They drove 27 hours (30 if you count a few wrong turns) to Boston for the Four Nations tournament last February. Now they are going to Milan, luckily by plane and not their friend’s mom’s SUV.
“It’s surreal, it’s one of those pinch me moments,” Bryan Hanna said.
Hanna, Sloan Tremblay, Lucas Humble, Lucas Fry, and Matt McLeod grew up with Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis in Winnipeg. The NHL was so inspired by their trek to Boston to see their childhood friend, that they helped get them to Carolina’s game 5 series clinching win over the New Jersey Devils last postseason. Now thanks to a little help from social media and Air Canada they are going to Milan, along with another friend Noah Wagner, to see Jarvis compete for Team Canada in the Olympics.
“It’s obviously a dream for all of us,” Hanna said. “The fact that he got named to the team was super cool, then the fact that we found a way to get there was a whole other story.”
Hanna and the crew were set to visit Jarvis in Raleigh for the Olympic break, but when Jarvis was a last minute injury replacement for Team Canada they tried to make new plans. Flights and accomadations in Milan were out of the question, so they took to social media.
“Eventually Air Canada reached out to us, who is a partner with Team Canada,” Hanna explained. “They were like ‘we want to get you guys out there. Is there anyway we can help?’ They hooked us up with some flights and they are getting us out there.'”
Hanna who was literally zooming from Jarvis empty house for this interview, is set to fly to Italy Thursday. He knows they might not get to see Jarvis a ton while they are there, but the group is thrilled to take any and everything in.
“I want to see as many events as we possibly can,” Hanna said. “Its like a once in a lifetime thing.”
Jarvis is on pace for a career year with 25 goals and 18 assists for the Hurricanes this season. He’s in his fifth NHL season, but has stayed true to his Winnipeg roots even as his star has risen.
“I think one of the coolest things is that the way he is around the media and everyone is exactly how he is around us, he’s authentic to himself,” Hanna said. “I think that’s what makes him so lovable to everyone because he is such a cool guy. He’s a fun dude, he’s just one of the fellas.”
For a proud hockey nation like Canada, it doesn’t get much bigger than this.
“This is something as a young Canadian child, you play mini sticks in the basement,” Hanna said. “You’re like picturing yourself as Sidney Crosby or one of those Canadian players scoring a golden goal….The fact that he gets to do it is huge for all of us, huge for his family, huge for him, huge for the city of Winnipeg.”