After last night’s critical win against the Panthers in Florida, the Leafs are coming home for game five. From the archives: a deep dive into the making of homegrown wunderkind John Tavares
It’s the semifinal game against the Russians in the World Junior championship in Ottawa, and Barb Tavares is one of 20,000 fans in the stands. The Mississauga hockey mom has been here before, with the clock ticking down, the crowd’s favourite team short a goal and all eyes on her son, John. The suspense is excruciating; she sits so close to the edge of her seat she’s about to fall to her knees.
For the past four years, Tavares has made the same $55 a week as other players in the OHL. In just a few months, he could be a multimillionaire, hawking everything from sport drinks to breakfast cereals. Today the only thing he’s worried about is bringing his homemaking skills up to speed before living on his own for the first time. He knows how to do his own laundry but would like to learn how to cook something other than eggs.
The Tavareses filled their new home with three children in three years. John arrived first, in September 1990, followed by his sisters, Laura and Barbara. When John was a baby, his mother saw a glimmer of something that she couldn’t quite identify. Once, when he was 10 months old, Barb heard a “thump-thump” from upstairs and, for a moment, thought there was a stranger in the house, maybe even in John’s room.
John was always hard on his equipment, going through two pairs of skates a year. He blew through hockey sticks like Kleenex. Sometimes they’d be busted before Barb got her Visa bill. But the biggest expense for any hockey family is time. There were people in the Tavareses’ neighbourhood who noticed that their house was running 24 hours a day and assumed Barb was a nurse working crazy shifts. At any hour, they would see lights on and Barb’s shadow moving from room to room.
Looking back now, even John marvels at how his mom kept pushing him. It didn’t matter where the game was or how many other rinks he’d been to that day, sometimes three in one day, she just kept driving. In her rear-view mirror, she’d see John in the back seat after a practice and hear him say, “Mom, that was the best practice ever.” It was like watching a kid eat ice cream all day. When they got home, he’d head to the basement and crash around until Barb threw him in bed.
The OHL is a grind. Players are on the ice for two to three hours a day, hustling through drills and improving their skills. They skate six days out of seven, weight train, cross-train for cardio fitness, watch their diets and go to school. Off the ice, they consult with trainers on how to strengthen specific muscles and nutritionists on what to eat and when. Schoolwork is sometimes completed through on-line courses.
When Tavares’s team appears in Mississauga, friends and family fill an entire section. Toronto’s Portuguese community isn’t known for turning out hockey players, and there’s an obvious delight and pride in John’s success. Barb entertains a steady stream of well-wishers from her regular seat. After most games, dozens of people line up to see her son. Old friends, former teachers, cousins, fans looking for autographs or photos.
After the chatter about whether or not John would petition for early entry into the NHL died down, Barb received a call from Pat Brisson, an L.A.-based agent with Creative Artists Agency. CAA is one of the most powerful talent agencies in the world, representing heavy hitters in Hollywood’s film industry. Three years ago, the agency branched out into sports and quickly picked up a roster of such stars as David Beckham, Derek Jeter, Sidney Crosby and Patrick Kane.
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