MAITLAND, FLA – Most casual fans look at the roster for the Orlando Solar Bears and see the names Shane Conacher, Mason Marchment and Trevor Ludwig and probably think that the only common thread between them is playing for the same team. When hockey fans, especially those with a sense of the history of the sport, take that same look they will probably realize that the trio share more than just a jersey.
Mason Marchment is one of three Orlando Solar Bears players with a relative that played in the NHL (Photo courtesy of Gary Bassing / Orlando Solar Bears)
They share being part of a family within the hockey family.
Conacher, Marchment and Ludwig are all “NHL Legacy” players. Each has had a relative or relatives, be they a father, brother, uncle or, in the case of Conacher, several distant relatives who have played or are currently playing in the National Hockey League. It is a fraternity that might be small in size but it is large when it comes to the tradition of a league that is in its 100th season.
“I wear my last name with pride,” Conacher said.
At 22 and 21 years of age respectively, Conacher and Marchment are just beginning their professional careers. Marchment, a native of Uxbridge, Ontario, has what could be considered to be the simplest hockey family tree of the three Orlando players.
Mason’s father Bryan, a defenseman, was a first round draft choice of the original Winnipeg Jets franchise in 1987 (16th overall). Following a stellar four-year career in the OHL with the Belleville Bulls (172 points in 208 games), Bryan Marchment turned pro in 1989 and by the time he retired in 2006, he had played for nine teams (Winnipeg, Chicago, Edmonton, Tampa, San Jose, Colorado, Hartford, Toronto and Calgary) in a total of 926 games. The elder Marchment tallied 40 career NHL goals and 142 assists for 182 points and amassed 2,307 penalty minutes. Oh, and he also suited up for 89 AHL games where he added six goals and 36 points to his totals.
Mason said that growing up in an NHL home was a pretty nice place to be for a kid.
“I obviously got to go to the rink and meet all the guys when I was growing up and it was a pretty good experience,” he said. “I think it has helped me in the long run even though I wasn’t the best player growing up.”
Early on, Mason decided that creating his own identity was the way he wanted to go. His father was very supportive, allowing Mason to take control of the direction of his own career.
“That [being his own man] was important for me. He kind of let me do my own thing growing up – letting me make my own workout schedule and stuff like that,” Mason said. “I had to do it on my own so that’s going to help me in the long run knowing that I’ve gotten here on my own. Even if he’s helped me, it’s just the perks of having a dad like that.”
Regardless of whether he was carving his own path, being an NHL Legacy player brings with it expectations – both perceived and real – when it comes to fans and others. Mason said that he tries not to let it cloud his thoughts, especially when he is on the ice while he is refining his skills in Orlando.
“I just want to play my game and help the team win and get some points while that happens and just have fun basically,” he said. “I want to make it to the highest potential level I can – that’s the NHL and this is where I’ve got to start.”
Speaking of fun, Mason Marchment does have one other branch of his hockey family tree. He has a cousin, Jake, who is also trying to make his way in pro hockey.
Jake, who is also 21 and a 2014 sixth round draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings, just happens to play for the Allen Americans. The Americans and Solar Bears played two games last weekend. Sunday afternoon, the two cousins – who Mason said are close and talk as often as time allows – met on the ice. There was plenty of chirping going on (Mason said he was trying to get into Jake’s head by “challenging” Jake to drop the gloves, which since Jake is a bit bigger might not have gone well for Mason). There was however one point when the pair met in the face-off circle.
“We took one draw against each other. He won it but my player got the puck so that’s my win,” Mason said. “I’ll take full credit for that.”
Shane Conacher’s (center) NHL ties reach from the 1920’s to today where his brother Cory is with the Tampa Bay lightning organization (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
If credit were being given for a family tree that looks like a who’s who of hockey, Shane Conacher would win hands down. The Burlington, Ontario native and Canisius College product has no less than seven close and distant relatives who have skated in the NHL.
The Conacher hockey tree starts with three brothers – Charlie, Lionel and Roy – who all played in the NHL between 1925 and 1942. Charlie won two Art Ross trophies as the league’s leading scorer while a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs (1933-34 and 1934-35). Lionel won two Stanley Cups, one with Chicago (1933-34) and the other with the Montreal Maroons a year later. Roy also has two Stanley Cups with Boston (1938-39 and 1940-41) and an Art Ross trophy from 1948-49 while in Chicago. The trio combined to play 1,447 games with 531 goals, 478 assists and 1,009 points. All three are members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Charlie’s son Pete played in the league between 1952 and 1958 while Lionel’s son Brian played between 1961 and 1973 in both the NHL and the WHA. Murray Henderson, the nephew of the brothers, played for Boston from 1945-1952 and later was a player-coach for the AHL Hershey Bears from 1952-1956.
While having all of these members of the family play in the past, Shane Conacher’s most vivid connection to the NHL in the present is his brother Cory. After graduating from Canisius College, Cory joined the pro ranks in 2010 and has seen time in “the show” with Tampa, Ottawa, Buffalo and the New York Islanders. He is currently back with the Lightning, playing for their AHL team in Syracuse.
“It’s obviously nice to be in the family that I have and watching Cory grow up all my life, his work ethic and how he takes a daily routine towards playing hockey. It obviously made it easier for me,” Shane said. “I got to see him play a bunch when he was in Yampa for his first stint. I always ask him questions and kind of get some tips on what to work on and what to focus on to get to that level.”
