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Discover Sessions: "Be Open to Those Side Roads"
In front of a Grade 9 Health and Career Education class on Wednesday, Mr. Andrew Ference recalled a time when he took an initiative that changed his life.
Going into his National Hockey League draft year as an 18-year-old, Mr. Ference wasn’t seen as enough of a potential NHL player to be invited to the combine – that’s where prospects go through a series of rigorous fitness tests, with the results shared with scouts across the league to consider alongside their statistics and performances in games. His response? “I’ll do my own testing.” Mr. Ference went to the University of Alberta, near his hometown, and paid to go through all the same tests as the prospects who were invited, then faxed them (faxing was still the go-to communication method in 1997) to all 26 NHL general managers along with a cover letter. He wasn’t invited to attend the draft, but he received a phone call that day informing him that he had been selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the eighth round, 208th overall out of 246 players picked. Craig Patrick, the Penguins’ general manager at the time, also called and told him how bold it was to send out his fitness results.
Mr. Ference went on to play 907 NHL games – more than 17 of the 26 players picked in the first round – reaching the Stanley Cup finals with the Calgary Flames in 2004, winning the Cup with the Boston Bruins in 2011, captaining the Edmonton Oilers from 2013 to 2015, and receiving the King Clancy Memorial Award for leadership on and off the ice in 2014. He still works for the NHL, in addition to being a current parent and coach at Shawnigan.
Although his life has revolved around his career as a hockey player, the message Mr. Ference delivered on Wednesday wasn’t about on-ice accomplishments that would resonate with only a handful of students in the room. He touched on several aspects of life – before, during, and after hockey – that they could take lessons from – like the part of his personality that compelled him to send those faxes out across the NHL.
“There’s still a chance, there’s still an opportunity, there’s still something I can control here,” he said of how he responds to similar situations. “I can control how I play, I can control how I train, and I can control how I react.”
Mr. Ference was one of five diverse speakers to address HCE classes in the latest “Discover Sessions” series of talks designed to get students thinking about different paths they can take, and lessons the speakers have learned from their career arcs, "discover" being the theme for the Grade 9 stage of the Shawnigan Journey. Other presenters have included teacher Mr. Remi Anctil on forest firefighting, current parents Christian Kittleson and Zahra Rasul on business and government and entrepreneurship and women in business, respectively, and past parent Amanda Nicoletti on business ownership.
Mr. Ference talked about how he grew up playing “all the sports,” but only got serious about hockey when he was drafted to the Western Hockey League in 1994 at the age of 15. His parents kept him grounded about his opportunities, and even when he joined the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks, he kept working toward his goal of being a doctor, getting extra credits and attending summer school. The same year he was drafted by the Penguins, he was accepted into pre-med at the University of Portland, and chose to take his chances as an athlete. Through his first four or five years in the NHL, he kept thinking any day could be his last in the sport, but “Hockey just kept working out.”
Even as an established full-time player, Mr. Ference followed his parents’ advice to do things outside of hockey. He served as his team’s union representative to the NHL Players’ Association, and got involved in environmental and player safety programs with his teams and in the cities where he played. During his last two years in the NHL, he did extension school through Harvard, earning his graduate certificate in corporate sustainability and innovation, which helped lead to his current job with the NHL’s Department of Social Impact, Growth and Legislative Affairs.
Mr. Ference encouraged students to have a focus on the future, but keep their eyes open for opportunities along the way and embrace a diverse range of interests. “Have a general direction, but be open to those side roads,” he said. “Be open to ideas. Be a curious person in general.”
In junior hockey, as what he called “an average size player and not particularly skilled,” he had to find ways to stand out, and he gave the students similar advice.
“If you’re doing what the average person is doing, you are, by definition, average,” he said. “If you totally fit in all the time, you’ll never stand out and get these opportunities.” But “don’t just be different for different’s sake. There has to be a purpose for it.”
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Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful Pacific Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
