From childhood to the NHL: Players share memories from their hometowns

Behind every athlete, there is a story. For National Hockey League players, it's no different.

While the ice hockey stars travel across the United States and Canada playing 82 regular-season games a season, they all had to work their way into the league and their hockey journeys began somewhere.

Some players choose to stay in their adopted cities over the summer during the offseason. Others, including many from Europe, return home for a few months to catch up with friends and family, or spend time in their native countries.

Olympics.com asked a range of NHLers for their favourite memory of their hometown growing up, and how much time they still get to spend back home. Many responded with a memory of how they got started playing ice hockey — a fundamental recollection of their hometowns.

This is what they said.

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Victor Hedman's "special" hockey town

Many players said their favourite memory of their hometown was learning to skate, then picking up the sport of ice hockey.

Perhaps that is even more so when your small town has produced some of the greatest hockey players to come from your country, as in Victor Hedman's case.

The Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman is from Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, a town of not even 50,000 people on the country's eastern coast.

In addition to Hedman, the likes of NHL legends Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Peter Forsberg, and current Colorado Avalanche winger Victor Olofsson all come from Örnsköldsvik.

"I mean, everything is so close [there]," Hedman said. "I can ride the bike to my school, to hockey practice. The history of hockey, the players that have come out of my hometown, when you look at it, it's kind of ridiculous for a town with 50,000 people.

"It's the best place. And sometimes you ride [your bike along] the ocean, you boat a lot and the sun stays up pretty much 24-7, so it's a special place."

Youth sports memories and playing sports outdoors

For players who grew up in colder climes, skating and playing hockey outdoors during the winter was a fundamental part of their childhood, memories which last through to this day.

Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche, one of Team Canada's first six preliminary roster picks for 2026, recalled: "Obviously being from Calgary, Alberta, being born and raised there, just so many years spending time on the outdoor rink in the winter.

"It's just such a passion for Canadians and being able to kind of make friends and enjoy the time that you have, just extra ice time, anywhere in the city that was outdoors. It's probably one of my favourite memories growing up."

Team USA and Vegas Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel, who is from Massachusetts, a traditional U.S. hockey hotbed, agreed.

"We had a lot of ponds in the town, so I remember as a kid growing up playing a lot of pond hockey. You'd get kids from around the town; there was a pond behind this little firehouse by Roberts Field in Chelmsford. And when it would freeze over, you'd get pond hockey games going and kind of be out there all day.

"It was a lot of fun and just really fond memories there."

Makar's Team Canada teammate Sam Reinhart, of the Florida Panthers, grew up in West Vancouver, British Columbia. His childhood hockey memories don't so much revolve around outdoor rinks but rather playing minor hockey at the Hollyburn Country Club.

"There was a bigger ice and a smaller ice, and most of the games were on the bigger ice. Friday nights they had the Bantam A team followed by the Midget A team there.

"So my best memories were playing in Bantam, and while the Midget game was going on, you take half your gear off, go to the small ice and play hockey for another three, four hours, just for fun with friends. There was always access to ice so those were probably some of my best memories growing up."

For others, it was a mix of sports, not just hockey.

New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier, who grew up in an Alpine community, said enjoying the environment remains one of his favourite things from his childhood.

"My hometown is Naters in Switzerland, in province Valais," he said. "My favourite memory there is, I think, just playing hockey, playing soccer — football, I can say here football! — playing football, or go skiing a lot because I grew up kind of in the Alps. Just all those kinds of memories where I was young and I was able to try all the different sports around where I grew up."

Football was also the preferred pastime of Anaheim Ducks and Czechia goalie Lukáš Dostál, whose hometown may be the smallest of all the players interviewed for this piece.

"I was born in Brno, but I don't remember much from there because then I moved to a small village called Bedřichovice — it has like 300 people in it, very small village next to Brno.

"I spent a lot of time outside playing with my friends, playing a lot of soccer growing up. It's a small little village, so I was just outside the whole time."

Quinn Hughes' mixed upbringing

For some, their childhood meant moving around. Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes, one of Team USA's provisional first six, is an example of this.

Hughes was born in Florida when his father worked for a minor-league hockey team in Orlando, but his family spent time in many different cities when he was young. The defenceman had his early years in Boston, Massachusetts, before his dad moved the family to Toronto, Canada.

That is where Hughes remembers the most about his first forays into hockey, even though he had begun skating in Boston.

"We kind of grew up in Toronto," Hughes said. "I was there from 8 to 15, because of my dad's work, which I feel really blessed, because it's kind of like the Mecca of hockey.

"And it was fun for us to grow up there," he added, referring also to his younger brothers — and fellow NHLers — Jack and Luke, who both play on the New Jersey Devils.

"I just remember like playing mini sticks when we were young kids around the ages of 7, 8, 9, 10. And we'd watch Hockey Night in Canada and Don Cherry would be on. And we would all do that."

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