From Halifax to Halifax.
It’s crazy to think that only 5 years ago I was living outside of Halifax, playing for the Halifax Mooseheads, living and dying by the game of hockey. Today, I constantly revisit the beautiful city for a reason outside of hockey: Country Liberty.
Country Liberty as you know is a country lifestyle brand that I dreamed up when I was living in Salzburg, Austria playing professional hockey. From very causally starting the brand to progressively taking it more and more seriously it has led me to relationships with 30+ amazing retail partners, The Parks New Brunswick Team, the Moosehead Brewery Team, Cavendish Beach Music Festival Team, Country Musicians, many creative professionals, many NEW friends, wonderful people and most recently the Pseudio Team!
Pseudio is a local retail chain established in this very city (Halifax), which over the course of almost 30 years has evolved into a retail giant across the country! After 2+ years of grinding, sacrificing, working late, working early and knocking at their door I was finally invited in. Head buyer Rodney laughed last week when we discussed the process and said, "your persistence overcame my resistance." This was truer than true.
Inviting you a step closer.
Halifax adopted me at 16 years young, housed me, fed me, and in some cases even celebrated me. It has become a second home for me and will ALWAYS have a special spot in my heart. This place, these coaches, mentors, fans led me to exceeding my expectation and becoming an NHL draft pick. I have many people to thank for that accomplishment.
Once leaving the Halifax Mooseheads I traveled to Europe and the states playing professional hockey. Since my brief professional days I pursued a university degree while playing for the St. Thomas Men’s hockey team, played in Quebec and a few other stops. I didn’t realize how quickly the years were truly going by, I had my head down and was extremely focused on all goals on hand. When I finally lifted my head I realized almost 6 years had passed and I was yet to return to my home away from home. After speaking with The General Manager of the Mooseheads, Cam Russel, I realized how silly I was for not returning sooner and supporting the team!
Visiting Halifax again.
This month I actually made two more significant trips to Halifax. The first trip was with a few creative friends, shooting content for a killer video with the current Halifax Moosehead players Connor Moynihan, Jake Ryczek and Benoit-Olivier Groulx. We joked and compared stories from our given time periods with the squad; this was my first real contact with any players since I left!
Then, I travelled down to watch a playoff game and joined in with a near sell out crowd in cheering on the boys!! To my surprise, old friend Bobby Mac of Q104 decided to pull me up for a quick interview between whistles that was featured on the Jumbotron. It had been YEARS since I did anything like this. I assumed he would ask me some hockey related questions but he jumped quickly to my clothing brand, Country Liberty. This was a great opportunity for a shoutout to the brand, with the attention of roughly 10,000 people but I thought it would be more fun to tease back and forth about hair styles instead! Some things will change, thankfully Bobby Mac’s colourfulness and sense of humour isn't one of them!!
Something to ask of you.
Halifax, Moose Country, and the entire Country Liberty Community, I ask for your support one more time! Stop in to your local Pseudio and simply take a look at the Country Liberty line I’ve created. I am VERY proud of my work! For anyone that remembers me playing hockey, the same passion I competed with, defended with, fought every QMJHL mutant with, stood up for my teammates with, is the same passion fuelling this venture today.
Thank you!