"Dirty" Harry Callahan: Bay City's Scoring Enforcer

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Harry Callahan looking to make a sudden impact after being drafted by VHLM's Ottawa Lynx

 

Harry Callahan was born and raised with one obsession: his love of hockey.

 

Harry was born to a single mother, Linda in Madison County, Iowa, and raised in San Francisco, California. He has one older brother, Taylor, who is one year older than Harry. Right from the ages of 3 and 4, Harry and Taylor were on the ice together learning the game that they loved. The Callahan boys attended Glengrove Public School together, where they remained inseparable. When the opportunity came for them to play organized hockey together, they leapt at the chance. While Taylor was a star in his own right, it was Harry who began to shine brightest. Playing a year above his age group to play with his brother, Harry lit up the scoreboard his first season, leading the league in goals and points.

 

Off the ice, the bond between the Callahan family was very strong. The Callahan's spent most of their relaxation time together playing Monopoly, watching movies, and taking road trips. Most road trips in the car were spent driving with the windows down and singing along loudly to terrible boy bands, much to the delight of the boys. It was these trips together that were the highlight of their summers before the winters brought non-stop hockey for the boys. Every time they were on the ice together, there was their mother Linda in the stands, supporting the boys through every practice and every game. The boys strong sense of devotion to the game came directly from their mother, who did everything that she could to make sure that her boys were as happy as they could be.

 

As they moved forward through Peewee hockey, it was clear that the Callahan boys were destined for greatness. Now 11 and 12 years old, the Callahan's terrorized players in the league with their blend of offensive prowess and physical play. Despite having to be reminded multiple times to tone down their physical play, the Callahan's continued to lay big hit after big hit in their games. Their growing reputation as enforcers on the ice led to a couple of suspensions, but allowed them to have a presence on the ice that caused hesitation in their opponents as they wreaked havoc on the ice. As the boys continued to grow taller and larger, it allowed them to use that physicality to forecheck hard, create turnovers, and capitalize offensively.

 

Playing Bantam hockey together at the ages of 13 and 14, the boys began to realize that their love of hockey might not lead to a future playing professionally for both of them. While they had always dreamed of continuing to play together as long as they could all the way to professional hockey, it was becoming clear that this was not going to be the ultimate end to their sports careers. In the first year that Taylor joined high school, he chose to focus on playing basketball leaving Harry to continue on his hockey journey alone. While this was difficult for the brothers to end their hockey playing together, they remained as close as they had ever been. Harry was in the stands for every basketball game, and Taylor was in the stands for every hockey game, with Linda watching both boys every chance that she had.

Harry attended Gran Torino High School in Fontana, California, where he was a B+ student and a multi-sport athlete. Playing Right Wing for the hockey team, Linebacker for the football team, and Catcher for the baseball team, he was the first student in school history to win a Championship in three different sports. Harry captained the hockey team to a strong 14-1-0 record during the regular season, finishing with 14 goals and 7 assists, sending his school to the High School State Championship tournament. Harry continued to lead his team all over the ice, scoring at key moments and hitting everything in sight. It was Callahan who netted the title winning goal in double overtime to win his final high school game before preparing to enter the VHLM Draft.

 

As the days counted down before the draft, the Callahan's convened in their family home, hoping to hear Harry's name called early in the draft. It was the same home that Taylor had heard his name called in just one year earlier in the NBA draft. While both boys were overjoyed to take the next steps in their sports journeys, it was their mother Linda who was truly ecstatic to see her boys accomplish so much. Though the family was going to be spread out all over North America, the bonds that they had forged over the span of 18 years would ensure that they would always be connected.

 

The Ottawa Lynx drafted Harry Callahan in the 5th Round with the 43rd Overall pick in Season 88. After speaking with Callahan, he admitted that he was happy to be joining a team coming off of a VHLM Championship win and three straight division titles.