Ty Nelson didn’t need a long explanation to understand why a new neighborhood sport court matters.
The Kraken prospect grew up in a 700-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment in a part of Toronto marked by gang violence, and he remembers what it took just to find a place to play. So when he showed up last week for the opening of the Hubbard Homestead Sport Court in Northgate, he wasn’t there as a ceremonial guest. He was there as someone who knew exactly what a space like that can mean.
“We really would have to leave the neighborhood to play ball hockey and stuff,” Nelson, 22, said before being sent back to the AHL this week after scoring twice in two Kraken preseason games over the weekend.
He added that when he was younger, there was a park across from his home where kids could play different sports. But as he got older, things changed around the neighborhood.
“When I was really young there was a park across the street from my house where we could play a whole bunch of sports. But then when I started getting older, the neighborhood took a turn for the worse and so we had to travel about three miles away to a school just to play basketball or run on the track or anything like that.”
The court at Hubbard Homestead Park sits just a block from Kraken Community Iceplex and gives the area a new multi-sport option for street hockey, basketball and soccer. It is the fifth such court in the region and the third opened this year by the team’s One Roof Foundation.
Nelson was joined by fellow prospects Oscar Fisker Molgaard, Jagger Firkus, Tyson Jugnauth and Kaden Hammell, along with Kraken mascot Buoy, as they led a ball hockey clinic and relay races with students from two Title 1 elementary schools. Kraken radio play-by-play announcer Everett Fitzhugh handled emcee duties, and ball hockey sticks and Brooks running shoes were handed out.
For Nelson, the appearance fit right into the lessons he grew up with at home.
“Anytime you can give back that’s something I really strive for and it’s something my parents taught me when I was little,” he said, noting that his father, Rick, worked as a steelworker and his mother, Tracy, worked in insurance while both put in overtime to support his competitive hockey career. “Anything that you can do to, you know, help out or pay it forward.
That's something that we always try to do. And yeah, this is awesome.
I love being able to be a part of these.”
The site also carries practical value for the surrounding community. It is within walking distance of James Baldwin Elementary and Olympic View Elementary, both Title 1 schools serving underrepresented communities, as well as Refugee Women’s Alliance’s newest early learning center. The neighborhood around it also includes a growing concentration of low-income housing.
King County put $50,000 toward the project, and Councilmember Rod Dembowski, who chairs the county’s budget committee, attended the opening. Dembowski told the crowd of dozens of kids and parents that he had played floor hockey at Dimmitt Middle School in Skyway, giving him a personal connection to the event.
“So, I know the fun, the joy, the teamwork, the camaraderie, and just the health benefits that you can get from this,” Dembowski said. “So, we are excited, King County, to support this work. It's great to see young people here in Northgate have a great, brand new, beautiful park and place to play.”
Firkus, who also scored a goal in the weekend preseason games before being assigned back to Coachella Valley this week, found himself racing against some of the students and Buoy. The competition wasn’t exactly even.
“Those girls were quick,” he said, laughing. “They weren't joking. Buoy also had a disadvantage in that big suit.”
Still, Firkus said the point was bigger than the races or the goals. He said the kids got a chance to meet players in a sport many of them may not have known much about.
“They kept saying I was a professional ball hockey player - which might not be true,” he deadpanned. “Maybe I tried it once in my past life. But I think just interacting with the kids in a sport we grew up loving is why all of us are here right now.”
For Nelson, that was the heart of it. He said seeing kids pick up sticks and try the game for the first time brought him back to why he loved it in the first place.
“I love being able to be a part of these and make these kids’ day,” he said. “They're playing ball hockey.
I mean, I loved to do this when I was their age, and it's something I still love to do when I get a chance to. It’s awesome being here and just seeing the smiles.
“And you know, most of these kids have never played hockey before, so it’s awesome being able to be a part of their first time.”
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OBrien still remains in the conversation for the NHL roster, and there is another wrinkle working in his favor if the Kraken decide he needs more time elsewhere. Under the new league rule, one 19-year-old first-round pick can be sent to the AHL if he does not make the NHL roster, giving Seattle a little more flexibility with how it handles his development while this latest injury keeps his status in flux. [Read more 🡒]