Lynnette and Dave Jordan at Rogers Place.
photo: Matthew Murnaghan / Hockey Canada Images
Meet Dave and Lynnette Jordan. Married for 49 years, the residents of Virden, Manitoba, have a tradition of attending the IIHF World Junior Championship, whether it’s hosted in Canada or played abroad.
The Jordans have been to 14 editions of the event, including every one since the 2010 World Juniors in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, that they’ve been able to attend. They missed the 2021 World Juniors in the bubble in Edmonton and the tournament that was cancelled due to COVID-19 last winter (which they had tickets for later in the event).
Their travels have taken them from the deep freeze of Ufa, Russia (in 2013) to the milder winter weather of Vancouver, British Columbia (in 2019), and to dozens of cities and towns before and since.
So how did Dave and Lynnette become superfans?
Why did you start attending the World Juniors?
DJ: The very first one we went to was a long time ago. We were billeting a player from the Czech Republic when we lived in Swift Current. He was playing [in the 1995 World Juniors in Alberta] and we went up and watched one game [in Calgary]. So, if you could imagine sitting in the Saddledome surrounded by Canadian fans cheering for the Czech Republic – one guy behind us was a little obnoxious until we finally explained that we were cheering for the one player, we billeted them. Everybody else thought that was really cool, so the guy finally shut up.
What was your most memorable game you have attended?
DJ: It was the gold medal game in Toronto. Watching [Canada] play Russia, I didn’t know I could hold my breath for 20 minutes in the last period. It was intense.
LJ: That was the first gold medal we’ve seen [won by Canada]. [There is also the 2020 tournament in Czechia], it was a great tournament. We had such an amazing group, there was like 700 or so fans in our tour group.
What connections do you have to hockey?
LJ: We raised three boys that all played hockey, so that kind of started it. We had been to Memorial Cups and Centennial Cups when it worked in our schedule.
DJ: Then when we moved to Swift Current, because our boys were still playing, we got into billeting [with the WHL’s Broncos]. We billeted until we left there and then we moved to Virden through work. The first couple of years we didn’t do anything, and then [the MJHL’s Oil Capitals] were short billets, and then we got started again.
LJ: That’s a lot of cooking.
DJ: Twenty pounds of potatoes every three days.
LJ: And not only did I feed our billets, I also had other hockey players come for their pre-game [meal] and one was captain for Team Canada [at the 1997 World Juniors], Brad Larsen.
Why do you love junior hockey?
DJ: It’s the desire that they have, and the fact that, especially when we billet them, you become surrogate parents. You have to invite them in and let them become part of your family. So there’s that bond there, and we’re still in contact with some of our players. You watch them and they go on, and you lose contact with a bunch of them because of moves. The last WHL player we billeted was Michal Rozsival, and now he’s won a Stanley Cup.
You have tickets to every game at the tournament. Why did you decide to purchase tickets to see every team play?
LJ: We’re here to support these kids. This is their chance, and we cheer for them. We try to cheer for the underdog.
DJ: We come to watch these kids and support them because for the majority of them, this may be the crowning moment in their careers. They don’t go on [to higher levels in the game] for a variety of reasons, so this is their shot. This is the pinnacle for them, so how could you not support them?
The Jordans have been to 14 editions of the event, including every one since the 2010 World Juniors in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, that they’ve been able to attend. They missed the 2021 World Juniors in the bubble in Edmonton and the tournament that was cancelled due to COVID-19 last winter (which they had tickets for later in the event).
Their travels have taken them from the deep freeze of Ufa, Russia (in 2013) to the milder winter weather of Vancouver, British Columbia (in 2019), and to dozens of cities and towns before and since.
So how did Dave and Lynnette become superfans?
Why did you start attending the World Juniors?
DJ: The very first one we went to was a long time ago. We were billeting a player from the Czech Republic when we lived in Swift Current. He was playing [in the 1995 World Juniors in Alberta] and we went up and watched one game [in Calgary]. So, if you could imagine sitting in the Saddledome surrounded by Canadian fans cheering for the Czech Republic – one guy behind us was a little obnoxious until we finally explained that we were cheering for the one player, we billeted them. Everybody else thought that was really cool, so the guy finally shut up.
What was your most memorable game you have attended?
DJ: It was the gold medal game in Toronto. Watching [Canada] play Russia, I didn’t know I could hold my breath for 20 minutes in the last period. It was intense.
LJ: That was the first gold medal we’ve seen [won by Canada]. [There is also the 2020 tournament in Czechia], it was a great tournament. We had such an amazing group, there was like 700 or so fans in our tour group.
What connections do you have to hockey?
LJ: We raised three boys that all played hockey, so that kind of started it. We had been to Memorial Cups and Centennial Cups when it worked in our schedule.
DJ: Then when we moved to Swift Current, because our boys were still playing, we got into billeting [with the WHL’s Broncos]. We billeted until we left there and then we moved to Virden through work. The first couple of years we didn’t do anything, and then [the MJHL’s Oil Capitals] were short billets, and then we got started again.
LJ: That’s a lot of cooking.
DJ: Twenty pounds of potatoes every three days.
LJ: And not only did I feed our billets, I also had other hockey players come for their pre-game [meal] and one was captain for Team Canada [at the 1997 World Juniors], Brad Larsen.
Why do you love junior hockey?
DJ: It’s the desire that they have, and the fact that, especially when we billet them, you become surrogate parents. You have to invite them in and let them become part of your family. So there’s that bond there, and we’re still in contact with some of our players. You watch them and they go on, and you lose contact with a bunch of them because of moves. The last WHL player we billeted was Michal Rozsival, and now he’s won a Stanley Cup.
You have tickets to every game at the tournament. Why did you decide to purchase tickets to see every team play?
LJ: We’re here to support these kids. This is their chance, and we cheer for them. We try to cheer for the underdog.
DJ: We come to watch these kids and support them because for the majority of them, this may be the crowning moment in their careers. They don’t go on [to higher levels in the game] for a variety of reasons, so this is their shot. This is the pinnacle for them, so how could you not support them?