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Learning About Italian-Canadian NGL Athlete Kevin Francesco Bieska with Ms. Lumbardo

Written by Gianni Scozzari


Kevin Francesco Bieksa was born on June 16, 1981, in Grimsby, Ontario. He has two brothers, Marty and Bryan, and two stepsisters, Terri Lynn and Jennifer. Bieksa is known for his amazing hockey career as a defence-man; he played for the Vancouver Canucks and the Anaheim Ducks. Bieksa recently announced his official retirement from the NHL, which is scheduled to take place on November 3rd, 2022, in Vancouver when they play against the Anaheim Ducks; Bieksa signed a one-day contract with them to make this possible. What interested me about Bieksa is that he has Italian roots, his mothers last name is Lombardo, and her parents are from Sicily. I luckily had the opportunity to interview Bieksa’s mother Ms. Lombardo over the phone to learn more about Bieksa, his accomplishments, hobbies, impact on his community, Italian traditions, and career from his mother’s perspective. When I asked Ms. Lombardo to describe Bieksa briefly, she said he is a humble, loving, kind, emotional, physical, and selfless man who values his family, heritage, and love for hockey.

Though Bieksa is not of full Italian descent, his mother mentioned he values his Italian heritage and traditions highly. Before his Nonno and Nonna passed away, Bieksa made the time on Sundays to have a late dinner and spend quality time with them though he was busy with his family, hockey, and other responsibilities. Along with that, Ms. Lombardo mentioned that Bieksa attended annual festitalia events in Hamilton, Ontario multiple times with his family and enjoys Italian traditions such as Italian music, making sauce and wine, and the cuisine in general. When I asked Ms. Lombardo about the impact Italian culture had on Bieksa, she said that it is especially important to him, she adds on that when Bieksa is asked about his heritage, he replies that he is Sicilian and proud. When I asked Ms. Lombardo what she thinks Bieksa’s biggest accomplishment is aside from him playing in the NHL, she said his family, the one he has created with his wife and the family who have raised him. Italians are known for valuing family over everything, we can see this in Italian films like Bronx tale, your blood relatives are the most important and come before any and everything that life throws at you. Ms. Lombardo noted that Bieksa’s kids and wife are his pride and joy, when Bieksa would come home after his season concluded or when he had time off, the first people he would see were his Nonno and Nonna, he always was available for family and made them his main priority. As mentioned prior, Bieksa is Sicilian, and Sicilian’s are known for being tough, aggressive, and physical; those three terms were the exact ones used by his mother and analysts who describe him on and off the ice and allowed him to be such a great defenceman and an impactful player, along with a great family-oriented person (Scozzari).

Kevin Bieksa’s played his first NHL game on December 19, 2005, he rapidly developed into one of the Canucks’ top players and finished the season leading all team defenceman in assists, points and penalty minutes while also achieving a career-high number of goals. At the end of his first full NHL season, he was awarded the Canucks’ Babe Pratt Trophy as best defenceman and Fred J. Hume as the unsung hero. Bieksa continued playing for the Canucks until June 30, 2015, he was then traded to the Anaheim Ducks. During Bieksa’s time on the Ducks, he continued to help develop and mentor the young defence core as he was a veteran defenceman with younger and inexperienced players. This relates back to what Bieksa’s mother said during our interview, she mentioned Bieksa is a selfless person who puts others before himself and is an amazing mentor. Overall, Bieksa spent 10 years in Vancouver and 3 years in Anaheim, for a grand total of 13 years in the NHL. Bieksa represented Canada in 2014, he was selected as team captain and named one of the top players for Canada in the tournament, Bieksa also represented Canada for the second time in his career in 2018. After retiring from the NHL, Bieksa co-founded West Coast Academy, he then joined the Hockey Night in Canada team as a regular member of the analysis panel, served as assistant coach for the Anaheim Jr. Ducks and served as assistant coach for the Fairmont Preparatory Academy Huskies.

As an NHL defenseman, Kevin Bieksa played a key role in Vancouver for the teams that qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs seven times in nine seasons. After finishing his NHL career, Kevin gave back to his community on multiple occasions. Bieksa’s mother mentioned that after he signed with Vancouver, he attended and donated to sick children’s hospitals and mental illness, runs a hockey academy for his son and other children, and is currently a commentator for sports centre. Bieksa is continually active as a mental health speaker and advocate, his support for this cause is rooted in his close friendship with former teammate Rick Rypien, who passed away in August of 2011 after struggling with clinical depression for years (“Kevin Bieksa | Canadian Men’s Health Foundation”, 2022). Bieksa and Rypien had a similar path in the NHL and formed a bond and trust between the two of them that strengthened to the point that Rick confided in Bieksa that his anxiety and unexplained fears almost caused him to stay home from Canucks’ 2008 Training Camp (“Kevin Bieksa | Canadian Men’s Health Foundation”, 2022). Following Rypien’s’ passing, Bieksa frequently spoke out in support of Mindcheck.ca, which provided BC teens and young adults with a reliable, easy-to-use, interactive website to check out how they’re feeling and connect to support early and quickly, a quote of Bieksa’s health tip, “One of the best things you can do for a buddy is to listen to their problems without judgment. Just being there for your friends, even if you do not really have a grasp on how they are feeling, can make them feel better.” (“Kevin Bieksa | Canadian Men’s Health Foundation,” 2022).

Kevin Bieksa was a great NHL player with an impressive career resume, after retirement Bieksa gave back to his community on multiple occasions which roots back to how his mother briefly described him, as a humble, kind, and selfless man. Bieksa is not a known Italian Canadian athlete as he is only half Italian, but after interviewing his mother we can see how important and impactful his Italian roots are to him. Bieksa’s appreciation and enjoyment of the Italian culture, overall pride of his Italian roots, and success as a professional hockey player is impressive and allows us to appreciate the story of the Italian-Canadian, Kevin Bieksa.


Bibliography

Scoazzari, Gianni. “Interview with Ms. Lombardo, Kevin Bieksa’s Mother.” 19 October 2022.

“Kevin Bieksa | Canadian Men’s Health Foundation.” Menshealthfoundation.ca, https://menshealthfoundation.ca/champions/kevin-bieksa/.

How to cite this page:

MLA STYLE: Author. “Title.” Title of container, Other contributors, Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraphs and/or URL, DOI or permalink). 2nd container’s title, Other contributors.

Scozzari, Gianni. “Learning about Italian-Canadian NHL Athlete Kevin Francesco Bieska with Ms. Lombard.” In Archival Research of Italian-Canadian Immigration and Culture, supvr. T. Russo, issue 4: Sports in Italian-Canadian Communities, Brock University, December 2022, St. Catherines (Sports in Italian-Canadian Communities – Italian-Canadian Narratives Showcase (italianheritage.ca)). Italian-Canadian Narratives Showcase (ICNS), Sandra Parmegiani and Nivashinee Ponambalum.