The Enigma That is Jared Ross
Posted by Matt on February 4, 2009
I was flipping through the channels the other week and found myself watching the American Hockey League (AHL) All-Star game. Unfortunately, I did not see any of the action as the game was over. However, I was able to see the presentation of the MVP Award (sponsered by some fast-food chain, I believe). The recipient of the 2009 AHL All-Star game MVP was a man named Jared Ross, a forward who plays for the Philadelphia Phantoms. Jared had seven points in that game (an AHL all-star game record), six assists (another AHL all-star game record) and one goal (not so much a record). That’s a pretty good night. I thought to myself, “Alright! Jared Ross, sounds like a Jewish name. It’s nice to see a Jewish hockey player!” Now, I am strictly going by his name, I do not know for sure that Jared Ross is Jewish. I tried to google this, but could not come out with a definitive answer. If you are not Jewish, then I sincerely apologize, Jared.
Now, being a Jewish professional hockey player, Jared is in the minority. However, while watching the game I discovered another fact about Jared that puts him in another minority. He was born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama! Seriously! So not only is Jared Ross a Jewish hockey, he is a Jewish hockey player from Alabama! According to an article on ahl.com, Jared played college hockey at the University of Alabama-Huntsville…who knew that the University of Alabama had a hockey team!? The article on ahl.com also stated that Jared ranks in the top three in school history in goals, assists and points. He led the team in scoring in each of his final three seasons, was a three-time College Hockey Association First-Team All-Star, and was the conference player of the year in 2003-04.
In the beginning of this season, Jared made his debut for the Philadelphia Flyers at their home opener against the Rangers of all teams (shows how observant I am). Jared became the first player born and trained in Alabama to play in the NHL. Congratulations, Jared! It’s about time someone broke that barrier. Was this the game where Sarah Palin was boo’ed when dropping the ceremonial puck?
I find this story quite interesting. Who knew Alabama was able to produce a NHL player? Who knew that there are Jews in Alabama (that is a GROSS generalization on my part…clearly there has to be a proud Jewish community in the state…just my attempt of being humorous…sorry if that offends any Alabama Jews). As Jack @ http://notaplumber.blogspot.com put it, what is more rare: a Jewish hockey player or a Jew in Alabama? I just wanted to share this to my readers as I think this is a random story and fun fact to learn. Maybe someone, one day, can win a bunch of money in a trivia game by knowing who the first Alabama-Native was in the NHL.
Ironically enough, according to the article on ahl.com, Jared was traded to Philadelphia for Niko Dimitrakos, A Greek-American hockey player. For those who know me, I am half-Jewish/half-Greek, so this intrigued me quite a bit. I bet this was the first time in professional sports history that a Jew was traded for a Greek.
Learn More About Jared Ross:
http://www.theahl.com/news/league/index.html?article_id=8957
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jared_Ross
UAHFan said
Hate to burst your bubble but Jared comes from a Catholic family. His uncle Tom Ross was one of the top NCAA players ever and held the career scoring record for a long time. Jared’s father, Doug, coached Alabama-Huntsville for 25 years and was a member of the 76 olympic team.
Matt said
Oh! Thanks for the comment. May I ask how do you know this (so I can add this information to the post)? I see by your username that you follow the University of Huntsville – Alabama. Did you attend school there? Are you from Huntsville? Do you know the Ross family personally.
Thanks again, Matt.
Ex-Charger said
UAH – not the University of Alabama, which is in Tuscaloosa – has had hockey for 30 years. The team won 2 NCAA Division II national championships in 1996 and 1998 and was runnerup twice. I know the Ross family. Jared is also the first native Alabamian to play in the NHL. And, yes, he made his NHL debut on Opening Night, when Sarah Palin dropped the puck. I was there and there were about as many boos as cheers.
Matt said
So University of Alabama – Huntsville has had hockey for 30 years…but the main University of Alabama campus does not have hockey? That’s cool that you know the Ross family. I hope I will be seeing more of Jared in the future on the Flyers!
J said
You really should be careful with making such assumptions. Alfred Rosenberg, who had as Jewish a name as anyone, was a Nazisentenced to death at Nuremberg.
Matt said
The comment above is ridiculous. How, in this universe, can you compare Nuremberg to a blog about a hockey player? Whoever this is needs to take things in context.
Ghost Bear said
I have known Jared since he was a child and was the equipment manager when he played for his dad at UAH. Ross is a Scottish name and the family is Catholic, his dad, now retired, does work for Good Shepherd Catholic Church.
Jared scored his first NHL goal yesterday (4/19) in game 3 against the Penguins.
As a side note UA in Tuscaloosa actually does have a club hockey team.