Scholarship program honors one of the pioneers of Columbus hockey

Of all the things people miss the most, it seems the thing that stands out is they can't pick up the phone and hear Paul Donskov's voice anymore.
For Ed Gingher, founder and president of the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets, those calls were often about how central Ohio's premier developmental hockey squad could continue to make inroads when it came to producing high-level talent.
For J.D. Kershaw, the Blue Jackets vice president for operations and development as well as a longtime amateur coach in the Columbus area, the conversations were often about how they could continue to grow the game in the Columbus area.
For Donskov's sons, Misha, Anthony and Matt, those calls could be about anything, whether it was the sport that would become the family business or anything else where fatherly advice could come in handy.

One of the pioneers of building Columbus hockey from the ground up, Donskov arrived well before the Blue Jackets and dedicated himself to growing the game in the capital city. That's one reason that his passing from lung cancer on April 15 has left such a hole for so many who were used to picking up the phone and seeking counsel from one of the elder statesmen of the city's hockey community.
"Paul was a regular conversation for me, and I miss those," Gingher said. "There wasn't anything that I didn't call him on that he hadn't been a part of or involved with or handled. I never called Paul for what I wanted to hear. I always called Paul when I knew he was going to tell me what I needed to hear. There was never a time where he turned away a phone call or turned away a challenge or an issue."
While that hole Donskov left behind after his 30 years in the sport in central Ohio will never be filled, his memory is being celebrated in many ways. One of those is the
Paul Donskov Legacy Scholarship
, which will be voted on annually by the Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation along with the Donskov family.
Applications for the scholarship
, which will be awarded this winter for the first time, are now open, as the Blue Jackets and the Columbus hockey community come together to honor a true Columbus original.

"If you go back in time and you talk to the people that really helped get this thing up and running, they will all tell you that Paul Donskov was a great man who cared very much about the community, cared about kids, cared about development and cared about the coaching," Kershaw said.
"He was just one of those guys that not only knew what he was talking about but was committed to helping everybody get better, and that got passed on to the family. All the boys and (his wife) Debbie, they all feel the same. They all want to help."

A Life in Hockey

Donskov was born in Serbia in 1944, at a tumultuous time in Europe to say the least, and spent three years in a refugee camp in Italy before the family's move to Canada in 1954. The Donskovs spent a year in Edmonton before moving to Toronto, and as one could imagine, hockey was a way for young Paul to assimilate himself into his new country's culture.
"I believe as an immigrant and a displaced citizen, the game of hockey provided him an opportunity to become part of the fabric at the time of the community in Canada and share the country's national passion," said Misha, the eldest of Donskov's three sons who grew up in the Columbus area. "It's a sport that he loved, and he took great joy in sharing that passion with us, with his family and with everyone. He was a pure student of the game of hockey. He understood it, he respected it."
The Donskov family eventually settled in London, Ontario, as Paul, who had a mechanical engineering degree, earned a number of leadership positions in the engineering and mining industry. He also earned a level five coaching designation from Hockey Canada, and all three boys quickly picked up the sport.
So when the Donskov family moved from London, a hotbed of hockey halfway between Toronto and Detroit, to Columbus in 1990, to say there was a culture shock would be putting it mildly. There was no professional hockey in town, one permanent rink -- the spartan Ice Rink on Ohio State's campus -- and one youth organization, the Capital Amateur Hockey Association, which didn't even have 100 registered players.
"I know for me, it was a really, really tough move," Anthony Donskov said. "Hockey was a big part and a fabric of our life. I just remember there was only one rink in town, and I remember vividly our first practice, I looked at my father and said, 'Where do we get dressed at?' I saw players literally getting dressed in the lobby (of the OSU Ice Rink).
"I'll never forget, in the car ride home, I was emotional. I was 12 years old, I moved to a brand-new country, and I remember thinking, 'Wow, this is so different.'"
But where many might have viewed the situation as dire, Paul saw it as an opportunity given his coaching background. He immediately became involved with CAHA and stepped into a role helping coach the Columbus Capitals high school program, quickly taking the team of central Ohio kids to the prestigious Silver Stick Tournament.
It helped that lightning in a bottle struck around the same time. In the autumn of 1991, the Columbus Chill of the ECHL debuted, bringing not just pro hockey but a rollicking good time to the Fairgrounds Coliseum. Suddenly, spurred on by an edgy marketing campaign, wild promotions and identifiable players, suddenly hockey was the hottest ticket in town.
The Donskovs can still remember the Chill's original slogan: "It's not your common cold."
"It was an electric environment, and it was a really fun family experience and brought the game closer and much more exposure to the game for the central Ohio region, which was great," Matt Donskov said. "That was very exciting."
As the sport took off from there, Paul was ready to do whatever it took to encourage the wave. The original Chiller in Dublin opened in 1993, to be followed by rinks at Easton and in Lewis Center and the Chiller's acquisition of the Worthington Ice House.
From there, the city's passionate Chill fanbase ignited an idea that professional hockey at the highest level could work. While the sport was growing at the pro level, it did the same at the grassroots level, and Donskov was often involved. He was both vice president of the board and director of hockey operations with CAHA, served as general manager of the Worthington rink and hockey director at the ice rink in Newark.
He pushed to grow the ranks of high-level coaching in Columbus, as he was involved in USA Hockey's Coaching Education Program and was a member of the Mid-Am District selection committee. Donskov was also an original member of the Board of Directors for the AAA program.

