By the time this posting is up on the blog the hockey season will be over for another year. Like many people I’ve seen more playoff hockey this year than I have for quite a few years. Having the Canucks go all the way to game 7 has kept Canadians involved this year.
Over the years I have known lots of parents with young hockey stars and I like to tell my three favourite stories from when I grew up to show that there are different roads to hockey success.
I spent the first eight years of my life in Scarborough Ontario, more specifically an area know as Dorset Park. This was one of the first boomer, shoe box bungalow communities to be built in the late 50's. Hall of Famer Brad Park was born in Dorset Park.
About 5 houses down from us lived the Young family. The middle boy was Tim and he was my age. We played a lot of ball hockey in the driveway at Young’s. The Young’s all played hockey at the rep level for Wexford. Our family moved into the Beach area of Toronto when I was about 8 and I remember going to see a Wexford game when I was about 14. Tim Young was playing for Wexford but I clearly got the impression that he hated the game and it was his father who was dragging him to the rink.
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| -Jofa bucket -Early 80’s hockey flow -High cuff Cooper mitts -Koho wood stick -North Stars classic green unis -Epic Mustache Can you ask for anything more on a hockey card? I dare you. |
Tim now lives in Eden Prairie Minnesota but I have no idea what he might be working at.
My second touch with an NHL relates to Al Sims who was born in the east end of Toronto. He was born in 1953 and local legend has it that he first put skates on at the age of 16 and at the age of 18 played in the Memorial Cup and at the age of 20 had a plus 64 season and played 16 playoff games with the Boston Bruins.
His professional career lasted 17 seasons and included 475 games in the NHL and stints in the AHL, IHL and European hockey league.
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| Toronto's Al Sims, coach Fort Wayne Komets |
Hockey moms, as you can see with these two examples, the way to the NHL can go from working hard since the tyke level to teaching yourself to skate at 16.
My final hockey tidbit relates to a guy who used the ‘education’ route to garner huge hockey success and I doubt anyone but a die-hard hockey fan would have heard of him.
Rick Curran was the captain of my high school hockey team but at 5 foot something he had gotten as far as Junior A hockey only and was too small for the NHL. Two years of high school hockey and a summer job at the Bobby Orr Hockey camp in Parry Sound got Rick a scholarship at a small US University. Upon graduation, with a business diploma, Rick got a job working for Cooper Sports. He got a great break when he scored the NHL Player accounts and the rest is history. There will be no tag days for Rick as the article below indicates.
So there you have it, my three NHL stories. Go Leafs Go. Congrats to Kaberle!!!!
The key to success for sports agent Rick Curran is "smaller is better."
Having worked in the first large sports agency in North America, Curran has seen both sides of the business. And he's created his company to be a different kind of sports agency.
Curran started in the field in 1978 at a management company in Toronto. One of the men he worked with was Bill Watters. Curran had first met him in 1967, when he was an instructor at the Bobby Orr Hockey Camp. Watters, then camp director, became his mentor and eventually his business partner.
"What I did, and what I would recommend to anyone who wants to get into this business, is that I made myself absolutely indispensable," says Curran, who holds a business degree. "In other words, Bill [my partner] couldn't go anywhere without me. I made it my business to know all the junior players, pro players. If Bill needed to know something, I was the answer man."
In 1980, Curran and Watters split with the original company and founded their own with 160 clients, including 140 National Hockey League (NHL) players.
"We were handling almost every aspect of the player's career. If they needed their taxes done, no problem, we took care of it. We did the financial management, endorsements and negotiated the contracts. At some point, I became aware that we were just getting too big."
In 1991, with Watters expressing an interest in pursuing a career in team management, Curran bought his shares in the company and began streamlining the operation. He immediately stopped all recruiting and limited his services to contract negotiations.
For individuals hoping to specialize as agents, Curran recommends working for an established agency before venturing out on your own. That's because it can take years and thousands of dollars to establish yourself. You will have to be prepared to scout the minor, junior and European leagues for clients. And remember, a client recruited at 15 won't make any money until the pro contract is signed years later.
"I'd recommend that those starting out do what I did -- find someone in the business who is making a go of it and become their right-hand man. Be indispensable and learn everything you possibly can from that person," says Curran.
"In the meantime, you're learning the business, making contacts and getting known in the pro and junior leagues. For those who make a go of it, this can be a great business to be involved in. You're dealing with people who love what they're doing. It's exciting, challenging and always changing."
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| Rick Curran |
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