Welcome Back, Smurf

Written by Bryce Aldrich, edited and published by Michael Keeley

The Jacksonville Icemen flew into Portland for their games on January 3^rd and 4^th to play the Mariners, for the first time in history. But for one person, it was a lot more than just a trip to Maine to coach two road games, and even more than a historical inaugural meeting. Former fan favorite Portland Pirate, Jason Christie is the head coach of the Icemen and had this trip circled on his calendar when the schedule was released.

“Smurf”, nicknamed after his short stature, arrived in Portland, Maine for the first time when he joined the Pirates for the 1994-95 season making a great first impression to the fan base by recording 20 goals, 40 assists, 60 points, and 130 penalty minutes in 71 games. He went on to play 177 games for them between ’94 and ’98.

“I have a lot of great memories here," said Christie. "Just coming back, I was really excited coming to play here. I haven’t been back since I played. It was a lot of fun and it’s great to see old faces.”

Before Christie became a Pirate - or a pro at all, he was a legendary junior player, once putting up 107 points in a season for the Saskatoon Blades (Western Hockey League). He achieved the amazing feat during the 1989-90 season, doing so in 69 games. Amazingly, 107 points was only good for 23rd in the league that year. Names like Ray Whitney, Mike Sillinger, Wes Walz, Stu Barnes, and Petr Nedved were ahead of him in that season's WHL scoring race.

While he never reached the NHL himself, Christie burst onto the pro scene in the ECHL with the Columbus Chill in 91-92, putting up 84 points in 61 games. That gave him a look in the AHL the following season with the Hamilton Canucks, where he'd spend parts of the next two seasons going up and down from. Then, in 1994-95, the season after the Portland Pirates entered the AHL and promptly captured the Calder Cup, Christie brought his game to Vacationland.

There have been a lot of established names that have been attached to the history behind the Portland Pirates. The original owner, Tom Ebright, the first General Manager, Godfrey Wood, the first coaches, Barry Trotz (currently head coach of the New York Islanders) and Paul Gardner (Pirates Assistant Coach 1993-97) are who Jason credits to why he had success during his time as a Pirate.

When reflecting on his fondest moments as a Pirate, he said, “Mr. Ebright, Barry Trotz and what I learned from them and Paul Gardner, and right from Godfrey in the front office. We were out in the community with the fans, it was awesome. We used to rock this place and we were so entertained to come and play every night.”

Everywhere Jason has been, he has made relationships along the way, but Portland is one place that is at the top of his list.

“I was here for so many years that you can’t just mention one [person to reunite with]. I met my wife here and to be able to come back and see the people that run the building, do the security and they’re still around. It was great being able to catch up and talk memories.”

Christie split the 96-97 season between the Pirates and the IHL's Manitoba Moose. He'd return for one last eight game hurrah in Portland the following season, before finishing his playing career in the IHL and ECHL.

Walking into the Cross Insurance Arena, you are likely to see “#21 Christie” jerseys throughout the building.

“I saw that last night," Christie noted. A few of my guys came in and let me know after warm-up. It all comes back to how great the city was when we were here, and it still is. It’s a great hockey town and there are so many great people here and the fans were unbelievable and there was excitement in me to be able to come back and see it for sure.”

Returning to Portland is something that Jason cherished. It gave him the opportunity to visit some places that he used to frequent.

“Yeah, there are tons of places for sure, but there’s not enough time in the weekend, especially when you’re coaching, now you can’t really do it. Our first stop here when we flew in was to visit the Mills. That’s a great spot, one of my favorites. A lot of restaurants and a lot of people that that we got to know over the years. We did a lot of charity work and went to a lot of places when I was here. It was great!”

Christie hoists the Kelly Cup as a player/coach for the
Peoria Rivermen in 1999-00, his final season as a player
Photo credit: PJStar.com

During the 1999-00 season for the ECHL’s Peoria Rivermen, Jason took on a new role while continuing to play: Player/Assistant Coach. During that season Peoria went on to win the ECHL Kelly Cup and Christie was named Playoff MVP, going out on top as a player. The following season, at age 31, he was named the Head Coach of the Rivermen. Christie spent five seasons as bench boss in Peoria before moving on to the Utah Grizzlies from 2005-2008. He then got his first taste of the AHL as a coach, taking an assistant role for two seasons with the Chicago Wolves. He remained in Illinois for two more seasons, taking over head duties, and eventually Director of Hockey Operations for the Bloomington PrairieThunder of now-defunct Central Hockey League. It was then back to the ECHL for four seasons with the Ontario Reign, and two with the Tulsa Oilers, before finally landing in Jacksonville in 2017.

With nearly three decades of involvement in the ECHL, Christie, now 51 years old, can speak about just as knowledgeably as anyone on the evolution of the league.

“Well, if you just look at the talent, there are guys going on to the NHL," Christie said. "Some guys just have to take a different path and some guys just have to come down for a little bit of development. I think it’s come a long way. I just think overall hockey has changed quite a bit. It’s not the rough and tumble day’s it used to be. You have got to go out there and you’ve got to be making plays. It you’re not making plays; you’re not having success. The goaltenders are just that much better as well.”

Christie's Icemen fell to the Mariners, 5-3 on Friday, before rebounding with a 3-2 win on Saturday night. A victory that surely meant as much to Christie as anyone on the team.