BCBusiness

62 BCBusiness FEBRUARy 2018 iLLUSTRATiON: TONiA COWAN. TOP: JEREMy KORESKi W illie Mitchell jovially recounts sitting in Hot Springs Cove near Tono on a Valentine's Day shortly before ask- ing his future wife, Megan, to marry him. Having •own up early to beat the crowds to the popular spot on the west of Vancouver Island, suddenly being joined by an older couple wasn't part of the plan, explains the ex–Vancouver Canucks de- fenceman, now co-owner and president of the newly launched Tono Resort and Marina. "We're like, 'Uh-oh, naked man and woman coming down,'" Mitchell says with a laugh. "They sit down, and he starts rolling this big fatty—it was so Tono." Combined with his long-time love of adventure shing and nu- merous vacations around so-called Tough City, that experience is part of the o‰eat charm that hooked Mitchell (who grew up on the Island, in Port McNeill) into his new business venture after retiring as captain of the Florida Panthers in 2016. Besides, the upbeat 40-year-old—who twice won the Stanley Cup with the Los Angeles Kings but had been on and o› the ice with concussions—sees the $9-million invest- ment in the ve-acre former Marina West prop- erty o›ering him a shot at reinvention. "I could have gone back and made some more money," he says of the National Hockey League. "But the opportunity cost of this could mean me being an unhealthy person—and health is your wealth." Joining partners Dan Hamhuis (a fellow for- mer Canuck who's now with the Dallas Stars) and Andrew Purdey, the Mill Bay–based founder of Ruskin Construction Ltd., Mitchell called on 17 years of "chasing around rubber for a living" for the entrepreneurial role. "What made me a re- ally good hockey player was situational aware- ness," he says. "I could see all 12 guys on the ice at one time, so I could read and react very well and ahead of time. That works well here." Besides overhauling the 62 rooms and the renamed the Hatch Waterfront Pub at what he calls the "rened yet rugged" resort, the trio have installed a more upscale dining area, 1909Kitchen (including bringing in chef Paul Moran, a protege of Mitchell's restaurateur friend David Hawksworth). They've also created a new 56-slip marina—some berths, notably, have 130- foot moorage—and opened an adventure centre for activities such as whale and bear watching. "I wasn't great at school, but I hate the stereo- type of a hockey professional just being an athlete, and I'd like to think there's some more depth to me," Mitchell says over capicola and aged gouda pizza at 1909. Something else that works well on this wild coast: Mitchell's con- servation credentials. While he ex- citedly swipes his phone to show photos of his latest catch—an alba- core tuna some 60 clicks o› Tono's shoreline—he insists that shing is more than just a sport. For him, it's about respect for nature he learned from his fam- ily and growing up with the Namgis First Nation. "They helped me to connect on a whole new spir- itual level—I've been very blessed," the father of eight-month-old son Pax (currently with Megan at their home in Fort Lauderdale while they build in Tono; they also have a place in Kitsilano). "Tono and these places ll your soul. It's where I've always come to be healed." That healing is why he's now keen to share the area through hospitality, he adds—and keep advocating for it. "Even if you are in the corporate world and that's what drives your bus, if you really looked at it objectively, I think keeping British Colum- bia beautiful is such a competitive advantage in all aspects," he concludes, before heading o› to help create ocean action shots with SeaLegacy, the Qualicum Beach–based consortium of re- nowned international nature photographers. "Salmon feed it all—the whales, the eagles, the bears. B.C. is not here without them, so I feel it's my responsibility to protect it." © Second Season Willie Mitchell, the conservation-minded former Vancouver Canuck, reinvents himself as co-owner of a Tofino resort Vancouver social entrepreneur Jessica Pautsch on creating the "tinder for the food-waste world" by Lucy Hyslop ThREE ThINGS AbOuT… WILLIE mITChELL NEXT MoNTH lUNCH WITH lUCy 1. Mitchell has been afraid of heights since an engine stopped on a plane when he was 15. "Everything was fine, but it wasn't the most pleasurable experience," he says, adding that he's worked hard to overcome the fear, including now learning to fly a fixed- wing aircraft. 2. As much as he loves heading to the Bahamas from his home in Florida for lunch in the 32-degree heat, he still yearns to spend a whole winter "in the middle of the bush chasing nothing but steelhead" in B.C. 3. He enjoyed a spell of not having to work out daily after quitting hockey, but since starting his resort, Mitchell finds himself wanting to run on a beach first thing. "Otherwise as soon as I touch my computer, I'm into the vortex, so I've needed to learn to compartmentalize: pay Willie first, pay the family, pay the business…"

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