Don MacLean knows it's about building the base

Celebrating 40 years of minor hockey involvement this season, Don MacLean always seems to find his way home. When it comes to working with young talent, his comfort zone is clearly with the initiation programs, those making their very first entry to the sport.

Always has been, always will.

It was no different when he first offered to help Dan Susteric with an independent program in the mid-1970s. No different as he ventured off to form Sports North, a hockey organization that would flourish and eventually merge with the Sudbury Minor Hockey Association (SMHA).

No different now, 74 years young, as MacLean makes his way over to the RHP Training Centre every weekend during hockey season, lending a helping hand to the five-, six- and seven-year-olds on the ice.

But he got started when his son was just a lad and finally old enough to learn the game.

MacLean hung up his broomball shoes and found a spot for the boy in Susteric's program, just as it was beginning.

"Dan (Susteric) did one team only (then), but after that, Sports North kicked in,” he said.

Since the SMHA didn't cater to the initiation level at the time, MacLean took it upon himself — understanding, perhaps intuitively, that most hockey players aren't born, they're made, and that starts when they still use a hockey stick as a third leg.

Coaches like Danny Stackand and Tony Thibeault would soon be lending a helping hand.

Later, it was the likes of Bryan Verreault, who went on to work with the Sudbury Wolves, and Tom Faganely that helped guide Sports North teams to provincial championships.

"My timing was right," MacLean said. “Sudbury Minor had the AAA and AA teams, but no feeder system."

The SMHA did notice MacLean's work though, but their offer of partnership left something to be desired.

"They basically said, 'We want your ice, we want all of your kids, and we want to run it,' " MacLean recalled. "There was nothing in it for me. I thought if that's the way it is, we're going to part ways."

Thus, Sports North was born.

For 10-12 years, the two organizations competed for the same talent pool. Eventually, common ground was found.

"I talked to SMHA president Mike Brunette, at the time, and I was not asking for anything, other than being on their board for three years," said MacLean. "Everybody said that the amalgamation (with SMHA) would not work. But I really wasn't going there for any reason other than the kids."

What MacLean understands — and has always understood — is that hockey players are grown, not made.

"You really can't have any strength at the top of your programs if you don't have a solid base."