Moms really are the heartbeat of any family.
So, yes, you can bet the blood was pumping at full throttle when 23 of the players’ moms climbed aboard Air Flames to accompany their boys on a two-game swing through southern California.
“She's ecstatic,” said MacKenzie Weegar, whose mom, Louise, has arrived from Ottawa to enjoy her first-ever NHL road trip. “This is our chance to say thank you.
“And enjoy some Cali sun as well.”
While ‘Take Your Son or Daughter To Work’ Days are something of a relic in modern times, think about how rare it is for a child to treat their parents in this fashion.
That it comes under the iconic, big-league canopy – with chartered flights, team dinners and all the accoutrements – only adds to what promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for both mother and son.
“She's probably a little nervous because she hasn't met anybody yet or got to experience the NHL lifestyle herself,” Weegar said. “For her to meet all you guys, meet the media, see what a game day looks like, the travel, how we tape our sticks… everything. Obviously, it's going to be a little emotional at times, too, because it's been a long road to help me get here and to see what we go through on a day-to-day basis. So, I'm really excited.”
You can see a glint in Weegar’s eye when asked to describe his mom and recall any specific memories that stand out from his childhood.
He briefly pauses.
“She's courageous. That's the one word for her,” Weegar said. “I won't go into too much detail, but she's showed a ton of courage in her lifetime and I love that about her.”
It’s a venerable quality – one clearly inherited by MacKenzie, who was overlooked by teams in the OHL and instead cut his teeth with his hometown Nepean Raiders of the Central Canada Hockey League when he was younger.
At 17, and after a strong start with the Raiders, the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL came calling.
But Weegar stayed – convinced the CCHL team that first gave him a chance were on a championship trajectory.
And he was right.
While it may have been the road less travelled, it’s because of this that Weegar looks back on that period of his life with pride, having never given up on his dream.
Naturally, Louise played a big role in helping him persevere, beginning with those long talks (and even tears) when he needed her love, support and unequivocal, North-star guidance that only moms know well.
“She pushed me,” Weegar said. “The days that I didn't want to go work out or the days that I didn't want to wake up and go to hockey, she made me go. She was always there to support me.
“If I was playing tough, she was always there to support me and if I was playing well, she was always there to bring me down a couple notches, too,” he adds with a laugh.
“I hope she feels a lot of gratitude on this trip, I really do. This trip is for them to have a blast and I hope we get the four points while we're there, too.”
Indeed, this remains a business trip for the Flames, who are looking to build on some of their recent road success and establish the sort of consistency that’s made them one of the NHL’s top home teams.
But who doesn’t feel some extra motivation when mom is watching proudly from the stands?
That’s what the players will be tapping into, while at the same time, creating lifelong memories with the person that made this crazy journey all possible.
“I know we've got a mom's dinner when we first get there, and then the second day we have practice and have the night to ourselves,” Weegar said. “We're not really sure what we're going to do; maybe take her shopping a little bit, go down to the beach. Just hang out. Maybe talk about how we got to where we are and have a couple heart-to-hearts, I don't know.
“Whatever they're feeling, I want them to have fun and make this trip one that she'll remember forever.”
