Last week, Hockey Heaven received its newest and kindest member with the sudden passing of former Chicago BlackHawk captain Pat Stapleton. Often referred to as “Whitey” for the head of hair topping his 5’6’’ frame, this tenacious defenceman had a rare combination of toughness and courage combined with grace and thoughtfulness. He was one of the kindest people I ever met. When you asked Pat “how are you today” he would respond “perfect- because you are in my life”.
I, like many Canadians will never forget that moment in 1972 when we were all brought together in our school gymnasium to watch the old black and white television set the janitors (now custodians) rigged up for us to watch the daytime games of the Canada-Soviet Summit Series being played in Moscow. Pat was an instrumental part of that team, and their come-from-behind victories in the Soviet Union became legendary and earned the group the title of “Team of The Century”. He was very proud of what the team accomplished and even prouder of the positive impact that series had on our nation.
Recently, Pat came to the Ivey Business School to talk to me about helping him on a project to recognize the 50th anniversary of that milestone event. He didn’t come to talk about how the team or individuals could be glorified, rather, he came to discuss how they could give back and thank both Canada and the game that had been so good to him. The discussions turned into a project titled “Legends to Legacy,” and was being planned in a way to take all the teachable moments from that Series and share them as widely as possible.
At Ivey, we know that unique events produce some of the most teachable moments and most enduring impact for our future leaders, and we welcome diverse storylines: from catastrophic engine failures in the space program, or health crisis management to financial chicanery and the resultant fallout. Pat knew he was home here when he described to me the 18 different obstacles the team overcame - particularly when they went to Russia down and dejected (and criticized by the Canadian sport fans) for the final four games. He knew we would get the leadership challenge, the team challenge, and the diversity challenges (Canadian players thrown together from competing teams normally taught to hate each other, as well as French/English player divide) - all obstacles to success. Yet, they did succeed!
Pat talked with me about the importance to thank Canada and the need to do this before it is too late. Coach Harry Sinden was in his late 80’s now and several players had passed on or had difficulty travelling. Pat’s concerns were for the other guys and their families, and what it would mean to all if we could help with a legacy for this group; perhaps create some foundation money for those in need who never made much financial return from the game of hockey.
My MBA students did some preliminary thinking for me around the number of things we could do over the next 24 months leading to the anniversary, and while many of them knew of this event, most learned much more after “mentioning” it to their parents. That’s when they realized what a seminal moment it was for Canadians.
One painful memory I now have is the students wanted to create holograms of each of the players talking about their experience for a display at the Hockey Hall of Fame. Pat loved talking about those experiences, and his untimely death leaves me with regret at not be able to get this done faster. It also leaves me committed to push ahead before more voices are silenced. He was a true gentleman and when I spoke with Pat, it was always perfect.
Rest in peace.
Note: If you would like to forward comments about Pat or the impact this series, had on your life please send them to dsimpson@ivey.ca. We will also welcome any individuals or companies that would like to be involved with the Legends to Legacy programs we are creating in partnership with the team and ask you submit that interest to dsimpson@ivey.ca.