BY SCOTT TAYLOR Photos courtesy Buffalo Sabres and Dr . Cal Botterill

Born in Edmonton and raised in Winnipeg , Jason Botterill and his sister Jennifer grew up on the outdoor rink at Wildewood Community Centre . He ’ s a former NHL player who spent the past 10 years working up the Pittsburgh Penguins ’ executive ranks and as a tribute to his work in Pittsburgh , Penguins GM Jim Rutherford referred to Botterill as the “ key architect ” of the Pens ’ 2009 and 2016 Stanley Cup-winning teams . Now he ’ s taking what he learned in Winnipeg , at the University of Michigan and with the Penguins and putting it to work as general manager of the Buffalo Sabres . Despite a very slow start , it ’ s hard to imagine that the future isn ’ t going to be bright in Buffalo .

BUFFALO N . Y ./ WINNIPEG MB – Jason Botterill ’ s dad , Dr . Cal Botterill , vividly remembers his kids playing on the outdoor rink at Wildwood Park Community Centre .

One day , the longtime icemaker at Wildwood , Tom Patterson , got into a long conversation with Cal , a former member of Father David Bauer ’ s Winnipegbased Team Canada , about his kids ’ passion for the game of hockey .

“ I said to Tom , ‘ Remember the kids playing on that outdoor rink ?’” Botterill recalled . “ Well , Tom just laughed and said , ‘ Remember them !? I think I knew your kids better than you did .’ I kind of laughed nervously because he might have been right . It was a half a block from our house to the rink and the kids would come home for dinner , eat and go right back to the rink . They skated all day and all night . It ’ s where they both got their start .”

It ’ s unlikely that there is a Winnipegger of a certain age that hasn ’ t heard of Jennifer Botterill , three-time Olympic women ’ s ice hockey gold medalist , five-time world champion and occasional Hockey Night in Canada host .

It ’ s also likely that those same Winnipeggers have heard of Jennifer ’ s brother , Jason , now 40 , who has three World Junior Championship gold medals , an NCAA championship , a Calder Cup championship and two Stanley Cups as an executive with the Pittsburgh Penguins .

But it ’ s also likely that very few Winnipeggers know Jason as “ one of us ,” a kid who was born in Edmonton when his dad taught at the University of Alberta , but grew up in Winnipeg , his father ’ s hometown , after Cal took a Sports Psychology position in the Recreation and Athletic Department at the University of Winnipeg .

“ He played all his minor