Ference has stayed connected to the NHL since retiring in 2015-16, though. Employed by the League office, the 46-year-old has found a calling as the NHL’s Director of Youth Strategy, pivoting into that role after a directorial gig in the social impact, growth and legislative affairs sphere.
But he’s using the power of Instagram – giving fans a glimpse into that laid-back, West Coast lifestyle – as both a way to connect, and to educate.
“Some of the stuff I’m working on at work too is, like, trying to get more player marketing and some of the stuff with our current players,” he explained. “Some of my stuff is just an experiment and a bit of an example to give proof of what you can do with social media and how you can connect with fans and really, you know, connect with people through your personal side.”
“I think it’s a good example to our players of the power of connecting with fans beyond, you know, how hard you can shoot a puck or how fast you can skate. I think sometimes people feel a lot more of a connection through, you know, some of those things, and I’ve definitely experienced that.”
And that’s where the garden comes in.
Amid the fruits and vegetables – and bees, Ference describes himself as a ‘rookie beekeeper’ – he showed off a massive tobacco leaf in one of his recent social media reels.
For Ference, the cultivation of that particular crop has a story, too, one of personal connection and cultural immersion.
“The tobacco actually is a is a neat story because I working with the NHL, we were doing some community events and things like that where we’d end up working with Indigenous communities,” he recalled. “You know, you get some gifts and stuff when you go visit the community, and one time in Nova Scotia, I got a beautiful gift box. It was sage and cedar, sweet grass and tobacco, and it was a little smudge kit. It was really nicely put together.
“And so I actually asked the guy that that put it together for me just to explain it. I said I kinda felt awkward always being on the receiving end. It was it’d be nice to give a gift as well.
“He actually suggested ‘you should try growing tobacco.’ He knew I was gardening and stuff. He suggested I just give it a try and kinda showed me, you know, some different ways to do it.
“So, yeah, I started growing tobacco a couple years ago. I harvest it and dry it and then I just give it as gifts, you know, and work with Indigenous communities and groups. It’s just, I think, a really respectful thing to do because it’s always such an honour to, you know, go and be welcomed in the community and work with those folks.
“I enjoy growing it. It’s a fun plant and fun flower.”