Anderson-Dolan thankful for his path to NHL

Jaret Anderson-Dolan remembers an Instagram message he received in 2017 like it was yesterday.

The makers of Pride Tape reached out to the 17-year-old Calgary, AB product, who at the time was a member of the Western Hockey League’s Spokane Chiefs.

“By the time the draft was coming around, the story about my moms had come out, and they reached out and said ‘If we send some tape, do you want to use it?’”

His moms are Fran and Nancy, and like many parents in Canada, the United States, or anywhere in the world, they had sacrificed a lot for Anderson-Dolan to live out his hockey dream.

So the reply to the Instagram message was an easy one.

“Obviously I did and was lucky that my teammates supported it,” Anderson-Dolan recalled. “I think the first year we did it, every guy had the pride tape on their stick. I remember Kailer Yamamoto - he’s one of my good buddies in junior - he taped his whole stick, top to bottom, in pride tape. I was lucky to have that support from teammates and the organization, and the city of Spokane as well.”

And it wasn’t just his own team taking part, either.

“I remember one of the games we did the pride tape we were playing the Tri-City Americans,” he said. “I had a couple of other buddies - Michael Rasmussen and other guys I knew through the same agency and grew up playing against them - I messaged them before and said ‘hey we’re doing this tonight, are you guys interested?’ I think pretty much their whole team put the tape on as well.”

Fran and Nancy’s impact on Anderson-Dolan’s career began long before 2017, obviously. Now 25-years-old, the second-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings vividly remembers the backyard rink they had in Calgary when he was young.

“Even though we had one right down the street, they made one in the backyard,” said Anderson-Dolan. “I remember my brother (Dorian) and I being out there for hours with him until it got dark - and even after it got dark. That’s where the love for the game grows. There are so many sacrifices that parents make for the kids to play any sport, but for hockey in particular. My moms definitely did that for us.”

They didn’t just provide a playing surface for their boys, they also provided the instruction – on and off the ice – especially early on.

“Fran played at a high level, so it was mostly her doing the teaching of the hockey side,” said Anderson-Dolan. “Nancy was hands-off in that sense, but they both played when they were younger and I remember going to their games as a kid and hanging out at the rink a lot.”

Nancy was hands-off when it came to things on the ice, but off the ice she applied her skills as a nutritionist to instill good eating habits for her boys at a young age.

“When you grow up doing that, you don’t really know anything else and it builds good habits. I’m definitely grateful for that,” he said. “When you’re younger you don’t appreciate it. You think that you want junk food here and there. Now looking back on it, it’s a habit that’s good for overall health and especially if you go along playing a high level of sports like hockey.”

Anderson-Dolan took all those lessons and has earned his way into 127 National Hockey League games and another 115 at the American Hockey League level. He’s represented his country, suiting up for Canada at the Under-17s, Under-18s, and the World Junior championship – and was part of the leadership group in all those tournaments.

He won gold with Canada at the 2021 IIHF World Hockey Championship (on a team that also included Winnipeg Jets forward Cole Perfetti), and his NHL resume includes stops in Los Angeles and Nashville before signing with Winnipeg on July 2, 2024.

It’s tough to point out a favourite memory from that type of resume, but his first NHL game with the Kings in October of 2018 is tough to beat.

“Both my moms were there, my brother was well,” Anderson-Dolan said. “Once you crack in and play an NHL game, it’s so exciting for myself obviously, but rewarding for my moms to see after the sacrifice that parents go through to put their kids through sports. I remember seeing a video of them after and tearing up. It makes you emotional.”

His moms still live in Calgary, and look forward to making a trip to Winnipeg to see their son play once he heals up from the broken foot he sustained in the preseason.

And that will be another special night, just like the first time he used Pride Tape back in 2017.

“When you have the spotlight we have as professionals, or even as a junior hockey player, you have young kids looking to you as role models,” Anderson-Dolan said. “That’s something that hits home for me with my moms. It’s kind of a no-brainer in both those senses. I’ve had boys and girls come up to me and say ‘I have two moms’ or ‘I was adopted and have two dads.’ They look up to me and that’s pretty cool, just to know they have someone else that had the same upbringing and obviously it turned out good for me.

“It’s pretty cool to be that role model for kids.”