User:MargannLaurissa

Margann Theresa Tobin (born June 25, 1987 in Scarborough, Ontario), known professionally as Margann Laurissa, is a Canadian writer and ice hockey researcher.

Childhood (1987-2001)

Margann is the only child of Craig (1952-2004) and Terry Tobin (née Jeffrey, b. 1959). Margann's father was from Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, the third of six children, who moved to Toronto when he was a preteen. He eventually became a musician, playing alongside the likes of Honey West and future members of the band Prairie Oyster, before becoming a mover with United Van Lines. Margann's mother was born in Kingston, Ontario but grew up in the small town of Odessa. Her elementary school principal was former NHL player Dick Cherry. After leaving high school, she had several good jobs, including at Union Gas and Homestead Land Holdings Limited.

Margann was a precocious child who loved to learn and play. By eighteen months old, she had taught herself how to read and write, even though she insists that her mother taught her.

Margann and her family lived in Scarborough until she was three, moving to Cambridge in 1990 after her father got a job as a carpet cleaner alongside his brother. While a student at St. Augustine Elementary School, Margann excelled in her studies, especially since she was already far more literate than her peers. While attending St. Augustine, one of her friends, Laurissa Wilson, inspired her now well-known professional name.

On November 1, 1994, Margann and her family, as well as their cat Ginger Ale (1992-2007), moved to her mother's hometown of Kingston, with the promise of her parents getting their own carpet cleaning business.

Margann attended Bayridge Public School until such time as she could be enrolled in a Catholic school. Unlike in Cambridge, where she was appreciated and respected, Margann was bullied frequently while in school in Kingston for several reasons including her early onset puberty, her intelligence, and other factors. Her parents were informed that, in order for her to enroll, she had to be baptized, which had not been a requirement when she lived in Cambridge. Her parents complied and, after two weeks, she started attending John XXIII Catholic School.

While the bullying was relentless at John XXIII, she was generally well-respected by her teachers. She was even given the opportunity to give the welcoming address at her First Communion in 1995.

Margann switched to Archbishop O'Sullivan Catholic School before starting fifth grade. While the bullying did not stop, she did manage to make two good friends while at AOS, one of them being Darren Gaffney, who is still her best friend to this day.

One of the most harrowing days of Margann and her family's lives came in late October 1999 when, while on a school field trip to her teacher's farm, she found herself lost in the woods for nearly three-and-a-half hours. Margann's mother had usually refrained from sending her on field trips but, after this, it would not be until 2003 when she would allow her to go on another "school trip."

Margann graduated from elementary school on June 27, 2001.

Adolescence (2001-2006)

Margann started attending Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School on September 4, 2001. Her sixth day of high school was actually 9/11. While at Holy Cross, Margann was a floater, making friends with many different people. She became well-known for wearing her kilt longer than the other girls. In Grade 10, Margann received terrible news: Her father was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma, which rendered him with only 10% of a single functioning kidney.

In that same grade, Margann joined Holy Cross' Reach for the Top team, making her television début on Whiz Quiz in 2003. Thanks to her, Holy Cross won four SchoolReach regionals, making it to seventh in Ontario in 2003. Additionally, on Whiz Quiz, she helped Holy Cross win three Canadian championships and two International tournaments.

In 2004, Margann started her Grade 12 year. Unfortunately, her school year started off tragically; on October 20, 2004, her father died of metastatic cancer at the age of 52. To cope with her grief, Margann, inspired by new schoolmates Chris Stewart and Cory Emmerton, started watching the Kingston Frontenacs. Having never shown an interest in hockey before, she was immediately drawn to the sport, and it became a passion.

Margann graduated from Holy Cross on June 29, 2005, but opted to return for another year to boost her grades. Unfortunately, burnout set in and she dropped out of her second semester. In the summer of 2006, she found out that she had been accepted into Queen's University.

