Laurier Grads Soar is a multi-part series that returns for it's third installment during the 2018-19 season. The segment features former Wilfrid Laurier University athletes and student-leaders in the Athletics and Recreation Department, and the success they have enjoyed since leaving Laurier. Written by award-winning journalist David Grossman, different features will be released throughout the year that will emphasize the role Athletics and Recreation played in helping them achieve success.Eric Calder: Owner and President, Skills Plus HockeyAs a youngster, Eric Calder had this eagerness to learn to skate, grasp the fundamentals of playing ice hockey and, deep down, live the Canadian dream – to one day make it to the National Hockey League.
Clever, obsessed with hope, Calder had a path to being the best.
He eventually made it to the NHL, just a pair of games over two years with the Washington Capitals, but Calder actually accomplished quite a bit more with his ability and determination.
Little did he know back then, that he would have a role in the growth, and success, of Canada's National winter sport in, of all places, the People's Republic of China – a country that will make its debut in hockey when it hosts the 2022 Winter Olympics.
“China doesn't have the infrastructure and yet is mandated to have kids playing hockey by the time the Olympics come in 2022,” said Calder, who spent almost three weeks in an area some four hours north of Beijing, sharing his knowledge of the basics of skating.
“Kids were participating in a pilot project – an opportunity to learn to skate – and my job was to provide video clips of technical expertise, in a digital theatre set-up, that instructors would then translate, and help young people get on the ice.”
Calder used Hockey Coach Vision animated software for the program setup in China as youngsters, by the hundreds, gathered in cube-shaped trailers, listening to what he was teaching with the assistance of translators. They would then head to a pair of man-made outdoor rinks.
While Calder may have been fascinated at the grit and fortitude of Chinese youngsters showing a thirst to learn, he has seen it before and close to home as a Hockey Canada certified skills coach, a personal trainer and an individual, who has been one of the most sought-after instructors in the Kitchener-Waterloo area for years.
In addition to his tenure coaching and lecturing, Calder is the owner and President of the Waterloo-based Skills Plus Hockey – a business, for the past 20 years, that conducts weekly programs, and camps, aimed at improving the level of skill and knowledge of hockey.
“The beauty of this is watching kids learn something new and, for those in China, that country could, one day, become an international contender in hockey,” said Calder. “Years ago, I would never have thought I'd get an opportunity like this.”
As a skater and hockey player, Calder has done quite well.
Some might look back to those early days – a grade 11 student at Bluevale Collegiate who was drafted to the Ontario Hockey League or when he played for Canada's under-20 squad or the time he opened eyes with a remarkable 49-point season with the Waterloo Siskins.
Others point to the days he spent with the Cornwall Royals, when his confidence and glitzy play helped the team dominate the Quebec Hockey League and go on to win a Memorial Cup.
There were also stops with Hershey in the American Hockey League and nine seasons of pro hockey in France and Germany. Calder often reminisces about the days when he was a game-changer and dominant on the ice, even exceeding high expectations in his three seasons with Wilfrid Laurier University.
“I was entrenched at Laurier from a young age – and that's because my father was a Professor (at Laurier),” recalled Calder, the youngest of four siblings. “I was around there a lot – and when the time came, was really excited to be a student and play for the Golden Hawks.”
In the academic world Calder, the son of university graduates, earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree and a Diploma in Business at Laurier. On the ice, he played three years with Laurier and was efficacious in all aspects of the game.
Dominant and confident, with a positive attitude that influenced others, Calder went on to win Laurier's Most Valuable Player award. He was a three-time First Team league all-star and a First-Team all-Canadian and a pillar of strength on the Golden Hawks defence.
As a Golden Hawk, Calder had 26, 31 and 36-point seasons, averaging one-point each game, and just may have the record for career points as a defenceman. Calder returned to Laurier to teach a series of credit courses during a 10-year span.
“Laurier, without a doubt, made me a better person,” said Calder, who was inducted into the Laurier Sports Hall of Fame in 1996 – but was unable to attend the ceremony because he was playing in Germany at the time. “Those were some great years of my life, learned a great deal and met people who became friends for life.”
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