By Ella Tsotsos, The Hockey News Intern
Rob Pearson, a former OHL and NHL player, recently announced his departure as the head coach of the Pickering Panthers in the Ontario Jr. A League. Pearson played for several teams during his junior and professional career, including the OHL’s Belleville Bulls, which was the team he played for when he was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1989.
Growing up, Pearson‘s parents had season tickets for Toronto and being able to watch the Leafs from a young age kept the franchise close to his heart. The 1989 NHL draft was held in Minnesota, and Pearson’s experience was unforgettable. After being selected 12th overall, Pearson recalls going out for dinner with Leafs legend George Armstrong. Pearson was informed by Armstrong that it was the first time that a draft pick had ordered two steaks at dinner.
The 1989 draft was the first time – and only time – in which three players from the same OHL team were selected by the same NHL team in the first round. The Leafs drafted Scott Thornton at No. 3 overall, followed by Pearson at 12th overall and Steve Bancroft at 21st overall, the final pick in the first round. All three players had suited up for Belleville during the 1988-89 OHL season.
“We were fortunate,” Pearson said. “It was Scottie, then I went 12th, and Steve Bancroft went 21st. So, as friends and guys on the same team, it was awesome. We really enjoyed it.”
Pearson played parts of six NHL seasons from 1991-92 to 1996-97, getting into 269 NHL games. After that, he spent a few years in the AHL and IHL before a final season in Germany with the Frankfurt Lions in 2001-02.
Pearson shared that it was a difficult transition adjusting to life after hockey. He said he took a break from everything and learned how to take care of a home until he began making calls to figure out what he wanted to do next.
Michael Boyer, a Chevrolet dealer located in Pickering, Ont., represented a new chapter for Pearson. He joined the car dealership, and Pearson now holds the title of Business Elite Manager. And once he had his post-playing career in order, with hockey still in the back of his mind, Pearson began coaching and becoming a mentor.
Pearson coached various teams, and one in particular was the Pickering Panthers in the OJHL. Pearson coached the team from 2019 through this season before announcing his departure at the end of the campaign. From playing professionally to coaching, this transition is common with many players. His son, Luke, is a goalie for Yale University. To have the privilege to learn from a professional player goes a long way.
“You just felt it was a good opportunity to be able to give back and help these kids out, that maybe a path that you took was wrong or a path that you took was right, that I could go and help them individually,” Pearson said.
Pearson’s hockey career was well travelled, as he played for Belleville and Oshawa in the OHL, Toronto, Washington and St. Louis in the NHL, Portland and Worcester in the AHL, Cleveland, Orlando and Long Beach in the IHL, and, finally, Frankfurt in Germany’s DEL.
His highest-scoring seasons came in the OHL when he scored 48 goals and 88 points with Belleville in 1989-90 and then 63 goals and 118 points with Belleville and Oshawa in 1990-91.
In his NHL draft season of 1988-89, Pearson missed much of the Bulls’ campaign due to an injury – he scored eight goals and 20 points in 26 games as an OHL rookie that season – so there were some questions as to where he would go in the draft.
He ended up being selected 12th overall in the first round, and Pearson lived up to the role that everyone hoped for during his first season with the Leafs, with 14 goals and 24 points in 47 games during the 1991-92 campaign. In 1992-93, he enjoyed his best NHL season, placing fourth on the Leafs with 23 goals and leading Toronto with 211 penalty minutes.
“We were thrilled to get ‘our man,’ ” said former Leafs GM Gord Stellick, who drafted Pearson.
The Leafs had been pining for Pearson, as they wanted a player with outstanding stats and grit. Pearson was a player that stood out because he played a physical game but also had offensive talent. The 1980s and ’90s were an era in the NHL when the physicality of the game was very prominent.
“Guys that could score, guys that could skate, like a guy like Brendan Shanahan,” Pearson said. “He was somebody that held you accountable on the ice, but he could play the game.”
Pearson played most of his professional games in the AHL, where he did very well for himself. After his playing career and to the present day, he became a mentor in the hockey world, providing invaluable insight to shaping hockey players.
“I believe that if you can teach these young men that it’s not a race, if you can teach them to learn how to find their game and play their game, if you can teach them to find their path and not to be in such a rush to climb the ladder and get to that next level, to be patient and understand that the level will come to you and you’ll get there eventually,” Pearson said.
Pearson announced his departure from the Panthers at the end of the 2024-25 season. He led the Panthers to victory as the Buckland Cup champions after defeating the Toronto Junior Canadiens in 2022. Pearson was also named coach of the year in 2021-22 after guiding the Panthers to a 39-10-1-3 record, which was the second-best record in the 21-team Jr. A league.
While he steps away from the game for now, Pearson cherishes the many memories he made in hockey – even the ones that came with a few bruises. “I remember leaving the arena black and blue and looking right away who’s your opponent for the next game, because sometimes you had those tough sleeps at night knowing Detroit is coming in or Chicago is coming in or whoever’s coming in, and you knew what you had to deal with the next night,” Pearson said.
The journey has been long for Pearson, but hockey has always found a way to stick with him.
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