O'Ree finalist spotlight: Mack Janes

The Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award presented by Hyundai is given to an individual who, through hockey, has positively impacted his or her community culture or society. The award honors O'Ree, the former NHL forward who became the first Black player to play in the NHL on Jan. 18, 1958, and has spent more than two decades as the NHL's diversity ambassador. After a public voting period and votes from O'Ree, NHL executives and Hyundai executives, the winner will be announced in June. There will be a winner from the United States and one from Canada.

Today, a look at one of three Canada finalists, Mack Janes:

There's a dropbox for hockey gear donations at Shift Wellness and Performance in the Ottawa suburb of Stittsville, Ontario.

A sign on the box has a simple four-word message: Give Gear. Change Lives.

Mack Janes, president of Next Shift Canada, and his colleagues have done just that, working to remove the financial barriers associated with the cost of hockey equipment to make the sport more accessible for players of all ages and backgrounds.

"When someone walks through our doors," Janes said, "we want them to have that sensation of knowing once they get on the ice for the first time, stick in their hands, they're going to love this game. They're going to absolutely fall in love with it.

"But if we don't give them that opportunity to fall in love with it, to break down that barrier of equipment to make sure they can get on the ice for the first time, then they're never going to have that sensation and feeling. That's the biggest reason why we really wanted to start that on the equipment side, to make sure there is one more barrier that is taken away."

Janes has even bigger plans for Next Shift Canada, which he founded in 2021. But because of what he has accomplished already, he has been named one of three finalists for the Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award in Canada. The winner, who will be named in June, will receive a $25,000 prize to be donated to the charity of their choice, with the other two finalists each receiving a $5,000 prize donated to a charity of their choice.

"To have somebody in your community think that you are doing something as great as what Willie O'Ree did is mind-blowing in itself," Janes said.

Making the nomination even more personal is the fact Janes for a time lived in Fredericton, New Brunswick, O'Ree's hometown, and is a fellow Atlantic Canada native, having grown up in Newfoundland learning about O'Ree's contribution to hockey and beyond.

"For people to think that I'm making that impact, thank you so much," Janes said, "because there's not many better people in the world, and people who had to struggle as much as he had to to push through his adversity and come out on the other side with a smile on his face, still fighting for as long as he can, to make sure injustice hasn't been done."

In addition to the dropbox at Shift Wellness, Janes will go anywhere to pick up gear, or deliver it to any interested hockey player.

"There's nothing I won't think of or do or try," he said.

Next Shift Canada is a passion project for him, based in part on how he grew up.

"My family never had enough money to keep me in hockey," he said. "I remember one time where we had to go to another house to pick up equipment, we were trying to buy it and mom was trying to get it for free. I remember what that felt like, what it was like being in the house, and the worst thing was, because we moved to a new community, that kid was in my class. So all of a sudden you're a new kid, coming in, and you're getting free equipment.

"Back then, if you had no money, kids would make fun of you. Coming forward, later in life, that's what I remembered. So my whole big thing is making sure every time a kid comes in through our doors to get equipment, the experience is not based upon that. It's based upon feeling amazing, be uplifted, knowing you're about to go do the sport that you love."

Janes had moved to Ottawa in 2010 to work at the Canadian Joint Operations Command, where he serves as a master warrant officer in the military police. During his spare time he helped create 3rd & 1 Football, which helped find football equipment for underprivileged families. But in 2021, when his younger son, Sam, got into competitive hockey, Janes noticed the skyrocketing cost associated with playing the game.

"Just the rising rates and trying to figure out with the rising costs of equipment and sticks, you're looking at each other and it's like, how can we afford this?" he said. "We only have one kid playing (his older son, Jack, plays football). What would happen if I have two and three kids playing? How are they finding that same relief if we can't find it? Between my wife and myself we make good wages, so how hard is it getting out there for families that may not have that opportunity, that may not have those same wages we make?"

It was Sam who reminded his father of his work with 3rd & 1.

"He goes 'Dad, you do all this stuff for at-risk youths back in the day for football and that, why can't you do 3rd and 1 for hockey?'" Janes said. "When your 11-year-old calls you out ... he challenged me, so I said, 'Let's see if it works.'"

Janes bought some new hockey gear and posted an advertisement on Facebook that it was available for anyone who wanted it. One email response led to another.

"Three years and one month later, we're at 1,100 players and over 250 goalies [outfitted] from head to toe," Janes said. "That includes [players in] India, Iceland, Serbia, and we're kicking some stuff to Argentina this year."

Amanda Chambers is one of the parents helped by Next Shift Canada and Janes' generosity.

"The influence Mack had on my family, I couldn't even begin to explain," she said. "They make it more affordable for my kids to play hockey. One of my boys broke his stick and he actually drove to our house to get a stick for him. When I saw Mack pop up at my door I was so surprised. It shows that he has a love for this. I was so amazed by that. It was really touching."

And it's not just kids that Next Shift Canada is helping.

"For your wife, if she's in her 40's, most likely if she wanted to play hockey, her parents would have said, 'No, you can't. You're a girl, go play ringette,'" Janes said. "What we're finding now is this group of ladies between this 30- and 50-year-old age group are loving watching their kids play, and now they want to. So now we've hooked up and started 70 women as part of that 1,000-odd [players], are hockey moms wanting to get out for the first time, and now we created a league for women to start playing, to grow the game."

Janes' next step is growing Next Shift Canada to more than just one gear drop point.

"I'm about to expand from Ottawa into Toronto, to Vermont, to Connecticut and upstate New York," he said.

He'll have more time to dedicate to Next Shift when he retires from the military in 2026.

"When I give that equipment to a kid and that kid smiles, and then two days later I get a picture from that mom, or that night with the kid with the gear on, in their bed passed out, sleeping, because they're so excited and can't wait, this is why I do it," he said. "This is what gives me my reason to keep doing it ... It also gives me the greatest sense knowing you are changing someone's life for the better. Even though I may never interact with that child again, their life will improve from that experience, from that moment, that they will get what they're looking for, hopefully through the sport.

"I don't sell NHL dreams. I don't sell PWHL dreams. I sell friendships, camaraderie, laughter and learning to be a better community. If you're down for that, people come and see us. Free equipment and we'll do what we can."