Carp NHL’er ‘honoured’ to host June 18 Ridge Rock event
By Jake Davies - West Carleton Online
CARP – After a grueling National Hockey League (NHL) 2024 campaign, Carp defenceman Calvin de Haan is ready to come home and drink some beer. And he wants to do it with friends.
Tomorrow night (June 18), de Haan is hosting an intimate beer and food pairing at the Ridge Rock Brewing Company, a brewery and public house he owns with three lifelong friends Ryan Grassie, Jason LaLonde and Jake Sinclair.
Tuesday night de Haan will host 4 Beers and 4 Plates with #44 pairing four of the Ridge Rock’s craft beers from Brewmaster Joel Windich with four gourmet courses created by Chef Brendan Stashick.
“The Ridge Rock team and I wanted to try something different,” de Haan told West Carleton Online last Thursday (June 16). “We came up the with the idea and said why not? let’s try it.”
With the Stanley Cup yet to be decided, maybe even tomorrow night (June 18), de Haan’s season wrapped up at the end of May when the Tampa Bay Lighting were eliminated by current Cup favourites the Florida Panthers.
De Haan, a 33-year-old defenceman known for his ability to clear the defensive zone, had another solid NHL season playing 59 games for the Lightning, scoring three goals and adding seven assists. He got in to one playoff games for the Lighting as well.
De Haan has played in 632 NHL regular season games in his career and another 38 playoff games for the Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks and New Your Islanders. He was also on two World Junior Team Canada teams in 2010 and 2011.
De Haan says Tuesday night will be about the food and drink, though.
“We really want to showcase our beer, brewed by our brewmaster Joel Windich, by pairing it with an elevated chef’s table menu, prepared by our chef Brendan Stashick, to show we can branch out in a different direction. Perhaps some of the food items will make the cut to the main menu one day. I take pride in what we’ve created at Ridge Rock and it’s an honour to be able to do a small intimate event like this.“
Click here for ticket availability.
West Carleton Online sat down with Calvin de Haan in the spring of 2022 for an expansive interview on both hockey and the restaurant business, and you can read that story here.
