MAITLAND, FLA – It is a story that has played out for generations. A boy from a small city or town in Canada dreams of playing professional hockey like his heroes that he watches on TV or sitting in the stands. More often than not, those dreams do not come true but for those who exhibit the skill and determination to succeed, the opportunities are there for the taking.
Orlando defenseman Sam Jardine (Photo courtesy of Orlando Solar Bears)
Orlando Solar Bears defenseman Sam Jardine is making the most of his opportunity to shine. His efforts have earned him a look from one of the most recognizable franchises in his home country, thanks in part to an off-season decision.
“Part of the decision making process was the resources available to you here [in Orlando]. Part of signing with Orlando was an offer to come to Toronto early and train and work with their development coaches who work here in Orlando with the players as well,” Jardine said about getting a two-way contract with the AHL Toronto Marlies before returning to Central Florida. “I took them up on that and it provided me [an] extra opportunity to show them who I am and what my game is about and just kind of being myself. That offer just fell into my lap and obviously I was happy to sign with them.”
The journey to playing professionally started for the 24-year old Jardine in Lacombe, Alberta, a small city of just over 13,000 residents between Red Deer and Edmonton. Much like the small cities and towns that are the back bone of America, family and friends became the base upon which Jardine’s future would be built.
“Lacombe is great. It’s a little piece of heaven. I have a great family and was very blessed and fortunate to still have a lot of very, very good friends when I go back,” he said. “There’s a great minor hockey organization there in Lacombe minor hockey. Highly competitive and multiple towns very close by. [There were] a lot of really fun tournaments and great memories from my childhood growing up in Lacombe.”
A typical Canadian, Jardine said his first memories of skating started at age three. And in a truely Canadian way, his grandfather fed the hockey bug by taking advantage of living out in the country to make sure young Sam had a place to play.
“My grampa’s a farmer and in the winter time he put a little piece of ice, a little surface in an old pig barn. That’s where I learned how to skate,” he said. “As I grew older, we ended up shoveling snow off of a pond right close to my backyard. [There were] hours and hours of time spent on the backyard pond and some of the best memories of my life [were] having friends and family over for scrimmage games and just really enjoying the game the way it was meant to be played.”
Another family member played a huge role as Jardine started to spread his wings. In 2009, he had an offer to go play for the Camrose Kodiaks in the AJHL – the very same team where his older brother Clayton was playing.
“My brother’s been my best friend for my whole life. He’s always taken me under his wing. Actually 2009 [in Camrose] was the first time we got to play on an ice hockey team together,” Jardine said. “He was the captain of that team in Camrose. I had a really great leadership core with my brother and Coach [Boris] Rybalka and Coach [Blair] Becker in Camrose. That was one of the greatest memories and years of my life playing my rookie year there in Camrose. We had a blast.”
Photo courtesy of Gary Bassing / Orlando Solar Bears
Clayton headed off to Merrimack College to play hockey while Sam finished three more years in Camrose. When it came time for the younger Jardine to make a choice on what was next, he chose a slightly different path by heading to Columbus, Ohio and The Ohio State University.
Suffice to say, Columbus was certainly not like Lacombe but Jardine grew to appreciate what it meant to be a Buckeye.
“I’ll be honest, it was a little bit overwhelming my freshman year but I’ve really grown to love the city of Columbus and Ohio State. I still go back in the summers and some of my best friends today are teammates I met at Ohio State,” he said. “I’m a big fan of the Buckeyes and any kind of Buckeye sports I like to follow along and obviously I’m still very invested in the hockey program there as well.”
In three season playing at Ohio State, Jardine dressed for 97 games and had three goals, 29 points and 118 penalty minutes. All the while, he knew what lay ahead as in 2011 he was drafted in the sixth round of the NHL Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks.
During his first year as a pro (2015-16), Jardine got a taste of the AHL in six games with Rockford. The bulk of that season was spent in the ECHL with the Indy Fuel. In 50 games, he had two goals, three assists and 24 penalty minutes while learning plenty about himself and his game.
“I think the biggest thing was learning to become a good pro, a responsible pro. We had some really good leaders there in Indy – some guys that had played in various leagues. We had guys with NHL experience, multiple years of AHL experience, guys that had played in European professional leagues,” he said. “It was a big learning year figuring out the process of keeping yourself ready for every single game because obviously the seasons get long and it’s important that you stay consistent and in shape.”
The following season, Jardine signed with the Colorado Eagles. His talents quickly caught the eye of the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage, the Eagles and NHL Colorado Avalance affiliate. Jardine spent about half the year in San Antonio, posting three goals, two assists and 48 penalty minutes.
The rest of the year was spent with the Eagles where in 36 games he had four goals, eleven assists and 46 penalty minutes. He also earned a Kelly Cup championship ring as the Eagles swept South Carolina in the finals.
Jardine attributed his success at both levels to what he learned the previous year.
“I spent that summer [following the rookie season] preparing, getting in shape. Like I said I think I learned a lot from my rookie year and what it was going to take to maybe crack a roster at the American League level. I was given a chance there and stuck for about half the season,” Jardine said. “Eventually when I joined Colorado we had an unbelievable team there and had a lot of success, a very long winning streak in the regular season and then went on to win a championship. It was another year that I was just blessed to have two teams that at different times really wanted me and it was very successful.”
Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears
Jardine and the Eagles parted ways during last summer, leaving the defenseman looking for a new place to play. He had looked at Orlando as a possible landing spot the summer before prior to signing with Colorado. He gave Central Florida a second look and decided it was time to head south for a number of reasons.
“Obviously this is a beautiful place to play because of the resources and facilities. I had considered Orlando even [during] the off-season before as well,” he said. “Obviously the relationship that they have with the next level with the Marlies was enticing. I’m also connected through Chris Crane who I was teammates with at Ohio State. There were multiple things [that drew me to Orlando] but the biggest thing was the opportunity to come and play and develop and be a big part of a team that is willing to do the necessary things to build a championship-level team.”
The Solar Bears were just as anxious to bring Jardine to town. Even though he is in just his third year, Orlando’s coaching staff saw Jardine as the type of player who could be a leader.
Asked to explain why he thought he would be the kind of player that could help the Solar Bears take the next step, Jardine pointed to both his personality and experience as the main reasons – both of which he hopes will help Orlando to weather a slow start to the season.
“The biggest thing is just for me to be myself. What we need right now is for guys to come to the rink confident and comfortable and to battle through this adversity that we’re facing right now,” he said. “[I] more or less [want to] do my part to get us out of this rut. I’ve only been a professional for three years but [I’ve had] a wide range of experiences. I’ve been a healthy scratch in both leagues. I’ve been a go-to player in both leagues. The biggest thing for me is going out every night with a consistency and an attitude that we need to do the necessary things to win and hopefully that rubs off on other guys.”
Despite the slow start, Jardine thinks that the Solar Bears just need to keep working hard and doing things the right way and everything will take care of itself.
“We’re pumping shots on net. We’re getting chances. We’ve been limiting teams [as far as] chances. Sometimes the game is like this,” he said. “It’s not a time for us to sit on our hands and feel sorry for ourselves. We need to realize how hard it is to win games at the professional level and that we’re going to need to dig deep, going to have to pay a little extra attention to detail and really come together in our structure. It does sound cliche but that’s really all it is – team chemistry and coming together and making sure everybody’s pulling the same rope.”
Contact the author at Don.money@prohockeynews.com
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