It was 20 years ago when the late Jim ‘Pokey’ Melanson taught his grandson, Jacob, how to skate on the ice at the Dr. Carson & Marion Murray Community Centre.
From those first steps on the ice in Springhill through his minor hockey career here, Truro and Pictou County, to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in Quebec, Acadie-Bathurst and Sherbrooke to the NHL draft, Jacob Melanson never forgot what his grandfather did for him and what he meant to the community.
That was a key driving force behind his decision to bring a hockey school to Springhill.
“My family has had this in mind for a few years now, and this year was the first opportunity to do it,” Melanson said during a break in the action at the JAHM Hockey Academy recently. “This past year was my first year pro and I thought there was no better time than now to do.”
Jacob Melanson sits with a group of participants in the first JAHM Hockey Academy at the Dr. Carson & Marion Murray Community Centre in Springhill.
The hockey academy was announced last spring with the assistance of the Municipality of Cumberland, which agreed to put ice in the Richard Calder Arena two weeks earlier than normal.
Melanson said his grandparents weren’t far from his thoughts when he was considering the hockey school.
“My grandfather was a big part of minor hockey and baseball here in Springhill. To be able to replicate some of what he did means a lot to me and to my family,” Jacob Melanson said. “Some of the kids in the camp wouldn’t remember who Pokey was, but to be able to bring some of his legacy back in tribute to the community is important to me.”
His mother, Jennifer Hayden Estabrooks, was busy with the hockey school helping with registration and sending players to their dressing rooms and off-ice sessions. She admitted to holding back tears watching him on the ice with the school participants.
“Jim was so active in the community with hockey and baseball and he was the one who taught Jacob to skate in that rink at 18 months old,” she said. “While we live in Amherst, having it in Springhill made it more special because this is where it all began with the parents and tots skating.”
Melanson, who had six goals and 12 assists for 18 points in the American Hockey League with Coachella Valley Firebirds last season, said the message to the participants was a similar one for him.
Jacob Melanson stands with JAHM Hockey Academy instructors Carly Jackson (left) and Mallory Rushton.
“Whatever we told them is basically what we would be telling our younger selves. We’re here to help them as much as we can so they can learn some things to take forward and keep developing their skills,” he said.
The 21-year-old Amherst native is preparing for his third training camp with the NHL’s Seattle Kraken after being taken by the team in the fifth round of the 2021 draft.
“This is a big year for me to show myself and what I can do,” he said. “I hope to get a few games this year and keep working on my skills.”
Holding a hockey school in Springhill is something its coordinator, Ryan Reynolds, has been working on for five years. Working with Melanson’s family and others to put the program together was a pleasure for him, as was working with he municipality to make it a reality.
“Having Jacob involved and running the school with him was the extra kick needed to convince the municipality to put the ice in early. They knew we were serious about it and I think they saw the benefit of the hockey school and the people it brought into Springhill during the week,” Reynolds said. “The restaurants, the gas stations and the grocery stores were busier than normal.”
He said 94 per cent of the participants were from outside Springhill. It equates to more than a hundred players and an equal amount of parents coming to the community each day beneficial.
Municipality of Cumberland Mayor Murray Scott said Jacob bringing his hockey school to Springhill means a lot to the community.
“Jacob never forgot where his roots are and for him to be able to bring his first hockey school to Springhill means so much to the community,” the mayor said. “He’s a role model to the youth of our community. I watched him interacting with the kids the other day and they were so focused on what he was saying and doing. They want to be like him.”
The mayor said he feels the municipality has benefitted from the hockey school with the influx of people into the community.
“It was an economic benefit to the community and it was nice to be able to take advantage of the geothermal energy to put the ice in the arena earlier than we normally do,” the mayor said.
A participant does a drill at the JAHM Hockey Academy at the Dr. Carson & Marion Murray Community Centre in Springhill. More than 100 players participated in the on-ice and off-ice sessions at the centre and adjacent Lions Park.