Len Hachborn
April, 1999
by: William Overin
Gull's Veteran Leader
William Overin: How old where you when you started playing hockey?
Len Hachborn: I was four years old. Every street corner has an outdoor ice rink during the winter in Canada. It's like in the states where every kid plays baseball. In Canada, everyone plays hockey. Everyone is trying to make it to the top level.
WO: Did you have any hockey heroes when you were growing up?
LH: I had some favorites. I don't know if they were heroes or not. The Toronto Maple Leafs were my team. As I got older, Philadelphia was my team. I guess they were the teams I liked to watch.
WO: What do you like to do when you aren't playing hockey?
LH: Play a lot of golf.
WO: What's your handicap?
LH: My handicap's five. I enjoy playing a lot of golf. I get plenty of time to play in the summer.
WO: What people in life in general do you respect?
LH: Just hard working people. People that make a living. I don't look to the celebrities or the high-profile people. Just people that work hard and provide for whoever they're providing for.
WO: Who were you originally drafted by?
LH: By the Philadelphia Flyers in '80 - '81?
WO: Where did you play Juniors?
LH: I played in my hometown of Brantford.
WO: Thinking back to '79 when you first started Juniors, was this all you ever wanted to do or was there anything else?
LH: That's every kid's dream when you're growing up in Canada - playing professional hockey. I did well enough in Major Juniors that I felt I could have a future.
WO: What are your thoughts on the manner in which hockey has grown in the US? Since you began your career, hockey has grown tremendously in the states.
LH: Especially in the Western States. It has picked up quite a bit. It was a Canadian sport, and now all the Canadian NHL teams are struggling.
WO: And what, there are only five remaining?
LH: Yeah - and Montreal at the trading deadline had to get rid of some guys because of financial reasons.
WO: And like Calgary trading away Fleury because they couldn't hold on to him.
LH: Those teams are the Class of the NHL. Now that you see them making moves because of financial reasons, it's sad.
WO: A lot of the guys point to you as an inspiration because of your age and how you've continued to play - Why do you keep playing?
LH: I still enjoy playing. I don't know if it's the competitiveness in me. As long as I can contribute and help the team win, I'll keep playing. Once I feel like I'm just hanging on and not contributing, I'll stop playing. Right now I enjoy playing and am trying to see the coaching side of it - which I wouldn't mind trying in the near future.
WO: What will it take to put back on the ice playing next season?
LH: I take it year by year. At the end of the season, I sit down with my family, and we decide whether I'm going to play or not. Usually two months into the summer I miss the game and decide I'll play one more year.
WO: I know toward the end of the season the Union Tribune published an article saying you are having more difficulty recovering from your injuries, and you are getting more tired. How hard has this year been on you and your body?
LH: It hasn't been tough at all. The little whacks and the little injuries seem to take a little longer to heal. You feel them more. The only serious injury I had so far this year was the broken thumb. That wasn't real painful, and I probably could have played with it. They advised me not to. I didn't have any major injuries. My hips were bothering me at the beginning of the year, but I think that had more to do with some new skates. Overall, I think it was a pretty good year.
WO: You mentioned earlier about being the assistant coach. How would you like to expand that role?
LH: If I could come back, I'd definitely want more say or help in the coaching. Maybe not play as many games and do more coaching.
WO: Do you think you'll always stay with hockey in some form?
LH: I wouldn't mind it. If the opportunity arises, I really enjoy being around the game and around the players. If it's scouting or coaching, I enjoy the game and don't mind watching it as long as it's not my team playing. I wouldn't mind staying in some capacity.
WO: From all your years of NHL experience, what stands out the most?
LH: Probably playing in the Stanley Cup finals.
WO: What year was that?
LH: '84 - '85. We got beaten by Edmonton. We won the first game 1 - 0, then we lost the next four. That was when they were in the midst of their dynasty (Edmonton). Playing in the NHL was a great honor and I played with some great players: Bobby Clarke, Darryl Sittler, Billy Barber. It was a great way to step into the league.
WO: What was it like playing overseas?
LH: I enjoyed it for my style of game and skating. That's what the game's all about over there. There's not as much contact because you are playing on a larger ice surface. It probably prolonged my career because there's not as much banging.
WO: You were selected to the WCHL second team. How do you feel about that?
LH: It's an honor whenever you get chosen for a team like that. I think it was selected by the GMs and the Coaches, so it shows you are respected by your peers.
WO: The Gulls had quite a few difficulties at the beginning of this season. They lost a lot of games and were down quite a few players. How do you think the team managed to recover and turn everything around?
LH: I think that basically it was numbers. Back then, like you said, we had a lot of injuries, and we had a lot of call-ups: (B. J.) MacPherson, (Brett) Larson, and (Kevin) St. Jacques were all called up. You've got to expect those things in a six-month season, so we survived and battled back.
WO: Do you think any of the trades have helped?
LH: Yeah definitely. It's not like they can shut down one line or two lines. With Jansson, he's a great young defenseman. He's a guy you've got to look out for out there.
WO: What are your feelings on the play-off format that the league set-up this year?
LH: I thought it was brutal. You play seventy-one games and someone that finishes out with half as many wins and points has as much of a chance of beating you out. I don't know who thought of it, but it was a bad format.
WO: What do you think of the refereeing in this league. A lot of people feel there is a lot of bias amongst these refs. Particularly when you take a look at that last game in Phoenix and all of the ridiculous penalties that were called against the Gulls.
LH: Nobody wants to see a team win the championship four years in a row. It's not good for the league. Whether it's true or not, ninety percent of the nights we get the raw end of the refereeing, but it's part of the game. We seem to be able play through it. The worst thing you can do when you get bad refereeing is yell at them, which we tend to do that.
WO: This certainly wouldn't occur in the IHL or the AHL.
LH: These guys are still in the learning stage of how to control a game and when to call what. So I don't know if it's the learning process or just picking on the gulls.
WO: How about how you had to play a seventy-one games and, Tacoma played seventy games. They ended up taking the league because of winning percentage but had less points than the Gulls.
LH: I don't know what the problem was there. Why Tacoma couldn't play one more game? Why couldn't they match up someone close to them? I've never seen anything like that in professional hockey before where the teams don't play the same number of games.
WO: Now we've got the games coming up against Fresno, these have been some of your guys roughest games this year. How do you think the series is going to pan out?
LH: I think a typical play-off series. It won't be like the regular season with all the cheap-shots. They've got a totally different team now. They have more finesse. I don't think there's going to be a lot of bumping and grinding, hardly any fights, or any cheap-shots. I think it's going to be great hockey.
WO: Do you think there are any ill feelings between the players and Serge Roy because of the manner in which he left?
LH: No, I don't think so. The problem with Serge was between Serge and management. There was no big riff between the players and Serge. He spent three good years here. There's no bad feelings there.
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