Ray Emery tragically passed away in a swimming accident in the summer of 2018. His parents readily admit they will never be at peace with losing their son when he was only 35 years old.
But there is something strangely comforting about living so close to where their son burst onto the NHL scene more than 20 years ago.
They currently reside in Ashton, just a 15-minute drive from the Canadian Tire Centre. Their other two sons – Andrew and Nick – also live in Ottawa with their families. Paul and Sharlene, who will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary next year, moved to the Ottawa area from Cayuga, Ontario during the COVID-19 pandemic, to help them feel closer to family.
Some days they’ll drive around Ottawa and see Ray’s first apartment on Bronson Avenue. Or memories will flow when they take their grandson to skate at the Bell Sensplex in Kanata, where Ray often practiced with the Senators.
“Being in Ottawa means a lot to us,” explains Sharlene. “It’s comforting and healing. Lots of memories and it’s the healing steps we’re taking. It’s the place to be.”
Of course, the building in Ottawa that evokes the strongest emotions for the Emery family is the Canadian Tire Centre. It’s where their son backstopped the Senators to their only Stanley Cup Final berth in the modern era in 2007.
“I remember coming down the walkway and the crowd was just pumped. The excitement was unreal,” Paul says of the spring of 2007. “And one of the most surreal parts of the playoffs was to hear our name chanted.”
Sharlene interjects and replicates the crowd chanting from the spring of 2007.
“EM-ER-EE! EM-ER-EE!” she says.
Paul also recalls how the public address announcer would drag out the final syllable in the family’s last name when announcing Ray as the starting goalie on home ice.
“Ray Em-EREEEEEEEEEEEE,” he says with a laugh.
The family has quietly been back to the Canadian Tire Centre over the past couple of years, watching Senators games in the arena where their son was a household name.
“The first time back at CTC was very hard,” admits Paul.
On Thursday, however, the family will be back at Canadian Tire Centre with a lot more fanfare and a spotlight. And they are hoping to be surrounded with support and positivity.
Ahead of the home opener against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Emery family has been invited to ring the ceremonial bell inside the arena to launch a new season for the Ottawa Senators. The timing is fitting as the organization celebrates the 20-year anniversary of that 2006-07 squad that reached the Stanley Cup Final.
Sharlene says she wants her grandchildren to participate in Thursday’s ceremony – including her grandson Michael, who is only seven years old, but was given the middle name Raymond as a tribute to his uncle.
“Now with our grandson, it’s very exciting to be there. And to share the memories that we do have of being in the arena,” says Sharlene. “It’s for Ray and that’s my focus. He loved the game of hockey. Just to be thankful.”
The family watched Ray’s trials and tribulations in Philadelphia, where he recovered from a degenerative hip condition – the same one that prematurely ended Bo Jackson’s career – to reestablish himself as a bonafide NHL goaltender. And Paul and Sharlene stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Ray on the ice at TD Garden in 2013, when his Chicago Blackhawks captured the Stanley Cup championship in dramatic fashion in Game 6.
But Ottawa will always have a special place in their hearts, as it was the city that catapulted their son’s NHL dream.
“When your son is getting drafted, in the back of your head you’d really like a Canadian team, because you’re from Canada,” says Paul proudly. “And when he got drafted to Ottawa we said, ‘Yes!!!’”
