Chris Hayes gets his Stanley Cup ring – after 46 years

Yet Hayes never got a coveted Stanley Cup ring — that is, not until April 2018, after his friend, former Liberal Member of Parliament Hector Clouthier, alerted the Bruins.

When the news of the belated acknowledgement broke, Hayes, now 71 and a retired banker, agreed to give just a few interviews — including to Concordia.

His Concordia Sports Hall of Fame tribute reads, “Christopher Hayes was regarded as the guts and glory of a celebrated hockey era at Loyola College. The high-scoring, determined centre played four seasons with the Warriors, leading them to three Ottawa-St. Lawrence Athletic Association titles and three appearances at the national championships.”

In May 1972, Loyola Alumnus magazine reported that the “former Loyola Hockey Captain and honours student has been called up to the Boston Bruins for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Hayes won Rookie of the Year honours this year with the Oklahoma City Blazers of the Central Professional Hockey League.”

Hayes played alongside such Boston Bruins stars as Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Johnny Bucyk, Wayne Cashman, Ken Hodge, Ace Bailey and Gerry Cheevers.

However, as the Ottawa Citizen reported, “Injuries and a lineup stacked with left-wingers kept him out of the NHL.”

Hayes spoke to Concordia about his hockey career, his new ring and life after hockey.

What was it like to get your Stanley Cup ring 46 years later?

Chris Hayes: “I knew it was coming. Bruins president Cam Neely told my friend Hector Clouthier, who was the catalyst behind all of this.  There was a knock on the door — I live alone, my wife Jo-Anne died [of cancer in 2011] — and a courier dropped off a package.

After, I walked over to the mantle atop the fireplace and said to my wife’s picture, ‘Okay, honey we’re going to do this together.’ I opened it up and there it was — typical of the Bruins, no cover letter, no nothing! It was in a black box wrapped in bubble wrap.

I was thinking, ‘Is this really happening to me? I guess it is happening because the ring is on my finger now!’ It was a great feeling and put closure to my hockey career.”

Do you remember that playoff game with the Bruins?

CH: “Oh yeah, I remember a lot about it. I was called up from the Oklahoma City Blazers, which was the farm team for the Bruins. We had played a lot of exhibition games with the Bruins so I already knew most of the guys fairly well.

I walked into the locker room and Bobby [Orr] was there. We had played together for the Oshawa Generals. [Hayes played for the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey Association from 1964 to 1967.] It wasn’t daunting walking into the room. I remember Freddie Stanfield said, ‘Where you been all this time?’”