cougars defenceman Raymond Grewal and forward Chase Witala were among the 1,500 people who showed up at CN Centre Tuesday. Both were born and raised in Prince George and both remember attending Cougar games with their parents when the stands were full. Now, as players, they want to experience it again.
"I think you just get that extra wind if you're tired, you get that adrenaline rush when the fans are behind you and you don't feel tired," said Grewal. "It's lot of fun when you go to other buildings and they're full."
Witala was injured and was sitting in the stands when the Cougars played in front of their biggest home crowd of last season when 4,062 showed up to see them play Edmonton on Hockey Day in Canada. He had chills running down his spine when he heard the crowd roar that day and he wants that feeling back.
"It's going to be fun for sure," said Witala. "The town is really excited about this, they've been waiting for this for a long time now. The fans who have been with us since Day 1, they're loud and it will be nice next year to see the building a lot fuller and hopefully we can win and keep the fans coming."
Grewal drove to the rink Tuesday with his brother and couldn't believe the size of the crowd.
"There are so many people here and the buzz is huge right now," said Grewal. "Everybody's excited to get things going, it's a totally different atmosphere. I know everybody on the team is excited for the new ownership and when they see all this news about how many people turned up they're going to get more excited."
