Ference admits soft spot for Canucks despite 2011 Stanley Cup series

While the Vancouver Canucks have picked up plenty of praise along the way this season, they’ve earned at least one unexpected supporter: a member of the notorious 2011 Boston Bruins.

Back in 2011, Bruins defenceman Andrew Ference was known for his hard-nosed style of play. And with the Bruins winning the Stanley Cup in Vancouver after a gruelling seven-game series full of drama, Ference looks back fondly on the biggest accomplishment of his career.

“I think there was there was plenty of fire in that series. We weren’t lacking emotion, that’s for sure, that was an incredible series,” Ference said in an interview with Daily Hive over NHL All-Star weekend in Toronto.

But living on Vancouver Island these days, Ference admitted that he’s not exactly opposed to seeing the Canucks’ success this year, even as the Vancouver-Boston rivalry seems to live on more than a decade later.

Former Bruins captain Zdeno Chara claimed in 2022 that Canucks players were practicing their celebrations after taking a 2-0 lead in the series. When asked about it, Ference said he heard about Chara’s story but didn’t see the alleged incident take place… and that he’d be alright if Vancouver ended up winning a Stanley Cup one of these years.

“It’s funny, living in BC now… I’m surrounded by Canucks fans. I would actually love for them to win [a Stanley Cup], just so we could put that to bed and they can be happy and have a Cup,” Ference said.

It’s not just the fans he’s finding connections with based on the infamous 2011 series, as Ference played on the same team as former Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa at an NHL alumni event in January.

Ference is both coaching high school hockey and working for the NHL, a role he’s held since shortly after his retirement in 2017.

One of the initiatives Ference is working with is the NHL and NHLPA-affiliated Future Goals program, a free 12-week course designed to teach STEM concepts to young students via hockey-related examples, such as learning about kinetic energy through the motion of a hockey puck.

“Some of my best teachers I’ve ever had, just taught in a different way that I could actually relate it to the real world,” Ference said.

Over NHL All-Star weekend in Toronto, Ference helped to host a Kids Day at the league’s fan fair to reward hundreds of students who had gone through the 12-week course.

Ference himself has a deep passion for learning, completing his degree online via Harvard Extension School while in the final years of his NHL career with the Edmonton Oilers.

Named the NHL’s first director of social impact, growth and fan development in 2018, Ference has used programs like Future Goals to help promote both STEM and sustainable living concepts to kids across North America.

“I wanted to be involved in bringing things I was doing at home, to care about the environment, so that to a bigger level. And so the NHL offered that platform for me,” he said.

The league itself finds it important to help use notable players like Ference as a spokesperson for their various initiatives.

“We have to have a social responsibility to help kids and families really build corporate citizens more than anything,” added Rob Knesaurek, NHL senior vice president of youth development and industry growth. “It’s amazing when you can get an NHL alum sitting on the stage saying he loves science and telling a kid that might not relate to the playing side of him but relate to the personal side of him and he says, ‘I love science’ and ‘I also like math’ and it brings that humility to them.”

And while only a very small percentage of kids with an interest in hockey will ever make a living by playing it, the league is hoping that its education programs can help forge different career paths and interests.

“I think it’s also students understanding that there are opportunities for them in hockey, even if they aren’t a professional athlete,” said Aliya Meaney, senior director of fan development for the NHL. “It’s important for kids to understand that STEM is everywhere, and there are opportunities in STEM in every field.”

More information on getting involved with the Future Goals program can be found on the NHL’s website.

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