The final Attack game before the Christmas Break, last Thursday at St Catharines, was among the most emotionally stirring I’ve ever been connected to.
The tingles and the shakes had very little to do with the IceDogs & Attack who stumbled their way through an 8-7 overtime verdict won by Niagara.
Instead, what rocked me, good & bad, happy & sad, were encounters with some ghosts of Christmas Past.
First, Milan Doczy dropped the ceremonial puck prior to game time and later stopped by our broadcast location to say hello.
Milan Doczy, age 24, has a form of Melanoma which spread to his nodes & will require intense ( and expensive ) treatment.
Later in the evening, Jarrod Maidens, age 20. the player who scored the ultimate goal in Attack franchise history, also stopped by for a chat about the goal, but also about his ongoing recovery from a head injury suffered in a game more than 3 years ago.
You look at what Milan & Jarrod have dealt with & continue to deal with….you look again, and from the outside, you see two healthy-looking, vibrant young men….and when they depart, you close your eyes and remember the good moments and the great moments that both were a part of in Owen Sound, and in a very short span, virtually every emotional button gets pushed.
I’m Fred Wallace