In his testimony, Tavares described growing up in Oakville, Ont., the son of a Portuguese immigrant welder father and a mother who worked in banking and later drove a school bus, and playing hockey since “as early as I can remember,” maybe five years old. He was playing Triple A by age eight, then Junior A, and was drafted into the Ontario Hockey League at age 15, and soon granted the novel distinction of “exceptional player status,” which let him start early. By 16, he had broken Wayne Gretzky’s record for most OHL goals by a 16 year old. He won gold twice at the World Juniors, and was firmly on track to be a pro superstar. He was drafted first overall in 2009, was captain of the Islanders by his fourth season, and won Olympic gold for Canada in 2014.
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