While there were plenty of titles that showed he was at the forefront of the city's efforts to build the game at the boardroom level, Donskov was at his happiest on the ice teaching the skills of the game.
"He lived in the trenches," Kershaw said. "He understood it all. He was a good hockey guy and knew what he was talking about, but he didn't just talk about it, he got down in there and got his hands dirty. A lot of the success in this community and what happened here is because of him and continues with the boys."

A Family Legacy

All three of the Donskov boys had their own levels of success in their hockey careers. Misha, now director of hockey operations with the Vegas Golden Knights, returned to Canada to play junior hockey, spent time at Division III Norwich University and had stints playing professional hockey in Sweden and Norway. Anthony played with Misha in Canada before a four-year career at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and two seasons in the CHL, while Matt followed his older brothers back to their native country for junior hockey before skating at SUNY-Cortland, also a Division III school.
If there's any indication of how far hockey has come in Columbus since the Donskovs' arrival, look no further than that. While the Donskov boys had to leave not just central Ohio but the country in the mid-1990s to chase their hockey dreams, that's no longer the case given the proliferation of grassroots, youth and amateur programs in the city. From Learn to Play classes to youth and house league programs to an explosion of high school teams and the AAA organization to even adult leagues, there are more opportunities than ever for players of all ages to hit the ice.
"I have to rewind the tape and think of how barren it was when we moved, and to be able to see it to where we have not just a National Hockey League team, you have a place where youngsters do not have to move away," to play at a high level, Anthony said. "All of us brothers, we had to move back to Canada to pursue our hockey goals. I was out of the house at 15, 16. So was Matt and so was Misha.
"This opportunity where kids right now can literally stay here their whole high school career, it's crazy how it's grown. He was very proud."
While Paul had a big hand in aiding that growth, the entire Donskov family would come to find the hold the sport had on it was tough to shake.
Misha worked in fan development for the Blue Jackets in the organization's early days before his hockey career reached the next level, including roles with Hockey Canada over the past few years and his job with the Golden Knights. The family including Debbie has operated Donskov Hockey Development, a highly respected camp that has grown over the past two decades to provide elite instruction and as well as specialized clinics, coaching education and more.
In addition, Anthony and Matt are directors at Donskov Strength & Conditioning, which provides high-level training utilized by a number of the top prospects being developed in the central Ohio area.
"We all at one point in time saw our careers take different directions before coming back to the game," Matt Donskov said. "We really love the game of hockey. It's part of the fabric of who we are as a family. I don't believe that we ever thought it would blossom individually into a career path where we would be hockey-oriented, but it has, and it's happened in a very organic way and a very natural way so it's been a real pleasure."

Passion and Purpose

In February of 2019, the Blue Jackets invited the Donskov family as well as many of Paul's friends in the Columbus hockey community to Nationwide Arena for a game. The attendees were greeted with a suite to watch, and in a timeout during the game against the San Jose Sharks, Paul was recognized on the big screen in the arena and presented with a crystal token of recognition for his work in helping get the Columbus hockey community off the ground.
It read: "Presented to Paul Donskov by the Columbus Blue Jackets in recognition of your many years of dedication and service to youth hockey."
There were many special nights for the Donskov family over the years, from evenings at the rink to the family trip to Davos, Switzerland, earlier this year to watch Misha help lead Team Canada to a win at the Spengler Cup mere months before Paul's passing, but that night in downtown Columbus stands out.
"It was incredible," said Misha, who took a red-eye flight from Vegas to Columbus for the recognition. "It was so special, actually. It meant so much to my dad and to our family and to all of us. It was a tremendous evening."
To someone like Gingher, who oversees a program that has put five players from central Ohio into the NHL in recent years, the recognition was well deserved.
"If Paul Donskov is not here in Columbus 30 years ago, AAA hockey is not here," Gingher said. "It's just a foundation. It's a culture. It's making sure the right people are involved, and you could go down a list of just high-quality people that were involved (at the beginning) and gave back. You put that all together with what Mr. Mac (CBJ founder John H. McConnell) started and what (current majority owner John P.) McConnell has continued, it's impressive. Paul probably doesn't get as much credit as he deserves, but I know I try to give it to him."
The two words Matt used repeatedly to describe his father's love of the game were passion and purpose. Those words are perhaps appropriate, then, when looking at the scholarship in Donskov's name that will be awarded starting this year.
The Paul Donskov Legacy Scholarship will honor his legacy, lifetime work and the value he placed on education. In addition, this scholarship will honor Paul's tireless passion to help youth hockey players advance and fulfill their academic and athletic dreams.
This special award honors graduating seniors who have best demonstrated and been recognized for their integration of academic and athletic excellence -- along with other aspects, which may include leadership, entrepreneurship, community service and creative and performing arts. Winners will be voted on annually by the Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation along with the Donskov Family.
"It's outstanding," Misha said. "We're just so thankful to the Columbus Blue Jackets for driving this forward. It's really, really special for our family. This scholarship will honor my dad's legacy, it will honor his lifetime work and the value he placed on education, and it will honor his tireless passion to help youth hockey players advance and fulfill their academic dreams.
"It's just such a special way to honor his legacy through the Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation, and as a family we're really proud and thankful."
High schoolers who wish to apply for the Paul Donskov Legacy Scholarship can do so through the month of January by submitting an application for the foundation's High School Hockey Scholarship. Those who wish to contribute to the fund can do so by clicking here.