Chris van Ouwerkerk, centre, stands with Rick Vaive, left, and Brian Burke at the Hockey Arbitration Competition of Canada, which took place in Toronto, Ont. on Nov. 8 and 9.
van Ouwerkerk, who studies law at the University of New Brunswick, competed in the Hockey Arbitration Competition of Canada earlier this month in Toronto, Ont.
“It was amazing,” he said. “It was such a learning experience and it was really interesting to apply law to something we don’t typically think of as being a legal area.”
He and fellow law student, Nick Woodhouse, went up against 31 law school teams from across Canada, including a few from the United States.
“It involved three real life cases from this NHL’s offseason. We were assigned three players, and you had to argue either for them or for the club. You get a midpoint salary and you have to prove your player is worth more or less depending which side you’re on,” explained van Ouwerkerk.
He said the purpose is to immerse students into the field of law in that industry, as it mimics the actual arbitration process that takes place in the NHL.
Queens University in Ontario won the competition, but he was happy with his and Woodhouse’s performance.
“There was tough competition, and really great schools. I felt we held our own; we were the only east coast team, and we put up a really good fight.”
Lawyers and NHL scouts were part of the process, and he met some big names in hockey, said the former Summerside resident.
“We met the commissioner of the NHL, Gary Bettman. I got to meet Rick Vaive, who was captain of the Maple Leafs. As well, we got to meet Brian Burke, who is the general manager of the Calgary Flames.”
He’s thankful he had the chance to compete in what was a highlight of his legal studies, while incorporating his first love.
“I’ve been a hockey fan for, well I’m 29, so 29 years. I played for the Pownal Red Devils for 14 years. It was a major part of my upbringing.”
His mother Patricia noticed he had an interest in law since he was eight years old, and no one was more thrilled about him attending the competition than she was, he said.
“The biggest hockey fan I know of is my mom. I think she was probably more excited than I was. I had a lot of work to do and I was excited, but she was just over the moon.”
