Mar 13, 2023 9 min read

Christian Hanson sat frustrated, disappointed and unsure of his future, watching his University of Notre Dame hockey teammates play game after game.

The freshman was a healthy scratch 22 consecutive games.

Friends were urging him to leave South Bend. He said he considered transferring or playing in juniors, among other options.

Hanson decided not to quit. He developed a plan to become as good a player as he could be.

He would do whatever he could to prove he not only belonged in the Irish’s hockey program but could be a major contributor.

Endless work, a commitment to do his best and a desire to show what he could be pushed and motivated Hanson.

In the end, he accomplished just what he set out to do through hard work, commitment, dedication and believing in himself.

“It’s cliché but if it was easy, everybody would do it,” Hanson said. “You take pride in what you do and how you do it. It was hard but it was worth it. You want to make sure you have no regrets.”

When the team’s strength coach – Tony Rolinski – talked, Hanson listen and resolved.

“One of the things I was told along the way and it stuck with me came from (Rolinski). My freshman year at Notre Dame was difficult. I sat as a healthy scratch for more than 20 games. I was a top recruit. I never had been in that position to not be playing or doing something for the team.

“I had a good career in the USHL and never faced that type of adversity before. I was never out of the lineup. It was something new to me. I was thinking about leaving. I trusted his wisdom. (Rolinski) told me the only person who can break me is myself. If I give up, it was on me. He said that ultimately, it is up to the individual to decide his/her own fate and path.

“I decided to battle through and prove I belonged. In time, I did. The latter part of my career at Notre Dame was a success. I was going to make it. I decided to do everything it takes to make it and to give it my all.”

That approach has served him well as a player, coach and as a businessman.

Hanson helped Peters Township High School win a state championship in 2002, the Indians’ first state title. He scored four goals with three assists in the championship game.

Hanson also starred for the USHL’s Tri-City Storm before leading Notre Dame to the program’s first two CHA regular season and playoff titles with three NCAA Tournament appearances and one national Frozen Four showing.

He signed a two-year NHL contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs six days after finishing his collegiate career in the spring of 2008. He scored his first NHL goal against Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur – his hockey hero – and played 42 games with the Leafs with nine points.

Hanson also represented Team USA at the 2010 Men’s World Hockey Championships and played in that year’s AHL all-star game.

No one understands the obstacles Christian Hanson faced in his hockey career better than his father Dave, best known for being one of the fabled “Hanson Brothers” featured in the movie “Slap Shot.”

“I had the privilege to coach him when he started in little tikes as a goalie,” Dave Hanson. “As we went on, I could see he was one of the better (players) on the team.”

Then came Notre Dame.

“I remember (his freshmen year) vividly how excruciating that was for his mother and I to recognize his frustration,” Dave Hanson said. “He was recruited by Notre Dame and made a commitment to the university and its coach Dave Poulin, who was a great NHL player and long-time Notre Dame coach.

“At the request of Notre Dame, he stayed one more year in junior hockey, which benefitted Christian as well, to come in as a19-year-old. In the interim, there was a coaching change and Jeff Jackson took over.

“For whatever reason, (Jackson) wasn’t playing (Christian) and he told Christian he should just give up hockey. That lack of encouragement was devastating to him, his mother, Suzanne, and me.”

Dave Hanson, who played in the NHL and remains to this day a popular figure in hockey – called Ted Nolan, former NHL coach, in the Quebec Junior Hockey League.

Nolan responded: “We need a center and we’re fully aware of Christian. We’d very much love to have him come here.”

Dave Hanson said between the team’s owner and his son’s advisor, Hal of Fame defenseman Bobby Orr, a contract was negotiated and it included paying his tuition to college.

“It was alternative for Christian,” Dave Hanson said. “I presented it to him and explained it would give him everything he could want and could be a stepping-stone to the NHL.

His son’s response was pure Christian Hanson.

“I’m not a quitter and I’ll work my (butt) off to stay here and prove (Jackson) wrong.”

Added Dave Hanson: “He did what he said he would do. Christian turned it around and almost helped Notre Dame win a national championship.”

