From Stick to Pickle: Kris Draper and Paul Holmgren Discuss the NHL to Pickleball Pipeline

Look, despite its standing as one of the world’s fastest-growing sports, Kris Draper knows the name sounds ridiculous. Pickleball? Really? And truth be told, if the game was called just about anything else, perhaps he would have given it a shot sooner. That’s not to say he had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, onto the court, but it’s true that he couldn’t be bothered to pick up a paddle until the world was in the throes of pandemic-related restrictions and there was almost literally nothing else to do. That’s how, roughly three years ago, Draper was finally persuaded to step on the court.

Now? He’s obsessed.

Just so we’re clear, too, it is that Kris Draper we’re talking about. The four-time Stanley Cup champion, Selke Trophy winner and Detroit Red Wings assistant GM? One and the same. And it turns out, that first day on the court and a rematch the next day turned into an enthusiasm for the sport so deep that Draper can quicker tabulate the days he hasn’t played pickleball than those he has.

If you’re in need of more evidence, consider that Draper explained all of this moments after stepping off the court. Or that he competed in the Beer City Open in Grand Rapids, Mich. Or – and this is maybe most telling – that whatever scenic view his house might have once had is now instead a pickleballer’s paradise. “In 2013, I put a hockey rink in my backyard,” he said. “And that has now, in the summer months, been transitioned into a pickleball court, and I play there every day. Even if I’m not there, I have four people coming over and playing in my backyard. It’s open to all of them.”

Given he’s so passionate about the game – so much so that he plays whenever and wherever he can find a game, including when he was on scouting duty for the Red Wings – it’s no surprise that news of his pickleball affinity disseminated throughout the hockey world. It spread far enough, in fact, that it reached longtime Philadelphia Flyers player and executive Paul Holmgren, an avid pickleballer in his own right. Thus, when Holmgren helped co-found PBX Pickleball, among the first people he reached out to was Draper. And it wasn’t a hard sell.

What Holmgren explained to Draper was that PBX was an opportunity for former professional athletes to come together and compete with and against each other while also making time to give back to fans and supporters who were there throughout their big-league careers. The idea itself had first been brought to Holmgren by Mark Piazza, a former New York Rangers executive, and fellow co-founders Ken Byck and Kevin Wilson, the latter a former professional baseball player and coach, and the former leveraging his experience in the fantasy camp world to assist in building this brand-new venture. As much as it sounded to Holmgren like a great chance to relight the competitive flame in himself and others, he saw it as an opportunity for former NHL players to reunite and earn a bit of money on the side.

“Every step of the way, I’ve kept that in mind,” Holmgren said. “I’ve been very blessed and fortunate to be in the great game of hockey for as long as I’ve been, and maybe there are others who aren’t as lucky as I’ve been who could use a little help, whether it be financial or just the camaraderie or fellowship side that you get with playing a team sport.”

Holmgren, 67, hasn’t had to do much twisting of the proverbial rubber arms of ex-NHLers to get them on board. Draper was first, but the PBX roster has expanded since with the additions of Patrick Sharp, Dave Bolland and Freddy Modin, a trio with a combined six Stanley Cups and more than 2,200 NHL games. Al Iafrate, Mike Krushelnyski, Ruslan Fedotenko and Ulf Samuelsson are also listed as members of the NHL-to-PBX pipeline. And as if that’s not enough NHL notability, PBX also brought on Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen, who just so happened to be Draper’s daily opponent when the IIHF U-18 World Championship was held in Texas in 2021. “Jarmo and I created a good friendship through our passion for pickleball,” Draper said.

Already, the PBX crew has made their way down to Columbus for a training camp of sorts – some of the former big-leaguers squared off against legitimate pickleball pros – but the big launch isn’t expected until 2024, in large part because the details of PBX’s core experiences are still being ironed out. The most important of those experiences is the pro-am component, which will give fans the chance to take part in games alongside past NHL, MLB, NFL and NBA talent. “That’s something that all of us, to a man, we’ve talked about all the time whenever we’re doing our conference calls, giving back to the fans who were there cheering us on when we played,” Holmgren said.

That includes Draper, though it should come as no surprise that a former member of the Red Wings’ beloved ‘Grind Line’ is just as excited about the chance to test himself against the best of the best from the other major leagues. “Let’s be honest, we think hockey players are the greatest athletes that there are, and I’m sure you’re going to have three other sports, baseball, football, and basketball, that think otherwise,” Draper said. “And you know what? We get to see who’s right, and that’s the fun part of that. It’ll get very competitive and very heated very fast. That’s something that I love. And saying that right now gets the juices flowing.”