Dan Hamhuis

The following article previously appeared in the Interior News

He remembers spending hour after hour playing hockey with his son down in the basement or out in the back yard, but he had no idea Dan’s insatiable appetite for ball hockey would lead to the “show.”

While most boys and girls with hockey dreams will try to watch as many games on television as possible, Marty recalls Dan never had a real interest in watching hockey as he would much rather being outside playing the game.

That was a tough thing for Marty to do as he and Dan were always close and still are today. Now, he watches his son on T.V. and waits for the traditional phone call after every game.
The road to the NHL wasn’t paved with gold for the Hamhuis family. In fact, there were many sacrifices made by every member of the family.

However, it was a family affair and as a supportive family, everyone travelled to all of Dan’s tournaments and junior games in Prince George.

Hotel, food and travelling costs for five add up quickly and money got really tight. Everyone had to make sacrifices and giving up the extras in their lives was a must.
As a hockey mom, Ida made sure they were all well taken care of, though. She saved on expenses by being prudent and innovative.

With everything maxed out, she says nickel-and-dimming was the only option.

However, they also had help along the way. Ida says many people shared hotel rooms and meals, and they also stayed with friends and family.

Smithers Minor Hockey coach, Don Pederson, guided Dan for three years – second-year peewee and two years of bantam. He says his main contribution was helping Dan make the transition in to physical play.

“Extremely dedicated and hard working, Dan was easy to coach.”

He says Dan played his best hockey on the Under-16 and Under-17 teams when he helped his home team win the provincials his last season in Smithers.

Watching every chance he gets, Pederson says he feels a sense of pride in his role in Dan’s development.
At age 15, Dan left Smithers to play for coach Ed Dempsey and the Prince George Cougars.

Spending four years with Dempsey, they developed a good friendship that is still going strong today.

As captain of the Cougars for two years, he fine-tuned his excellent on-ice vision with the ability to pass the puck up the ice quickly.

In his four years with the Cougars, he went to the World Junior Championships twice and was the Canadian Hockey League’s all-star defencemen in 2002.

Dempsey says his only worry about Dan was his size and whether he would have the ability to be an impact player at the NHL level.

“It’s still so hard to believe,” says Ida. “He’s Dan one minute and the next he’s one of the leading rookies in the NHL.”

Ida’s first time watching her son play live in the NHL was Jan. 25 in Vancouver. With more 50 family members and local Smithers residents there to watch the game, Ida says she was more than a little nervous.

Ida has stacks of pictures and scrapbooks which chronicle her son’s entire hockey career to date. Throughout the Hamhuis home, there are trophies, medals, framed articles and more than 60 jerseys, depicting his rise to the top.

Not only is Dan a great athlete, she says with pride, but he was the Cougars’ scholastic player of the year two years in a row.
Dan also has two loving and supporting sisters. Erin works for the local Credit Union and lifeguards at the pool, while Cindy is in Grade 10.

Both are active and enthusiastic and both have a great sense of humour, which is required when it comes to the constant questions about their brother.

Being asked between five and 10 times a day, Erin and Cindy have come up with a pretty cute response. When people ask if she is related to the NHL player, Erin answers, “Yes, that’s my brother and I have a really great sister, Cindy, too.”

Both girls pretend they’re shocked at every step up Dan took up the ladder of success, lovingly saying: ” They must have made a mistake.”

Erin recently spent a week with her older brother in Nashville, where she “treated like gold and had a really great time.”
After all the sacrifices they made, the family thinks little of it now.

Instead, they gather around the T.V. to watch Dan, the NHL player, do what he does best. They also have a good laugh while the announcers try to figure out how to pronounce their last name.

Read about more of our Hockey Heroes