Move to PT

The Hansons moved from Glen Falls, N.Y., to Peters Township in 1995.

Christian Hanson enjoyed it thoroughly.

“It was an amazing move for me,” he said. “My dad took a job with the Penguins. He opened the Iceoplex at Southpointe.

“I was only able to play at Peters Township for one year – my sophomore year. We won the state championship and I got to do it with my best friend Matt Schwartz. High school hockey was a blast. In youth hockey and travel hockey, you play in front of parents from your team and the opponents’ team. That’s it.

“In high school, you’re playing in front of your peers, your friends, your classmates. People you sit with at lunch. It was fun. “

Hanson played for the Pittsburgh Forge his junior season of high school.

“I practiced with them every day, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., on Neville Island. I would practice until 11 p.m. on my own and my dad or mom would get me home and I’d be back up at 6 a.m.”

He added that his mother and two older sisters, Erin and Sarah, were integral parts of his life on and off the ice.

Matt Schwartz was a high school teammate and classmate of Christian Hanson at Peters Township. Hanson serves as Schwartz’ assistant as South Fayette High School’s hockey coach.

“Christian is a good hockey coach,” Schwartz said. “He has a knack for being able to connect with kids. He speaks to them calmly and he gets his points across. He connects with them. He simplifies concepts for them to understand.

“Christian is light-hearted, enjoys each day and has great passion. He’s had a lot to overcome and battle through. He never felt entitled and he worked for everything he accomplished.

“He’s a great role model. I think the world of him. He’s my best friend. I wouldn’t enjoy what I’m doing coaching and in life nearly as much without Christian.”

Blessed Life

It wasn’t until he was 12 years old that Christian Hanson knew the total identity of his famous father.

In 2017, in ThePlayers’ Tribune he explained:

“I was on a bus ride back from a weekend hockey tournament with my team. It was one of those trips where a few parents tagged along to chaperone the kids. It was about a four-hour ride home – we had time to kill.

“We were on one of those buses with two TVs above the aisle, so that the kids in the front and in the back could watch. About an hour into the ride one of the dad’s stood up and said, ‘Who wants to watch “Slap Shot?’

“A few kids had heard of it and they cheered. But I just thought: Slap Shot? Why does that seem familiar?

“A few minutes into the movie, I saw why.

“What’s with those glasses? Is … is that … my dad?

Christian finally realized.

“To me, he was Dad,” Christian Hanson said.

The two share a special relationship.

“Our relationship is very special and unique,” the younger Hanson said. “We have a very close tie. Kids idolize him. We spent a lot of time at the rink and in the car together.

“When I was young, I knew he was a hockey player in a movie. Slap Shot was not talked about in our house. It didn’t hit me until a California trip for a charity hockey game with him.

“We walked into the locker room and I see Wayne Gretzky, Pavel Bure, Chris Chelios and Brodeur all getting ready for the game.

“They were all asking him for his autograph. My eyes were wide open looking at these stars and their eyes were as wide open looking at my dad. I said to him: ‘they were just as excited to see you as I was to see them.’ “

Christian Hanson said he cherished his time to have played hockey and to have such great support in his life.

“I wish I could say I played 15 years and in 1,000 games in the NHL,” he added. “What I can say is that I was able to experience a lot of awesome things.

“When I was younger, I wanted to be a goalie because Brodeur was a goalie and the Devils were the team I followed.

“It was neat; I scored my first NHL goal in the third game of my career in New Jersey against him. It was surreal. Hockey led me to so many great relationships. Hockey has opened some fantastic doors for me.”

He currently works for Sutton Special Risk, which handles insurance policies for hundreds of professional hockey players, as well as other athletes.

“Christian exudes his love for the game,” said Chris Stern, who has known Christian Hanson since he was a teenager. “He’s always been a guy who brings people together, as a player, a coach and just a friend. That’s what makes him special.

“No matter what happens, he’s always stuck with it. Every fork in the road he faced or faces, Christian stays the course. That says a lot about him and his character.”