Growing up, most kids idolize their dads. It comes naturally—your dad is the first male role model you have. But very few of us realize that our dad is a famous hockey icon who signs autographs for your idols. Christian Hanson did.
Christian Hanson grew up in upstate New York with his mother, sister, and father. He loved hockey and knew his dad had played the sport as a young man and lived a hockey life. He played just like every other kid and didn’t think much of it, other than having a great time with his friends. But that all changed when he was seven years old, as he writes in a piece for The Players’ Tribune.
Signed autographs for Gretzky
His dad brought the whole family on a trip out west to California. Christian was mostly excited to go to Disneyland—and also to see the LA Kings. But it turned out the Hanson family was also going to attend a charity hockey game, where former and current NHL players would be participating. On the night of the game, Christian accompanied his father and a few of his friends to the arena. That’s when Christian’s world turned upside down.
“We went into the locker room, and there were Wayne Gretzky, Pavel Bure, Chris Chelios, and Martin Brodeur — all getting ready for the game. And when my dad walked in, they all stopped what they were doing. One by one, they came up to my dad and asked him for his autograph. All I could think was, What is happening right now? These hockey legends … were asking my dad for his autograph? The thing is, he never really explained what had happened that night.
‘Bubba, that’s just what happens when a bunch of old hockey players get together,’” Christian writes in The Players’ Tribune. But the mystery of how his dad knew all of those star players didn’t come to a conclusion until five years later.
Christian Hanson father
When Christian was twelve, he was on a bus ride with his hockey team, heading home after a weekend tournament. There was a TV on the bus. About 30 minutes into the ride, one of the chaperoning parents stood up and asked if the kids wanted to watch the classic hockey movie Slap Shot—a film Christian had heard of, but never thought much about.
”Slap Shot? Why does that seem familiar? A few minutes into the movie, I saw why. What’s with those glasses? Is … is that … my dad?” Christian writes and by now, you probably guessed it.
Yep. Christian Hanson’s dad is the famous David Hanson—one of the “Hanson Brothers” in the cult hockey movie Slap Shot, where he played the brother Jack. The Hanson family had made a point of not having the movie around the house, due to its, let’s say, colorful language. When Christian got off the bus, he immediately told his parents what he had just seen.
”My dad pulled the car over. He looked back and tried to go into damage-control mode. ‘Look, pal. It’s just a movie! It’s all make believe! You know, like cartoons? It’s the same deal,’” Christian writes. Not many kids find out their dad is a cult movie icon… at hockey camp.
Christian went on to play in 42 NHL games for the Toronto Maple Leafs, nine more games than his much more famous father did.
