THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 13, 1994 TAG: 9410130605
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 121 lines
Anne McEwen is a full-blooded Ojibway Indian who fell in love and married a white man more than three decades ago. It was a marriage that would help change the way the Canadian government treats its native population.
Because she had chosen a mate outside her race, she was stripped of her Indian rights, including the rights to dual American and Canadian citizenship, and to own a plot of land on the Ojibway reservation.
Thus began a 25-year fight with the Canadian government. Along with husband Ernie and other sympathetic Canadians, she made trips to Ottawa, wrote letters and made phone calls.
``She finally won,'' says her son, Dennis McEwen, with no small amount of pride. ``When they took her rights she said, `Why is that? I'm still an Indian.'
``When she won, everyone who is 50 percent or more (Indian) got their status back. I was 17 when it happened, and didn't get my rights until then.
``She never gave up. She's a very determined woman.''
There is much of the mother in Dennis, who is determined to play yet another season for the Hampton Roads Admirals.
Dennis McEwen is known as ``The Original Admiral'' because he is the only player still with the team who participated in the first Admirals practice six years ago. He'll be on the ice again tonight when the Admirals host the Johnstown Chiefs in their first exhibition of the season.
McEwen is a rarity in the East Coast Hockey League, a developmental league where the faces change almost daily. He's a veteran who's been around so long even opposing fans recognize him.
``Some of the fans in Richmond get on me,'' he said. ``They ask me if I'm going to hang around forever.''
He is the most popular of the Admirals in Hampton Roads, as evidenced by the reception he received at the team's first preseason workout Sunday. More than half of the 300 fans at Scope cheered when he took the ice for the first time.
McEwen is popular in part because he's been around so long. But the 5-foot-11 native of Elliot Lake, Ontario, six hours north of Toronto, is admired as well for his hustle.
``All he does is come to work every day and work as hard as he can,'' Admirals coach John Brophy said. ``It doesn't matter where it is, on the road or at home. He's been a very valuable player.
``He plays everywhere across the line. He's a great penalty killer. He has a great attitude. He gives you everything he has every day.''
McEwen, who honed his hockey skills in a backyard rink as a youngster, is best known as a penalty killer. He is willing to skate deep into the corners to kill the clock, knowing he'll get slammed into the boards. His nose has been broken, most of his teeth are artificial and his face bears the scars of a few high sticks and cheap shots.
But McEwen may need to play some of the best hockey of his career in the Admirals' four exhibition games to make the club again. The Admirals' strength this season is on the front line, with returnees Rod Taylor, Brendan Curley, Jim Brown and Kelly Sorensen all playing well in training camp.
Brophy says the Admirals also have their best group of newcomers ever, including veteran Trevor Halverson.
``There is plenty of firepower and plenty of speed,'' McEwen said.
Having to sweat out training camp is nothing new for McEwen. After playing four seasons, including the championship years of 1991 and 1992, he retired and sat out the 1992-93 season.
But he missed hockey so much that he returned last season and made the team, albeit barely.
``They didn't make any guarantees because I had taken a year off,'' he said. ``I didn't expect them to.''
Only when veteran Brian Martin retired did McEwen, then on the 30-day injured-reserve list, clinch a spot on the roster.
He had his best offensive season in Norfolk last year, scoring 52 points in 58 regular-season games. But each year, he gets a little older, and the young players keep getting faster.
``This could be my last year, or I could play five more,'' said McEwen, 26.
``I still enjoy playing. I know my role is more of that of a leader. It's up to the older guys to teach the younger guys the ropes about what hockey is all about, about what you have to do day in and day out to become better players.
``Someday I'd like to give coaching a try. . . . But for now I'm still a player. And I've got a lot of life in me yet.''
Regardless of what the future holds for McEwen, it likely will happen in Hampton Roads. He's bought a house in Virginia Beach. He is married to local country radio personality Carol Lewis. He has his own radio show, about Admirals hockey, on WGH-AM.
He works full time as a salesman for Coastal Forms and Data Products, even during hockey season. (Coastal will print the Admirals' hockey cards this season.) He plans to attend Old Dominion University once his hockey career ends.
``I don't care if it takes me 10 years, I want my degree,'' said McEwen, who attended one semester at the University of Western Ontario while playing for the London (Ontario) Knights.
``I didn't come here with the intention of staying. It just happened. But this is year-round home now.
``I'm very happy here. . . . The people in the states are more friendly than Canadians. Americans embrace Canadians.
``When my hockey career here ends, it will be with a lot of good memories. I'm half Irish and I'll never forget scoring four goals on St. Patrick's Day (in Erie, Pa.).
``I don't think anyone associated with the Admirals will forget that first season, or the two championship seasons.''
Or McEwen. ILLUSTRATION: BILL TIERNAN/Staff
[Color Photo]
``This could be my last year, or I could play five more,'' says
Dennis McEwen, 26. His performance in preseason exhibitions, which
begin tonight, could tell the tale.
The Original Admiral
Size: 5-foot-11, 185 pounds
Hometown: Elliot Lake, Ontario
Position: Left wing
Career: Played three seasons for
London Knights in the Ontario (Junior) Hockey League. Scored 92
points in 64 games (1988-89) to earn a tryout with the Washington
Capitals. Came to the Admirals' first workout in 1989.
by CNB