Jim Cuddy

Last Updated: September 29, 2008 2:25 PM  

Ken Wolff Minor Memories

When you think of Jim Cuddy you usually think of the band Blue Rodeo, but hockey has also been a priority.  He's a regular participant in the annual Juno Cup hockey game which occurs every year during the Juno Awards. 

CBC Sports:  How did you get into hockey?
Cuddy:  "Well, just like everybody else, I think, I started playing as a kid. My dad played when he was growing up in Ottawa and so I always remember I loved hockey, wasn't very good at it, but loved it. And so I always played when I was a kid in local neighbourhood leagues. I was about five or six when I started. When we lived in Brantford, we had a rink in the back that we all skated on."

CBC Sports:  What was the first game you can remember playing?
Cuddy: "I remember, memorably, I went to Upper Canada College for two years, and that was the first time I played sort of intense hockey, and I remember scoring on a breakaway, and I was like, 'Ah, this is a really fun game.'"

CBC Sports: Who was your funniest teammate, and why?
Cuddy:  "Probably Mischa Brueggergosman. She's a Canadian opera singer and I'm one of the people that organizes the Juno Cup, which is a music charity. And she was really game, she came out from Halifax, where she's from. If she'd skated before it was maybe once, and she was truly the most balletic, awkward girl I'd ever seen on skates."

CBC Sports:  Where was the most memorable tournament you ever played, and why?
Cuddy: "Well, probably the first time was when I did the Bobby Orr equipment drive. That was the first time I'd played with pros, and that was really stunning. I mean, Paul Coffey and Mark Napier, and all these guys were just flying around the ice, and that was sort of the birth of the Juno Cup, was from that game."

CBC Sports: Where was the worst arena you've ever played at? What was it like?
Cuddy: "Worst arena is, let me see, it's one in the south shore of Montreal, we go there for a tournament every year. And it's basically a strip club with a rink attached to it, and so while you're playing you look through, and you can see into the bar, and all the girls are relatively topless, and so it's kind of weird."

CBC Sports:  Where was the coldest game of hockey you ever played? Describe it.
Cuddy: "Well, the coldest game of hockey I ever attended was the outdoor game in Edmonton. And I've never, sort of, been stupid enough to stay outdoors for that long, I mean we stayed out for almost two full games, and it was really, really cold."
 
CBC Sports:  Who was the most memorable hockey parent you ever met? Why?
Cuddy: "When my son was playing in Leaside, he wasn't one of the better players, and they were doing a fundraiser for the selects. And the guy said, 'Buy a hat', kind of aggressively. And I said, 'Well, is it for all the kids?' And he said, 'No, it's just for the selects,' and I said, 'Well, my son's not a select.' He said, 'Well, you better buy it or your son will never be a select.' And I said, 'Really? I mean, our sons are 10, and you're threatening me?' So, that was the weirdest parent moment I've had. We took him out of Leaside. It was stupid, but that's everywhere."

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