Shane followed Cory’s path to Canisius where his coaches helped to deflect any pressure Shane might have felt in his brother’s shadow. That pattern has been a familiar one everywhere Shane has gone.
“The coaches made sure that I didn’t put any pressure on myself. Every coach I go to, they earn me that I don’t need to do anything that my brother did- that there’s no extra pressure,” he said. “They do a good job helping me to take pressure off of me. I just try to play my game and not think about what else is going on in the world.”
Shane had quite a bit of down time while rehabbing an injury so he was able to talk quite a bit to Cory as well as see him in both Syracuse and Toronto when the Crunch visited the Marlies.
Most of the time, the brothers talk about sports other than hockey since the sport is very much work related. Cory has not had a chance to see Shane play in the pros just yet. The pair almost had an opportunity to meet in Orlando but Cory’s day job kept it from happening – in a good way.
“He was supposed to come last weekend but the day before the AHL All-Star break, he was asked to play in the All-Star game,” Shane said. “He already had a flight booked here but he had to cancel it. Hopefully he can get down here and watch me play a few games because he hasn’t been able to the past couple of years.”
With so many relatives having grabbed the brass ring of the NHL, Shane said that he does not feel any extra pressure to join them. If and when he gets there, it will simply be the final step of reaching his dream.
“It’s really cliche but it’s every kid’s dream to make the NHL,” he said. “Everyone who plays in the ECHL and AHL wants to make the NHL so I don’t think the family name adds any pressure.”
Trevor Ludwig won a CHL championship with his father Craig as an owner and his brother Tyler playing with him (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
If either Marchment or Conacher ever need advice on dealing with the expectations, they need not look any further than across the locker room to find an understanding ear. 31-year old Trevor Ludwig knows exactly what they are going through.
The Rhinelander, Wisconsin native Рwho by the way was a 2004 sixth round draft pick of the Dallas Stars Рis the son of former NHL defenseman Craig Ludwig. Craig was a third round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 1980. He was a two-time NCAA champion at North Dakota (1979-80 and 1981-82) and added a pair of Stanley Cups to his r̩sum̩ in 1985-86 with the Habs and in 1998-99 with the very same Dallas franchise that drafted Trevor. All told, Craig played 1,256 NHL games, racking up 222 points and 1,437 penalty minutes and a plus-79 rating along the way.
Much like Marchment, Trevor Ludwig – along with his twin brother Tyler and other sibling C.J. – spent a lot of time at the rink with his dad. He said that it was not until later that he realized just what it meant to be a part of an NHL family.
“When I was young, I really didn’t think much of it as a kid. We knew he was in the NHL but we didn’t understand the gravity of it. We’d go to the rinks, we’d go to the practices and it was just us hanging out with my dad’s buddies. It was just his friends,” Lidwig said. “We’d be in the locker room with some [guys who are] Hall of Famers now. We were shooting tape balls into trash cans and playing little mini-sticks with guys like Mike Modano and Ed Belfour. We played with Patrick Roy in Montreal. Looking back on it, it was a special, special childhood that we had.”
Ludwig said that he and his brothers did not mind that people almost immediately would realize just who their dad was. In fact, they were proud of the connection. They also learned quickly that the expectations may have been unfair but it was something that they had to live with.
“We kind of got used to it year in and year out. We wanted, as most sons I think want to be like their dad and that was kind of the case for us,” he said. “Because of that [instant name recognition] and what my dad had done and where he had played, the level of expectations was always higher for us. As a kid, we thought it was a little bit unfair – just because of who he is that shouldn’t reflect on what our expectations are. As we got older, we kind of accepted it and it is what it is.”
The family “business” really became just that when dad Craig along with Modano and Belfour were part of the ownership group of the CHL’s Allen Americans. Craig made up for lost time as Trevor and Tyler joined the team and got to attend practices like he wanted to do when the boys were younger but never got to. It took the father-son dynamic to a different level.
“Growing up, he (Craig) didn’t that ability [to be at practice]. He was always playing when we were playing. He was on the road when we had games. It was a little unfortunate that he wasn’t able to watch us when we were younger but he was able to do it when we were older,” he said. “But when you’re older you get a little bit more stubborn. He would try to pull us aside and give us little pointers but with that father-son dynamic it was in one ear and out the other. He kind of had to create an avenue through the assistant coach, Richard Matvichuk. He would get in Matty’s ear and then Matty would come and tell us.”
That year ended with the Americans winning the league championship. Ludwig said that having both his brother and father involved made it special.
“Being able to do it with my dad being involved, being able to it when I was playing with my twin brother, it made it a little extra special,” Trevor said.
Ludwig said that he, Marchment and Conacher have never really talked about what being a legacy player means or how to deal with it. If they ever do, If they do, Ludwig will just simply pass along what has gotten him through it all.
“With my dad is was always kind of living in his shadow because he was so successful and he did a number of things at the highest level. I was always trying to fill his shoes. I didn’t amount to what he was able to do. That can be tough, that can be taxing but it’s different times, different opportunities. That’s one thing that my dad has always explained to me,” he said. “He was super, super fortunate, super lucky to be in the situation at the right time with the right people. Whatever situation that I or Conacher or Marchy have been in, it’s something that once we’re older and have kids or grandchildren, we can always go back and reflect on.”
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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