From pucks to pickles: Dale Hawerchuk’s family relishes new tradition

A jar of Ducky's Dills, a pickle brand started by the family of Dale Hawerchuk, sits atop the bronze statue of the hockey great in Winnipeg's True North Square. (Daniel Halmarson/CTV News Winnipeg)

The family of a Winnipeg hockey icon is trading in pucks for pickles.

Dale Hawerchuk’s family launched Ducky’s Dills last year as a way to keep tradition and the Hockey Hall of Famer’s legacy going.

“We’ve been making dill pickles as a family for at least 30 years,” Eric Hawerchuk, Dale’s son, told CTV News Winnipeg. “Every summer, when we were up in Gimli, we’d make pickles and it just kind of became a thing.”

Hawerchuk said the dill pickle recipe was crafted by his great-grandmother and passed down through the generations.

“I was pretty young when we first started making them,” Hawerchuk said. “Family would come over, and you know, we’d make 30 to 100 jars and that was kind of it for the summer.”

Hawerchuk said they always joked with Dale about starting a pickle company. After the former Winnipeg Jets star’s death in 2020, the family decided to give it a shot – spearheaded by Dale’s wife Crystal and kids.

“I never really thought I’d be sitting here talking about pickles, but that’s the way life is,” Hawerchuk said.

Ducky’s Dills are currently produced in Ontario, but Hawerchuk said the operation could shift to Manitoba in the coming year. He also hinted at a second variety – a sweet pickle – coming to market sooner than later.

“It’s been a whole learning curve,” Hawerchuk said, “But we got a pretty good assembly line going last summer and we were able to get a substantial amount of product together.”

The pickles are a classic garlic dill with plenty of crunch – and they have started gaining quite a following.

A photo of Bobby Orr with a stack of Ducky’s Dills jars and an emphatic thumbs up is posted on the pickle company’s website.

“I didn't know there were so many pickle fans in this world, but there are, it's like a whole culture of pickle fans,” Hawerchuk said. “To see my dad's old teammates and colleagues really get behind the product has been really, really special to us.”

Ducky’s Dills are available at several Red River Co-op locations around Winnipeg. They can also be purchased at Mottola Grocery in True North Square – steps away from the bronze statue of Dale Hawerchuk outside Canada Life Centre.

“Winnipeg is a special place,” Hawerchuk said. “And for my dad, we just want to be a part of that community as much as we can.”