Garry Valk strides up to Arms Reach Bistro on an overcast late-spring morning.
The former Canuck is dressed sharply in a fitted black suit and sporting matching rimmed specs.
“Nice to meet you,” he says affably.
As we grab a seat at the window, a young waiter, who most likely wasn’t alive when the Canucks first wore the flying skate jerseys, approaches the table. “Hey, Mr. Valk,” he says, excitedly greeting the Arms Reach regular.
Valk is a local celebrity, by all accounts, and a driving force fuelling ’90s NHL nostalgia in Deep Cove – a retirement community for a handful of hockey stars.
Dave Babych, Valk’s one-time Canucks teammate, and former Flames player Todd Harkins – who also call the Cove home – sold Valk on the idea of moving to the idyllic waterfront community.
“They talked me into it and I love it. Wouldn’t move away,” says Valk, who settled close to Cates Park a decade ago.
The trio of NHL vets tries to catch up regularly for some fishing and crabbing, or boating up Indian Arm. Being on the water is a welcome respite for Valk, as he navigates a post-hockey life that includes raising kids following in his athletic footsteps and a bustling real-estate career.
“You have a bond,” says Valk, of connecting with former players. “You’re all feeling the aches and pains. We’re all around 50 years old.”
Valk grew up in Edmonton, one of four siblings, and credits his simple Prairie upbringing for keeping him focused on hockey. After attending the University of North Dakota on a hockey scholarship, Valk was drafted by the Canucks and played his first game in 1990. Trevor Linden was his first roommate.
“He’s (Linden) the guy who taught me to nap from 2 to 4 (p.m.) and to have oatmeal in the morning to recharge my body,” says Valk. While Valk rattles off some of his old teammates names – Bure, Odjick, Ronning and McLean – another wave of early ’90s Canucks nostalgia hits.
A season prior to the Canucks ‘94 cup run, Valk was picked up by Anaheim in the expansion draft. It was a surreal experience for Valk, who recalls being paraded around with his new teammates through Disneyland on a duck float and how unfamiliar with hockey the city was. Valk came back to Vancouver to get married just four days after the Canucks lost to the Rangers in the Stanley Cup Final.
“These guys just went through a war and they made sure and got to my wedding,” says Valk.
He laughs as he recalls his brother-in-law, who looks like Kirk McLean, signing autographs at the wedding on behalf of the Canucks goalie.
It was actually the Canucks barber that set up Valk and his wife, Tanya.
“So all the Canucks guys, we’d go see Aldo Mauro and we’d go to Nick’s Spaghetti House and have some lunch. So he (Aldo) kept telling me about this Italian girl that he knew. And then finally we met,” says Valk. “Every game day she made Italian breaded chicken with penne pasta with homemade pesto,” says Valk, sipping a cappuccino.
The couple has three kids. Alli, their oldest, is a competitive tennis player who is headed to San Diego State University on a full-ride scholarship this August.
The Valk’s middle child, Garrett, plays Bantam AAA hockey with the North Shore Winter Club and has NHL aspirations, while their youngest, Tyson, also takes to the ice and is coached by dad.
Valk dabbled in high-end car sales for a while, before becoming a real-estate agent last year. Putting his phone number and face on open house signs was nerve-racking at first for Valk.
“Fans from hockey can just call me up and heckle me,” he says, laughing. But the name recognition does help, concedes Valk.
A Rogers Sportsnet hockey analyst, Valk also weighs in on when the Canucks will win the Stanley Cup. It will happen in 2020, he says.
“I think they can get it done because (Canucks general manager) Jim Benning is a good hockey guy,” says Valk.
Valk became Toronto’s adopted son during the 1999 NHL playoffs, when he scored a key overtime goal against Pittsburg that advanced the Leafs to the third round. A local high school elected Valk as their president, while many residents voted for “Garry Valk Plaza” in an online poll to name a new Toronto condo project. Closer to home, Valk walks a couple steps outside Arms Reach and is immediately recognized. “Hey, Valkie – looking good, buddy,” shouts a twenty-something from his SUV stopped at the east end of Gallant.
