They say in hockey, no matter where you go, someone always knows someone you know. Every time I move somewhere new and meet my new team, one guy says, "Oh, yeah, Miller .. that guy's unreal eh? Played with him in Midget."
Today, the loss of 40-plus members of our family has struck far and wide. Whether it was a player you remember watching when you were young (in my case, when I used to be a Leafs fan, Igor Korolev and Alexander Karpovtsev, who were listed as assistant coaches) or someone you played with or against.
The saddest thing I read today was from retired NHLer Jeff O'Neill, who is from near where I'm from, and said "Brad McCrimmon my very first NHL roommate. No one loved hockey more! Love you "beast" you taught me so much about respect."
And it is the loss of Brad McCrimmon that has brought me the most sorrow -- never had the pleasure of meeting him, but I did get the chance to interact with his brother Kelly last year while covering the Wheat Kings. So when I say I'm thinking of his family, that's who I'm thinking of. I remember seeing a huge photo of Brad on the wall in the labyrinth-like tunnels in the bowels of Westman Place Arena in Wheat City.
To all of my friends and acquaintences and most importantly my hockey family, who have been touched by this unfathomable tragedy, may we come together in this time of dispair.
When reports of the death of Rick Rypien began to surface earlier this summer, one of my favourite sports media personalities, Down Goes Brown, tweeted "Worst Offseason Ever." Little did we know what else was to come. There are no words for the loss the hockey world has suffered this off-season.
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