Edmonton Oilers defenseman. Community leader. Sustainability scholar. Stanley Cup Champion. Captain.
There are a lot of way describe Andrew Ference, who is not your typical NHL defenseman. When not on the ice or practicing hard, he is heavily involved in the Edmonton community, helping with Children’s Wishes or working with sustainability. He’s even earned his graduate certificate from Harvard’s Extension School for Corporate Sustainability and Innovation, all while serving a role with the Oilers.
However, Ference definitely finds that being an active member of the Edmonton community is perhaps one of the most important things. He believes it is important because “it makes the city stronger,” and that “it’s important for high profile people in the city to lead by example and be involved in positive city building.” Not to mention, he benefits from his contributions as well.
“Selfishly, being heavily involved makes my life better,” Ference said. “I would be missing out on meeting so many great people and enjoying the many great activities and initiatives that go in the cities that I have lived if I holed myself up at home.”
The 37-year-old veteran was recognized by the NHL with the King Clancy award in 2014 for his humanitarian efforts. However, they wouldn’t stop there; Ference continued — and still continues — to play a big role in the community around him.
Earlier in the season, Children’s Wish approached Ference with the idea of helping grant a wish for a young girl named Mable, a six-year-old leukemia patient. With the help of Ference, Children’s Wish granted her wish, having her save Ference and play the role of “Spider-Mable.”
“I was just lucky to participate in their fantastic day which was created for Mable,” Ference said. “I had a great time and felt very lucky to be a part of making that day special for her and know that her story touched people from all over.”
Ference went on to describe how Children’s Wish approached him with the idea, but he does believe that Mable truly is super.
“They approached me with the idea and I just suggested being in full gear and bringing Connor to make it a little more fun. I’ve actually seen Mable plenty of times since then, and I am proud to tell you that she might just be a real superhero… she’s been busy raising money for other kid’s wishes and involved with a lot more charitable organizations since her wish day.”
Not only did Ference get involved with Children’s Wish, he also went on to help a friend bring “Pride Tape” into the National Hockey League. The tape is rainbow-colored and represents LGBTQ athletes.
According to Ference, a friend of his approached him with the idea.
“Pride Tape is amazing!” Ference said. “I have many friends in the LGBTQ community and view any obstacles they face as a human rights issue. LGBTQ athletes deserve to be a part of the team as much as any teammate, as their sexuality has absolutely no bearing on their ability to be a good person.”
Ference also believes that it is incredibly important for players to be open and supportive of their fellow athletes, no matter what their sexuality is.
“It’s important for straight athletes to be allies and show our support so that everyone can be comfortable just being themselves without fear of exclusion,” Ference said. “I have a friend who spent his entire childhood in the closet and faced a lot of problems as a young adult because of his fear of coming out to his family and friends. I feel horrible that he didn’t feel safe enough around us to just be himself and saw what a positive change it made in his life when he finally did feel comfortable enough to come out.
“I would love for every generation to have less and less of these stories. I think most of the NHL guys feel the same way, the younger generations don’t really see it as a big deal and supporting something like pride tape comes easy.”
Not only is he a huge member of the surrounding community, but he has had quite the career. However, one of his favorite memories is known with his hands in the air and a Stanley Cup hoisted above his head. Ference won the Stanley Cup in 2011, when the Boston Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks in an intense, exciting seven game series.
“It’s almost impossible to put the feeling into words,” Ference said. “Before winning it, I had probably played out the moment in my head around a million times, from skating on the pond as a kid through my years in the NHL. When it finally happens, it’s a little surreal.
“In [the] playoffs, you almost become a sociopath so that you are able to clear your head from distractions and move on from either the wins or the losses with no problem. Every shift is a fresh page and up until we scored the empty netter, I didn’t allow myself to even take my focus off of the next shift.”
Then, the Bruins put the puck into the empty net, and he knew that the Bruins would be the ones to hoist the Cup.
“But when that empty netter went in, I finally knew we would win, and was able to totally soak up the last bit of the game and actually enjoy it,” Ference said. “In a way, I’m glad I won it later in my career so that I could enjoy it with my kids and make the most of my day with it, which was one of my favorite days ever.”
In 2013, Ference returned to his hometown to continue his NHL career and signed a four-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers and soon became the captain. However, he is sure that the “C” on his jersey never phased who he was.
“I believe in leading by example, so I’ve never been a big cheerleader in the room or anything like that,” Ference said of his captaincy. “I’ve been lucky to play with some amazing players and leaders and try to follow their example of honesty and hard work.”
In the end, Ference believes that in order to be a leader, one needs to put in effort, and doesn’t need to be dubbed a “captain” to lead.
“I think it’s the leader’s job to be the hardest worker, especially when no one is necessarily watching as opposed to the guys who know how to turn up the work ethic at times of convenience,” Ference said. “Wearing the ‘C’ shouldn’t and doesn’t change the way you lead; you should just be yourself regardless of a letter on your jersey and always strive to be a strong link in the chain.”
As a veteran with the Edmonton Oilers, Ference didn’t have roommates on the road. However, he did have a great group of guys in the locker room, and in the end, some of his best NHL memories lie in his roots. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins 208th overall, and made his way into the league, splitting time between Pittsburgh and their Wilkes-Barre Scranton AHL-affiliate Penguins.
According to Ference, “the funniest stories all come from Darius Kasparaitis,” who was his teammate in Pittsburgh.
“He had some unbelievable stories from growing up in Russia and when he first came over to play in the NHL without knowing any English,” Ference said of his former teammate. “He always told us about his best game ever, where he got about 20 points, but it was against a team of poor kids in Russia, so the goalie had no skates and the 10-year-olds on the other team were smoking on the bench.”
On May 24, Ference earned a Graduate-level certificate from Harvard’s Extension School in Corporate Sustainability and Innovation. He has worked with the NHL and the NHLPA’s “green” programs, and according to Ference, he wanted to get more involved, which inspired him to pursue more in the field of sustainability.
“I think education is incredibly important and wanted to make sure that I was giving myself the best chance to be involved in this field when I am done playing, Ference said.
Ference is currently working as a partner with Fifth Season Ventures, a venture capital fund that “provides seed and early stage venture capital to entrepreneurs and companies focused mitigating the environmental effects of our societies resource utilization.”
“I’ve been doing a lot of work with one of our companies, Full Cycle Bioplastics, which converts organic waste into fully biodegradable plastic; amazing stuff,” Ference said. “Being involved with that and through school I have already had some incredible meetings with companies like IKEA and Patagonia and a few cities as well.”
As he looks to getting more involved in sustainability, there are still questions that lie with Ference’s future in Edmonton. This season was interrupted when he injured his hip and then had to get surgery.
“I’m currently recovering and rehabbing from hip surgery and won’t really know what the future holds until that process is done, but I’m good with it either way,” Ference said. “I’ve worked hard and been very lucky to have a long career and am fully ready to be more involved in other things if that’s what is in the cards for me. In the meantime, I’m staying fit and working hard to get my hip back as close as I can to normal over the next few months.”
Either way, whether he is hanging up the skates or not, the impact that Ference has had in the National Hockey League is one that will resonate with him, fans and the league for years to come. A humanitarian, environmentalist, NHL defender and community leader, Ference continues to work toward his goals, on and off the ice.
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