As a kid growing in the GTA, Adam Dennis always dreamed about playing goal in the National Hockey League.
His journey was not typical; going undrafted in his first year of eligibility before being snatched by the Buffalo Sabres in the fifth round, 182nd overall in 2005 after capturing a Memorial Cup with the London Knights.
That was an amazing time for the young goaltender who also signed an NHL contract and participated in his first National Hockey League training camp.
But another special moment for an NHL prospect is the moment they find out they are getting their first hockey card.
Adam Dennis admits finding out he was getting his very own Upper Deck "Young Guns" rookie hockey card was a special moment.
"Like most kids, I had a hockey card collection. I had big binders, still have and I was really excited when I got a call," said the now Battalion general manager.
"You get to meet all the big NHL guys you have watched on TV and then you get a call from Upper Deck and they tell you they want to make a card of you and sign some. So obviously you are pretty thrilled to have one of those cards you collected and somebody wants you to sign it for them is an even bigger thrill."
But Adam never expected what would happen when he finally got the chance to see that special piece of hockey memorabilia. Dennis recalled he was at the Adams Mark Hotel in Buffalo where the Upper Deck hockey card rep met him in the lobby to reveal his hockey card and have him sign a bunch of them.
Much to his surprise, when he looked closely at the action shot, he realized the photo on the front of his very first hockey card was not him.
"I remember opening up the box and looking at all these cards laid out and it was a picture of one of the other goalies in the Buffalo system by the name of Adam Berkhoel," Dennis chuckled.
"It had my name on it. On the back it is me but it is a different goalie in the card so. I did not know what to do so I just ran with it. I did have a hockey card after all so I did not want to ruin that and get it taken away, but it is kind of a funny thing. I think I have about 100 of the cards somewhere back at my parent's house. Luckily, Adam is a great guy and we were able to get a good laugh at it. It is not something a lot of guys get to experience and, if anything it brought a bit of value to my card that it may not have had in my playing career."
Dennis went on to play three seasons with the Buffalo Sabres' American Hockey League affiliate teams in Rochester and Portland before sustaining a season-ending hip injury in the 2008-09 season.
That injury gave Adam a lot of time to reflect, and he decided after his recovery that he would take his game overseas to Europe. It was a good fit for Dennis whose mother was born in Italy.
"It was always something I wanted to do. When you sit out six months due to hip surgery you do a lot of contemplating so I picked up my studies and got a call from the Italian National Team coach," recalled Dennis.
He played on a handful of European teams in Italy, Germany, and Austria before another hip injury in 2014 ended his career.
Dennis says he had some really unique experiences with the Italian National Team while overseas.
"We came to a point short of qualifying for the Olympics," Dennis said.
"We beat Germany which was the team we needed to beat but unfortunately we lost to Austria in overtime and they ended up going to the Olympics."
"We helped move the Italian team up to the A pool for the World Championships and then I, unfortunately, had my other hip injury which was on my left hip this time. I just missed out on being on TSN and getting drubbed by Canada about 10-1 in the World Championships but it would have been an amazing experience but nonetheless happy to help the team get up to the A pool for that one year."
That injury spelled the end of his career and the timing to hang up his chest protector and goalie skates was right.
Dennis was getting engaged that summer and was finishing off his schooling.
As an OHL general manager, Dennis uses his experiences to his advantage when trying to relate to young hockey players hoping to get drafted into the NHL too.
"In their draft year the kids put all their eggs in one basket but as I found out first hand, you don't have to get drafted that year, if you don't just focus on getting better each year and the NHL will be watching," he said.
"The longer you can survive in this game and have a good attitude and try to get a little bit better, the more opportunities you are going to give yourself to get those call ups. It is about survival and getting better every day."
As a father of three and an OHL general manager, Dennis is now trying to keep his children and his players excited and motivated through the pandemic.
It has been different working so much from home this year, but he realizes all this family time will be something he will remember.
"It has been nice to spend this quality time with my family," said Dennis.
"My daughter just turned five, my son three, and my youngest is 10 months and she is walking all over the place, so to be able to have that extra time, we are really trying to cherish it as much as we can."
But it is hard for this up and coming hockey executive to keep hockey away from his kids.
"I always said I am not going to force hockey on either of them, but it has just kind of been with the pandemic we decided to make a 10 x 30 rink from Canadian Tire and we put it up in the back yard so they have really taken a liking to skating and they are excited to one day enjoy the great programs here in North Bay minor hockey in both the boys and girls divisions," said Dennis.
"I certainly hope to get a lot busier from an OHL standpoint but we are always going to cherish this time with our young family."
