Kitchen returns to his roots with ultimate prize

July 23, 2013 · 0 Comments

The community turned out Sunday to welcome Mike Kitchen and the Stanley Cup to Schomberg. On hand for the ceremonies were Councillors Avia Eek and Bill Cober, Mayor Steve Pellegrini and representatives of Schomberg Minor Hockey.

By Jeff Doner
It has been a while since Stanley Cup champion Mike Kitchen has played hockey in Schomberg, but friends, family and fans made sure to give him the proper greeting when he came back carrying the Stanley Cup last weekend.
Roughly a month after the Chicago Blackhawks shocking game six win over the Boston Bruins, Kitchen said deciding what to do with his day with the Cup was an easy decision.
“I’m glad we could take the Cup there. It was one thing that was really important to me, because I have a lot of fond memories of minor hockey in Schomberg. That’s where it all started. We would get more ice time there and Brian Jackson would just say, ‘just go on out. Don’t worry about it guys.’”
It was those years playing minor hockey in Schomberg that started off his hockey career.
“I had a lot of great volunteer coaches all through minor that all gave up their time to coach us and travel all over the country to games,” he said. “We were fortunate to be in Schomberg at that time. It wasn’t a big population, but we won a lot of championships at that time in Schomberg.”
Kitchen is now part of what is becoming somewhat of a hotbed for successful athletes.
NHLer Nick Boynton brought the Cup to Nobleton a few years back; Carolina Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford to Beeton in 2006; the recently traded Dan Carcillo just two weeks ago to King City and trampolinist Rosie MacLennan brought home Canada’s only gold medal from the 2012 Olympic Summer games.
“It has produced a lot of athletes and I’ve got to give credit,” he said. “Coming up through school I had some phys ed teachers that would really teach the fundamentals in every sport, whether it was in gymnastics, trampoline, track and field or any sport.
“I played rugby in King City and we won the Ontario championships. I was very fortunate to have some really good coaches. And that’s important to have good coaches that can relate to young kids, get their point across and teach them about the game.”
After his minor hockey days he went to play Metro Junior B for the Aurora Tigers at the age of 15. Then in 1974 he was then drafted by the Toronto Marlies in the first round, where he played for three years and won the Memorial Cup in 1975.
Soon after in 1976, “Kitch” was making a name for himself and was drafted by the now defunct Kansas City Scouts, which transformed into the Colorado Rockies.
On the move once again, Kitchen pulled up stakes and moved with the Rockies to New Jersey, where they became the Devils. He would play two more seasons with the Devils before retiring in 1985.
A few years later, Kitchen would find himself back in the game after securing a coaching position with the Toronto Maple Leafs farm team, the Newmarket Saints. Just a year later, he was on the bench as an assistant for the big club in Toronto.
His coach with the Marlies during their Memorial Cup win was Leaf great George Armstrong, who Kitchen credits with getting him into coaching.
“We had a terrific chat the other day. He’s a great man,” he said.
Kitchen spent eight seasons as an assistant with the Leafs until he joined the St. Louis Blues as an assistant as well. Half way through the 2003-04 season, Kitchen was given his first head coaching job in the NHL. He would hold that position until mid-way through the 2006-07 season.
It didn’t take long for Kitchen to land another NHL gig as a coach. He joined the Florida Panthers in 2007 and stayed there until signing on with his current team, the Chicago Blackhawks, in 2010 where he would be a part of an extremely talented Stanley Cup winning team.
Kitchen did point out, however, that everything wasn’t always roses for the Blackhawks in the finals.
“It’s hard to describe, especially the way we won it. Here we are down 2-1 in the game and then we score to tie it up and that’s when we put out our best defensive players and then we score 17 seconds later, which caught everyone off guard.
“Then it was like a blur and when you win it’s just surreal and you just don’t realize it and I feel like I still don’t realize it. That Cup sure didn’t feel like 35 pounds, it felt like five pounds when I took it up over my head – just a great feeling.”
“It’s something that is as special as everyone has said it is. I’ve heard more stories from friends, former players and they tell me about the experience and it’s unbelievable.”
When the team eventually won, Kitchen said head coach Joel Quenneville (who has now two Stanley Cups) was the one who prepared him for what would happen.
“Joel was terrific. He said, ‘make sure you stay close by.’ Being a newbie at winning I wasn’t sure, but I was hanging around on the ice and right after the last player had it, they gave it to Joel and he handed it right over to me and it was obviously my first time. Unbelievable feeling and a very classy move by Joel.”
Having been a player for so many years, Kitchen said his favourite part of the whole thing was taking in the celebration afterwards.
“What was really special was watching the players in the dressing room,” he explained. “What they go through for two months of a real grind. It’s amazing the injuries the players go through and the fatigue level – to watch them really release that energy in the dressing room was tremendous. It was unbelievable how they were so happy for one another. Real genuine.”
For the time being, Kitchen will remain an assistant for the Blackhawks and said he wouldn’t scoff at an opportunity to once again be a head coach somewhere, but quickly added that he is perfectly happy where he is.
“That room was just very coachable. This year was just one of those dream years when we go the first 24 games without a loss, win the Jennings, win the President’s trophy and win the Stanley Cup, so it’s quite special.”
Between raising the Cup over his head for the first time on the ice and then again at home in front of his friends and family, Kitchen has done what every young hockey player dreams of.
“It’s quite a feeling. Even when you’re a young boy playing on a pond, up against a garage door or even in a rink thinking that you’d like to win the Stanley Cup, that amazing piece of silverware. Professionally I played nine years and now I’ve coached for 24 years in the NHL and now finally after 33 years in the NHL I got the opportunity to win it, which was unbelievable … it is a tremendous, tremendous feeling.”