On November 16th, 2013, my mom, brother, sister and a few good friends were in the in audience to witness my dear friend, Wayne Bianchin, accept this plaque (which I believe is an exact replica of the one installed) for my hockey-playin' way back when...

My acceptance speech (which Wayne chose not to read, rather he took license to speak from his heart) is noted below:

Remarks of Ron Andruff upon Induction to the North Cowichan Wall of Fame (16 Nov 13)

Presented by: Wayne Bianchin (on RA’s behalf)

Good evening and greetings from Buenos Aires, Argentina, where I am participating in a weeklong series of meetings that provide for, and support, the policy framework for the Internet.  It’s an important undertaking that I began with the inception of the commercial Internet 15 years ago.  Indeed it is something from which I take a lot of gratification but, despite all that this pursuit brings me, it doesn’t relieve my disappointment that I am not able to be with all of you, in Duncan, on this evening.

I am deeply gratified and humbled to have been nominated by my dear friends from years gone by – in particular, Mark Syme.  And I am honoured to have been selected by the Committee to join all of those athletes and builders who adorn the North Cowichan Wall of Fame today.

My story as a professional athlete would have never been played out if not for the selfless dedication of my dad, Nick Andruff, and by definition my mom, Zoya Andruff.  As we all know, the odds of a boy from Vancouver Island being selected to join the Stanley Cup Montreal Canadians – particularly in the early 70’s – were ‘slim’ and ‘none’, but through my father’s (and family’s) loyal support of my desire to become the best hockey player that I could be, I realized that dream. 

So, I would like to take this moment to thank my dad, who is in heaven – as well as my mom, my brother Dan, and sister Darlene, who are all here in attendance tonight.

My dad signed my brother and me up for minor hockey in Nanaimo when I was about 8 years old, and he drove us countless hours back and forth to that little rink at all hours of the day until Chemainus realized the funds to build its own rink.  I joined the Chemainus Maroons, played skating guard during public skating sessions, played with the senior league Tahitian Natives (sponsored by our family-owned restaurant), and generally became a rink rat for the next two years. When I was 15, some scouts from the BC Junior Hockey League Kelowna Buckaroos watched me play and came home to talk with me and my dad. 

They said that they thought I could play well in the BC Junior league and so my dad turned to me and said, “Well son, do you want to go?” 

Kelowna was more than a 2 hour ferry ride to the mainland, followed by a harrowing 7-8 hour car ride up into the interior along the Fraser River canyon back then, so it was as far away as the moon to me – at least that’s how I saw it at that moment…

I innocently looked back at my dad and replied, “I don’t know dad… do I want to go?”  The thought of leaving my family on such short notice had never occurred to me, yet exactly this scenario was put before me in that moment.

My dad smiled that special smile of his (probably chuckled a bit) and said, “Why not give it a try?  If you don’t like it, you can always come home…”. 

I went off to Kelowna and my life odyssey – via hockey – began…

Those words – “you can always come home” – stayed with me my entire life, as I moved from Chemainus to Kelowna and Flin Flon; to Halifax, Montreal, and Denver; on to Mannheim and Amsterdam; then New York City, even for a short while, Bangkok… and now Miami Beach.  I don’t know where “home” is exactly, but I do know that day my dad gave me the confidence to explore the world… and so explore the world is what I have done…

Through all of those travels, the one thing that comes up again and again is all of the wonderful experiences ice hockey provides for me…  Everything that I am, and everything that I have aspired to, find their basis in the lessons I learned on the ice and through sport.  In my experience, there are few greater gifts than this.  Not only does one’s enjoyment of sport teach us values, respect, teamwork, courage, how to win, how to lose (appropriately) and how to bounce back; it offers a plethora of opportunities that unfold over one’s lifetime.  Being honoured here, this evening, is a fitting bookend to my hockey life that began just a few kilometers down the road from here – dare I say it – more than half a century ago.

I want to conclude my remarks tonight with one special “thank you” – and that is to the man who is reading these words on my behalf, Wayne Bianchin.  Wayne celebrates his own distinguished NHL career. A candidate for NHL Rookie of the Year, he was stalwart on every team he played for.  He could skate, score, hit and take a punch – while being sure to give back two for each one that landed on him…  Wayne has been a true and wonderful teammate year-in and year-out since I met him 52 years ago, so I can’t begin to tell you how pleased I am to have my brother-in-arms make this intervention on behalf of me and my family.

Thank you to all of you who have taken the time tonight to come here to honour me and this year’s slate of inductees!  It is wonderful to be amongst so many from Chemainus being honoured and those in the room.

Also a heartfelt “thank you” to the Selection Committee for including me in this illustrious group of 2013 North Cowichan Wall of Fame sports men and women. 

Being inducted tonight is truly an honour for which I am enormously grateful! Thank you for such recognition.

If you could all see me now, you would see me raising a beer in a toast to all of you.

Thank you!