Heading Home: Johnson talks about growing up in Vancouver 

Kent Johnson is a British Columbia boy through and through. He grew up in Port Moody, B.C., a suburb of Vancouver on the east end of Burrard Inlet, and played his junior hockey in Burnaby and Trail before heading to the University of Michigan and the Blue Jackets.

The 21-year-old forward still spends his summers in British Columbia, and like many, he enjoys being outdoors in one of the most picturesque settings in North America, where forest, mountains and water all converge to offer spectacular scenery almost anywhere you go.

The Blue Jackets are in Vancouver to play the Canucks on Saturday night, and Johnson said this week he’s happy to be home. We decided to ask him what it was like to grow up and live in the area.

We’ll let Johnson’s words do most of the talking, but the text in bold are the questions we asked the young CBJ standout about the trip home.

“This is probably the trip I look forward to most other than maybe the sunny ones. This is really nice. I’m excited. It’s really fun to play in Canada for me, especially Western Canada. Obviously, Vancouver is gonna be the best, but yeah, all these spots I really like.”

Does Vancouver feel like home when we’re here? “It definitely does. It’ll be exciting. I obviously have family and friends – not too many friends; most of my friends are playing hockey somewhere – but a lot of family (in town), and it’s definitely just so fun to play the Canucks, especially in that building.”

"I grew up in Port Moody, so it’s like 40 minutes east of Van. I feel like when I was a kid, I’d mostly just go downtown for Canucks games. We’d go quite a bit. It’s awesome, really fun. And when we’d play teams from wherever, some teams you’d play in minor hockey would be in Vancouver. Definitely not too far.”

Is Port Moody a lot like Vancouver? “Yeah, it’s nice. Port Moody, where we live, there’s mountains, there’s water. It is really nice. I loved growing up in Port Moody. It was great. I think I was pretty lucky. I loved it. I still love going back in the summer."

How did you get into hockey? “I had an older brother (Kyle), four years older, and I think as soon as I was born he wanted to play mini hockey with me. I can’t even remember that, but I think I started skating when I was 4. I feel like with hockey, there was no way I wasn’t gonna play. I played all the other sports, too, but hockey for whatever reason – maybe it was just me being Canadian, but it just seemed like the sport to play. I played a lot of other sports when I was younger, but it always seemed like hockey was my favorite. Most of my friends played. We’d play street hockey after school. It was pretty classic. It was just like you’d imagine.”

Did you play much on outdoor rinks as a kid, or was Vancouver too warm? “Not much. It got cold enough maybe like two years when I was growing up, but it’s really rare to have an outdoor rink in Van. But obviously there’s a ton of hockey. I loved it. I was always jealous. I went to Calgary one year at Christmas for the Mac’s tournament for my brother. I was like 10, and I just played outdoor hockey every day. I remember telling my dad, ‘I wish we lived in Calgary.’ Then as I got older, I was like, ‘I think I like Vancouver better than Calgary.’ It was funny.”

What are some of your favorite things to do in Vancouver? “If I was there in the winter and if I didn’t play hockey, I know I’d love to ski because I skied when I was younger. But I haven’t skied in years. I can’t really do that now. But I like to go to the beach in the summer a bit. I talked to your earlier about going to the mountains and the headwaters there. That’s fun. Nothing crazy. Obviously I like to golf.”

Have you done the touristy things like visiting Stanley Park or walking around downtown? “Not often. I’ve been in Stanley Park before. I remember when I was younger, my mom’s work had like a picnic there. I’d just go with her and get a bunch of food or whatever. It’s not like I was going to walk around like a tourist, but sometimes you end up there. It’s cool.”