Fresh start

Assistant coach feels right at home

There are 690 active hockey players in the National Hockey League, many of which will play for an average of about five to six seasons. But for some players, their careers are cut short by injuries and they are forced to retire early. While disappointing for aspiring hockey stars, hanging up the skates can be a chance for a new beginning. Just ask Marc-Andre Bourdon.

Bourdon was born and raised in Saint Hyacinthe, Quebec, an agricultural town of 53,000 people about 25 minutes east of Montreal. The oldest of two boys, Bourdon left home at the age of 16 to play junior hockey in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where he played for three years before being taken in the third round (67th overall) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers as a defenseman.

Bourdon made his NHL debut on Nov. 21, 2011 and played a total of 45 games with the Flyers in the 2011-12 season. Due to the 2012-13 Lockout, he spent the next two seasons going back and forth between the Flyers and the Adirondack Phantoms, their AHL affiliate, and was limited to 24 AHL games due to concussions. After the 2013-14 season, Bourdon officially retired from hockey at the age of 24. After his first season with the Flyers, through a relationship with Dan Edwards, the team’s chaplain, Bourdon gave his life to Christ.

“(Dan) was so great at showing me the love of God,” Bourdon said. “He showed me the positive side of it, instead of making me feel like it was a burden to believe … it was true love and grace and he really brought it to me in the right way.”

Bourdon started working with Hockey Ministries International (HMI) in the summer of 2012, and connections with Joe Smith, a former Flames hockey player, who also works with HMI, sparked Bourdon’s interest in Liberty. He visited Liberty for College For A Weekend in the spring of 2015 and was offered an assistant coaching position with the Flames Division I hockey team. He also enrolled as an undergraduate student for the fall semester at 26 years old.

“I just loved the school and I wanted to come here,” Bourdon said. “And even though I’m not getting paid to be coach, for me, it’s not about that. It’s about God and it’s about having an impact on (player’s) lives. Through my life, I learned that money is just a material thing and that the real satisfaction comes from God.”

Bourdon is primarily in charge of the defensemen and coaching the power play unit for the hockey team, and has been the perfect fit from the start.

“(Marc) brings a lot of enthusiasm to our team,” Flames Head Coach Kirk Handy said. “He’s a younger voice to our staff and a voice that players respect because of where he’s played and what he’s had to do to get to the NHL level.”

Bourdon said that the transition from player to coach and student is not an easy one, but the benefits make the job well worth it.

“What is so great about Liberty is that we work with hearts,” Bourdon said. “In the NHL and other leagues … they want you to perform and that’s it. But (at Liberty) we invest in the player’s hearts first. And for me, I don’t go halfway in anything, and I want to pour all my knowledge and heart into these kids.”

Bourdon is currently majoring in exercise science and hopes to stay with the team as long as he can. But the 26-year-old freshman also knows that no matter what his plans are now, everything can change in an instant.

Vandenbosch is the sports editor.