Many NHL players can offer a favorite Christmas story about receiving a treasured hockey jersey when they were 10
Columbus Blue Jackets president and GM Don Waddell can tell that story. But his tale comes with the twist that his treasured jersey was given to him when he was in his 50s.
Waddell’s Christmas story starts on Jan 28, 1981 when the Los Angeles Kings called up the puck-moving defenseman from the International Hockey League after he put up 19 points in 20 games for his minor league team. He was a Kings’ seventh round pick, but had shown some promise. He was one of 1980 U.S. Olympic team’s final cuts. He might have made that team had he not suffered a broken leg.
“Got the call on a Tuesday night, got on a flight at 6 in the morning,” Waddell recalled, “flew all day, got into L.A. at 1 or 1:30 and played that night.”
Excitement. Butterflies. Apprehensive. Waddell, 22, had all of the emotions that a player feels when he lands in The Show, hoping he will be there for a long career.
His NHL debut couldn’t have started much worse.
“I got scored against on my first shift.” Waddell said.
The ugliness of that first shift is forever etched in Waddell’s mind. His defensive partner was Jerry “King Kong” Korab. Rangers winger Ron Greschner came over the line with the puck on the first rush.
“Korab came over to make one of the big hip checks he used to make,” Waddell recalled. “But he missed Greschner and hit me.”
The force of the blow left Waddell sprawled on the ice as Greschner past him and roofed a shot past goalie Mario Lessard to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
The Kings fell 6-2 that game, but Waddell’s night got better. He played roughly 17 minutes and was only on the ice for one goal. Kings coach Bob Berry even granted Waddell some power play time on the point with the Kings’ triple crown line of Charlie Simmer, Marcel Dionne and Dave Taylor
Waddell’s NHL debut came against the Rangers team that was playing rookie Tom Laidlaw, who had been Waddell’s defensive partner and close friend at Northern Michigan University.
“My call-up happened so quick no one knew. There was no social media,” Waddell said. “I can remember Laidlaw skating up to me in warm-up and saying, ‘What the hell are you doing here?’
It was a memorable night for Waddell, one he will never forget. It also turned out to be the only NHL game he would ever play.
He feels a kinship with MLB player Archibald “Moonlight” Graham, who was called up and played one inning for the New York Giants in 1905. His story was celebrated in the Field of Dreams movie.
“I was a young player,” Waddell said. “I thought I was going to play more games. Even when I got sent down I thought I would get another chance. But I never got a sniff.”
Waddell didn’t think about his NHL debut very often until he was general manager of the Atlanta Thrashers (1999-2011). He started displaying his pro jerseys in his home and realized the Kings jersey was the only one he didn’t have.
His wife, Cheryl, tried to fill the void in his collection by having a replica Kings jersey specially made with Waddell’s No. 29 on it. But she kept wondering if she could find the jersey her husband actually wore, even though it had been almost three decades since he played in L.A.
“I remember Don’s wife saying, ‘I’m looking for something and anyone can help me find it, it’s you, or something like that,” recalled Jack Ferreira years ago when he was special assistant to the Kings’ general manager. He had a long NHL career as a scout and in management.
His first call was to a friend David Dahl, a retired Chicago police officer who was a major memorabilia collector. Dahl contacted someone in Los Angeles who had a large collection of Kings jerseys from that era.
“I knew if the jersey still existed, there was a good chance these guys could find it,” Ferreira said. “He had No. 29, but it had Jimmy Rutherford’s nameplate on it. But when he pulled up ‘Rutherford’, he found the letters ‘Wa.’ It was Don’s jersey.”
That’s the story of how Waddell ended up with his favorite Christmas gift ever under his tree several years ago.
Waddell is pragmatic about his one-game NHL career. He says he might not have had the same career as an executive. Only a handful of people have been an NHL player, coach, general manager and team president.
Laidlaw played 705 NHL games, and said Waddell arrived in the NHL too early for his skill set.
“He had the skill to play in the NHL,” Laidlaw said. “But the game was different, more physical, back then. If both of us came up today, and played the same way we played back then, he would fit in better. I would have to change my game…
“If you look at all that he’s done in his NHL career,” Laidlaw said, “he’s been way more successful than me.”