Every Sunday, a Sun staffer gets to know a local sports personality a little better. Today, hockey writer Ken Wiebe goes into the corner with Manitoba Moose defenceman Travis Ramsey, one of two Californians on the roster.
SUN: What do you remember about the first time you hit the ice back in California?
RAMSEY: The first time I went was public skating. I was pretty young, I'm guessing nine or 10. My dad went out with me and you had to rent skates. They were figure skates and my mom used to figure skate when she was younger, so she told me to watch out for the toe pick. That was the hardest thing to figure out. The second time I went, I had to wear knee pads because I was always falling forward.
SUN: Did you enjoy skating right away or did it have to grow on you?
RAMSEY It was a fun thing to do, just like going to movies with your buddies. I started getting into roller hockey and then I got more interested and decided I wanted to try ice hockey.
SUN: When was the first year you played organized hockey?
RAMSEY: It was a travelling Bantam A team and I was probably around 13 or 14. I got into the Kings run (to the Stanley Cup final) in 1993, so hockey was big on our street. We all had roller blades, so we started to play. The YMCA in our neighbourhood put boards around the parking lot and organized a roller hockey league on asphalt. A few years later they built an ice rink and guys started going over there. It was a lot of fun. Vic Venasky, who played for the Kings in the 1970s, was the Bantam A coach and he was the rink manager. He saw me going to the rink every day and knew I was working hard. That year I played with some players who knew what they were doing and that helped me out a lot.
SUN: What other sports did you play growing up?
RAMSEY: Basketball, baseball, soccer when I was younger. My two serious sports after that were hockey and water polo. At one point I had to decide, so I squashed water polo. It was actually a tough decision. There were some scholarship offers and I was going to try out for the junior national team.
SUN: What position did you play in water polo?
RAMSEY: I was a goalie. I had the long arms, so they put me in goal.
SUN: How did you end up going to Maine University?
RAMSEY: Their NCAA championship in 1999 was in Anaheim and I got to watch it. They were my favourite team since then and when I was playing junior hockey, they showed some interest so that was an easy decision. I took communications and minored in business.
SUN: How would you describe your experience with Salmon Arm of the BC Hockey League?
RAMSEY: It was my last year of junior and I had no idea about the team or the league, but I knew some other Californians went there. I gave it a shot and it was the best decision I ever made. I don't think I would have been recruited if I had stayed in Montana.
SUN: What do you remember about the first Kings game you went to?
RAMSEY: It was at the Great Western Forum and I had only seen games on TV, so it was such a cool experience. With how fast it was, it was totally different than on TV. My dad Taylor and I didn't know many of the rules, but after that moment we both started learning the game together.
SUN: What was it like for a Californian learning the game to get to watch Wayne Gretzky play for the Kings?
RAMSEY: I remember him playing with Marty McSorley and Luc Robitaille and I was fascinated there was a guy who followed him around the ice who's job was to protect him. Gretzky broke his record in L.A. and I thought it was pretty cool for him to be in our town. All the kids my age kind of took an interest in hockey. We never really looked at it before, but we were paying attention and rooting for him. We felt fortunate to have a player like that in our backyard.
ken.wiebe@sunmedia.ca