Also during her "victory lap," Margann and her mother started attending Kingston Frontenacs games, their first being against the Guelph Storm, which should have been the homecoming of Jamie Arniel, a friend of Margann's from high school.

Adulthood (2006-Present)

Margann began attending Queen's in the fall of 2006. Unfortunately, burnout once again set in. Coupled with feelings of unpreparedness for university material and a lack of time to research courses, she dropped out after three months.

In early 2007, Margann's mother noticed some changes in her daughter. She took her to their family doctor where she was diagnosed with depression. Instead of wallowing in her diagnosis, Margann decided to take it in stride, and she chose not to let it define her.

During the 2006-07 OHL season, Margann worked as an online statistician for the Frontenacs. This allowed her to meet many players who have gone on to play in the NHL, including John Tavares, Steven Stamkos, Michal Neuvirth, Patrick Kane, Marc Staal, Bobby Ryan, Drew Doughty, and Sergei Kostitsyn.

In 2008, Margann and her mother moved to Amherstview, Ontario. Although the bus schedule made her personal life difficult, in January of 2011, she met her true love when she and her mother took in a ten-year-old dog named Leafy, whom they kept for two years until having to reluctantly find him another home due to neighbour complaints.

While living in Amherstview, in 2010, Margann was able to meet her all-time favourite CHL player, former QMJHL forward Francis Charland, after a seven-year wait. He was in his last year with the UQTR Patriotes at the time.

Unable to find steady employment, Margann began a volunteer position with TVCogeco for their OHL broadcasts in 2012. Her passion for hockey and her statistical knowledge allowed for her to become an on-air graphics author, which she still does to this day.

Margann enjoyed a successful stint as an online journalist with The Hockey Writers but social media posts and her willingness to meet players caused her dismissal. Despite the setback, an article she wrote in July 2012 made her famous in Norway.

Also in 2012, Margann started to attend Kingston Voyageurs games. Meeting OJHL also provided her another avenue to meet players who have gone on to the NHL, such as Brett Seney, Sean Walker, and Dylan Sikura.

During the 2013-14 season, Margann was able to meet her all-time favourite QMJHL goaltender, Jacob Gervais-Chouinard, while he played for the McGill Redmen, as well as her second all-time QMJHL player, Nicolas Larocque-Marcoux, who was with the Ottawa Gee-Gees.

Over the years since 2012, employment has been scarce for Margann but she does continue to write. She has worked at her local Five Guys as a cashier, and is a temp bookstore worker and receptionist. Throughout it all, she does continue to write. She has written a draft of a screenplay for a vampire movie called House of Secrets, as well as many unpublished short stories.

Today, she is a staff writer for Hockey Lists.

Personal Life

In addition to her diagnosis of depression, Margann is a prediabetic and is hypertensive. She also has polycystic ovary syndrome.

Margann is an empath. Part of her empathic nature involves a personal superstition that involves her right eyebrow; if it becomes itchy, it usually foretells the coming of rain.

Margann has had three relationships to date, the longest lasting eighteen months. She is currently single but she admits that she does have a strong crush.

Margann considers herself to be an adventurous eater with the top spot on her bucket list being to try one national dish from every country in the world. She recognizes that anyone who knows her knows that, more than any other food, she loves pizza.

One of Margann's biggest passions is movie and television production company logos.

Over Easter weekend in 2019, at the age of 32, Margann converted religions and became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Also in 2019, Margann underwent successful surgery for papillary thyroid cancer.

Margann is related to Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Larry Robinson on her mother's side. Through genealogy, she has also learned that, also on her mother's side, she is a descendent of royals such as William the Conqueror and Eleanor of Aquitaine; additionally, one of her relatives was the brother-in-law of Pocahontas, having married her sister Cassandra "Sadie" Powhatan.

Margann's nephew Nathan Poole (her paternal cousin's son) was chosen 54th overall by the Kingston Frontenacs in the 2020 OHL Priority Selection and made his début during the 2021-22 OHL season.