Sean’s Hockey Life, Captaincy, and NHL Dreams

Day 4 · 0:18:26 · Glen Motz · Dan Hartman

• 🏒 Sean captained the Beeton Stingers as a serious defenseman whose job was protecting the goalie.
• 🌟 He started at age five with street shinny, later tried higher-level rep hockey, then returned to play with friends.
• 🥅 His only career plan was the NHL or, failing that, refereeing so he could stay around the game he loved as a Leafs fan.

Testimony details Sean’s elite fitness, leadership on ice, and single-minded hockey aspirations.

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Transcript

Glen Motz · 0:18:26

Did, um, you know, we're going to talk a little bit about his, his hockey, but, you know, is that— can you share with us maybe some of his proudest moments as a hockey player?

Dan Hartman · 0:18:39

Well, he was a captain on his team, and a captain on a hockey team is very well respected and admired by his teammates and a leader. And like I said, Sharm was shy, but not on the ice.

Glen Motz · 0:18:52

He was—.

Dan Hartman · 0:18:53

Hockey was everything to him. So he became captain of his team, probably voted by the other teammates or the coaches. And it's a very important position to be in, right?

Glen Motz · 0:19:05

Are there a couple of games that stick out where, you know, he was very proud of the game?

Dan Hartman · 0:19:12

Um, not exceptional games. I mean, he was a defenseman, so his job was to protect protect the goalie, and he took it very serious. He didn't want anyone coming in on his goalie and scoring. So he didn't get a lot of goals, but most defensemen don't. But he took his job as protecting his goalie very serious.

Glen Motz · 0:19:33

And, and how old was he when he started getting interested in hockey?

Dan Hartman · 0:19:36

5.

Glen Motz · 0:19:37

1. Okay. Was he one of these kids that would play shinny out in the street? And yeah.

Dan Hartman · 0:19:43

Oh, yeah.

Glen Motz · 0:19:43

Yell car when a car is coming.

Glen Motz · 0:19:45

Yeah.

Dan Hartman · 0:19:46

Car, moving net.

Glen Motz · 0:19:47

For the international audience, they won't know what we're talking about. But in Canada, kids go and play hockey in the winter on the street, and they'll have their nets and everything. But when a car comes, you yell car, and everyone clears off the nets and moves so the car can go by. So that's the experience. And then he just jumped into the game as a little kid.

Dan Hartman · 0:20:11

Yeah.

Glen Motz · 0:20:12

Now you, you shared with us that he was a defenseman. So was he always a defenseman or did he— Okay, so he just gravitated.

Dan Hartman · 0:20:23

Well, he was a bigger guy too. And you want your big guys playing defense. They're the ones who can check and protect the goalie. That's their job.

Glen Motz · 0:20:31

So and just again, we've got— we literally have an international audience and some people will not understand the role of defensemen. So can you just go in a little more the types of things that, that Sean would have to do on the ice?

Dan Hartman · 0:20:44

Well, your job is to get the puck off the other team and get it to your forwards. They're the centermen and a right winger and a left winger, and the defensemen are back here to protect the goalie. So it's their job to take the puck off the other team, to dump it down the ice or get it to your forwards so they can skate down the ice and score.

Glen Motz · 0:21:03

Now, he, um, at the time, what team was he playing for?

Dan Hartman · 0:21:07

The Beaten Stingers.

Glen Motz · 0:21:08

And was that the team he was captain of?

Dan Hartman · 0:21:10

Yeah.

Glen Motz · 0:21:11

And you, um, you shared with us that he loved hockey, but I know it even went deeper than that. What was his aspiration to, you know, when he became an adult that he wanted to be doing?

Dan Hartman · 0:21:23

Well, he was hoping to make the NHL, to play professional hockey. He knew that's a— it's a long shot in Canada. It's really hard to become a pro. But he also entertained the thought of being an NHL referee just so he could be around the game if he didn't make hockey. Because I always asked him, what do you want to do with your life, Sean? He'd say, I don't know. I said, you just want to be an NHL player? And he'd say, yeah, pretty much. So he didn't really have any other plan. So that was his goal. And but I said, you know, if you don't make it, you can be a referee.

Glen Motz · 0:21:57

They make a lot of money.

Dan Hartman · 0:21:58

That's a good living and you still get to be around the game. And he thought, yeah, that's, that sounds good.

Glen Motz · 0:22:04

Great.

Glen Motz · 0:22:06

So, so, you know, he, he just had such love for hockey that he wanted to be on the ice.

Dan Hartman · 0:22:12

People talk about hockey in the summertime when they're not even playing. Hey Dad, did you hear about— and I'm like, no.

Glen Motz · 0:22:20

What, what, uh, in the NHL, what was his favorite team?

Dan Hartman · 0:22:24

The Toronto Maple Leafs.

Glen Motz · 0:22:25

Okay.

Dan Hartman · 0:22:26

Yeah.

Glen Motz · 0:22:28

Okay. So that's fun.

Dan Hartman · 0:22:30

And he also knew that they disappoint us every year, but like, he wasn't brainwashed thinking they're going to win the Cup, but he still loved them.

Glen Motz · 0:22:38

I was being kind and avoiding that.