Q: What have you been doing since your retirement from hockey?
Faubert: I’ve been in real estate the past ten years. However, while in real estate I’ve been involved in retail, the screen printing business; I also owned a bar and restaurant business that did very well, but it was so demanding I sold it because I wanted to spend more time with my family and my golf game.
Q: Family is also somewhat demanding with three active sports minded daughters?
My girls are active and accomplished, but they get involved to have fun. My youngest is 16-year-old Corey who plays hockey, soccer and field hockey. When they play ice hockey you might find them dancing in the dressing room between periods. They laugh and they have a ball. My second daughter Kelly (19) made the Team Quebec Soccer and played in the Canadian Championship in Calgary this year. I love watching them play. The skill level is very high. The great thing about soccer is that everybody plays and contributes. My oldest daughter Tamara, is 20 and she has a lot of interests including basketball, soccer, rowing and has taken up triathlon. If she enjoys it, she does it. I like to have time to help coach because they just love to have fun.
Q: I notice you attended St. Louis University on a hockey scholarship. Was it rewarding and would you recommend it?
I recall I’d just made the Montreal Canadian Jr. Team and I quit because I wanted to protect my college eligibility. College offers had come in from St. Lawrence University, Cornell and St. Louis. I selected St. Louis because it was a new program. Sid Soloman owned St. Louis of the NHL and supported the college program with $250,000.00 a season. He felt it was good for his hockey business; the Blues had a $10,000.00 waiting list for season tickets. Then Soloman got into financial trouble and sold the Blues and that spelled the death knell for the University of St. Louis Hockey Team. However, I enjoyed it; we averaged 11,000 people a game and I studied business and the academic standards were high. Then I was drafted by Pittsburgh and left for the NHL before I graduated. But I have no regrets and would recommend the college route.
Q: What are your thoughts about today’s pro hockey?
I think they allow the defense to dominate the games. I believe that players are better than ever, but they are not allowed to display their skills. When fans pay $100.00 a ticket they want a show. Somehow they have to eliminate or curtail holding, interference and the dreaded center ice trap. The good players need to be able to express themselves with their skating, passing and stick handling skills. After all that is what the NBA did, they ruled many defenses as illegal and they opened up the game and pro basketball crowds have increased.
Another thing NHL refs call interference in November but tend to ignore it in April and May when interest is high. Holding or interference in November should be holding or interference in May.
Q: What were your career highlights?
In 1975 I was called up from Hershey as an injury replacement. So I played with Hershey in the American League playoffs and on the off nights I practiced with Pittsburgh. I watched every Stanley Cup playoff game between the Pens and the Islanders. We were up (3-0) but lost it (4-3) it was great to be just a part of that historical series.
Another highlight was my first NHL game. It was in Maple Leaf Gardens on television on my Dad’s birthday. I recall facing off with one of my heroes Ron Ellis.
The 1980-81 season was a great memory I was partnered with Randy Carlyle who won the Norris trophy and set power play records and I recorded 52 pts. I played nine years in Pittsburgh and enjoyed it thoroughly. In fact, I still go back there to visit old friends like Coach Rick Kehoe.
Q: What about your Oldtimer Hockey experience?
It’s awesome! You can get back to play with old superstars who were my heroes and also with players you played against. You’re back as a member of a team again with inside jokes and great camaraderie. Then you play for so many worthwhile causes before great crowds and you see so much of Canada that you would not have had the opportunity to see. I enjoy getting to know people from coast to coast.
Note: Mario Faubert is a very positive person and has no regrets about his hockey experience and he is optimistic about the future. He loves his family and he assesses his daughters' involvement in sport “they love to play more than work.” There is no doubt that this is all right with Dad!
