Back in the day, when the Winnipeg Jets and later the Montreal Canadiens operated their American Hockey League farm teams out of St. John’s for six years beginning in 2012, chances are teenager Cole Hillier was the only boy amongst his buddies to be routinely running a washing machine and doing laundry daily.
And sharpening skates.
Hillier was a just-turned-13-year-old when he started as a dressing room attendant for the AHL’s St. John’s IceCaps, and that introduction to hockey has led to a full-time gig in the game for the Torbay product, via Gonzaga high school, as the equipment manager for the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen.
Hillier got the job after serving as a full-time assistant with the Icemen last season.
Welcome May, Hillier, and Bayruns to the Icemen Hockey Personnel team 😁 #FeelTheFreeze
— Jacksonville Icemen (@JaxIcemen) August 22, 2019
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More details ➡️ https://t.co/XBraXgD1CK pic.twitter.com/h5xILt04kW
That Hillier, now 19, has found himself working in hockey full-time should not be a surprise. His father, Mark, is the Winnipeg Jets’ director of amateur scouting, and the man who’s been running the Jets’ draft table the past few years.
Mark Hillier originally came to St. John’s years ago from the Toronto Maple Leafs’ organization to work with the AHL’s St. John’s Maple Leafs.
When Cole came along, and grew up in metro St. John’s, he picked up a few hours nightly in the IceCaps’ room, working under equipment manager Ian Cox (now the Ottawa Senators’ head equipment guy), and assistant Shannon ‘Shaq’ Coady under the Jets, and Eric Levesque and Francis St. Pierre when the Canadiens were in town.
Along the way, he met a few other hockey people who would help out in his career path.
Like Jason Christie, Jacksonville’s coach.
Christie. who played for the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, was an assistant coach with the Chicago Wolves when current Jets’ general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff was the Wolves’ GM, and served as coach of the Ontario Reign when that club was the Jets’ ECHL affiliate and the IceCaps were Winnipeg’s AHL farm team.
For a number of summers, Christie and Hillier would meet in Winnipeg when the latter was flown out to work at the team’s summer development camp.
“They were looking for an assistant here (in Jacksonville), and he gave me a call,” Hillier said. “Jason knew about my work. People like him and Coxie and Shaq and, of course, Zinger (Winnipeg’s assistant general manager Craig Heisinger). They’ve all really helped me along the way.”
As head equipment manager, Hillier has an assistant in Nick Bayruns, a New York native. While he’s still hands-on, of course, Hillier is a little busier on the administrative side of things, scheduling orders and managing budgets.
But there’s still a ton of work to do. Hockey’s equipment guys and training staff are widely known to work a hundred hours per week.
When they’re not setting up their own dressing room, equipment guys are always there to help each other out by helping set up the visiting team’s room as well.
When they’re on the road, a lot of work comes in the wee hours of the morning when a team’s bus pulls into the arena. Then the equipment guys are back in again for the morning skate.
“Yeah, it’s a ton of hours, but it’s a labour of love,” Hillier said. “It’s what I want to do.
“And there are a lot worse places to be than Jacksonville, Florida.”
“It’s what I want to do. And there are a lot worse places to be than Jacksonville, Florida.” — Cole Hillier
Growing up, Hillier played hockey – and golf and baseball, too – and while he admits there was always a love for the game, he had a sneaky suspicion a pro hockey career probably wasn’t in the cards.
So a career in the dressing room as an equipment manager isn’t a bad second choice.
“I love the game, I enjoy being around the room and I enjoy doing (equipment) repairs,” he said. “Isn’t that what it’s about, enjoying doing what you do?”
Hillier’s career path mirrors that of Dave Roper’s, the Mount Pearl native who is the Toronto Maple Leafs’ equipment assistant.
Roper dabbled in equipment with local junior and senior hockey teams, eventually became involved with Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence stuff, met a few people, landed a job in Louisiana of the Southern Pro league and then with ECHL Norfolk two years ago. Last season was his first with the Leafs.
“I know who he is, of course,” Hillier said of Roper, “but we’ve never met. Strange how our careers are very similar.”
With the exception of one point: Roper in the NHL.
Hillier hopes to get there in due course.
Twitter: @telyrobin
