hockey around Wildewood,”
recalled Cal. “He had a great
coach as an Atom, Bruce
Nicholson, who sent a lot of
extra time with all the kids,
teaching them about the
game. Then he had two terrific
bantam coaches, Jim Platt and
Ron Liberty with the Twins.
He not only learned a lot, but
won the provincials and scored
the winning goal in the final.
“He then played a year of
Triple A Bantam for Garry Reid
and the Fort Garry Monarchs
and had a great experience, but
at that time I was working for
Mike Keenan (as the Chicago
Blackhawks team psychologist)
and he was travelling around
with me. He became great
friends with Jeremy Roenick
who had played Prep School
hockey in New England.
Jason was thinking about
going to play for Victoria in
the BC Junior League but
was convinced by Jeremy
that playing Prep School
Hockey was a good decision.”
So at 16, Jason left home
and played Prep School hockey
at the prestigious St. Paul’s
School in Concord, N.H. He
returned home and played
one season with the MJHL’s
Portage Terriers (he was
inducted into the Terriers Hall
BOTTERILL AND PITTSBURGH
GM JIM RUTHERFORD
of Fame in 2015) and then
accepted a scholarship to play
at the University of Michigan.
“Doreen (Jason’s mom, a
former Olympic speed skater
from Winnipeg), and I went
to watch his first game at
Bowling Green,” Cal said
with a laugh. “Red Berenson
had him on the first line and
he went and scored three
goals in his first game.
“I said to him after
the game, ‘You look like
you’re ready to play at
this level,’ and he just
laughed and said, ‘Yep.’”
Botterill led Berenson’s
Wolverines to a national
championship in 1996,
became the only Canadian
to win three World Junior
tournament gold medals
(1994-96) and was eventually
selected by the Dallas Stars
in the first round (20th
overall) of the 1994 draft. He
spent eight seasons in the
pros, mostly in the American
Hockey League, and finished
with five goals and 14 points
in 88 career NHL games split
over four teams, including
Dallas, Calgary, Buffalo and
JASON AT WILDWOOD PARK JASON WITH THE
COMMUNITY CENTRE PUROLATOR CUP
1 0 6 | G AME ON | PL AYOFF ED ITION 2018
Atlanta. He was forced to
retire at age 28 due to a
series of concussions but
went back to the University
of Michigan and an MBA.
He was ready to be
a hockey executive.
“Jason’s knowledge,
experience, his ability to
develop players, and his
approach to management
stood out to us during our
interview process,” said Sabres
owner Terry Pegula back in
May. “Jason has built a solid
reputation as a leader that
connects strongly with players
and staff around him.”
After a decade in
Pittsburgh, it’s quite obvious
that Botterill’s front-office
record is brilliant and
there is little reason to bet
against him in Buffalo.
“Jason is a big-picture
person,” his old college
coach, Berenson, told The
Associated Press. “He was
very in-sync with our whole
program and not just his
role on the team. You could
see right there that he was
either going to be a coach or a
manager at some point.” ❍