This is a story about life, perspective and generation gaps.
One night, the Barrie Colts were in Owen Sound to meet the Attack.
Prior to the game, in a bit of rarity for me, I was sitting in the Media Room.
Usually, I do my pre-game stuff in the announce booth, but on this occasion I had a young helper with me and the helper was filling out my lineup stats while I edited the PA announcements.
As we worked, a handful of people connected to the Colts, including their coach Dale Hawerchuk, came into the room and sat at our table.
Quietly, somewhat nervously I’ll admit, I whispered to my 11 year old helper that the guy beside her was Dale Hawerchuk, a legendary junior star at Cornwall, the # 1 pick in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft & a guy who scored more than 500 goals in the NHL.
My helper was suitably impressed, and when formally introduced to Dale Hawerchuk, the Colts Coach couldn’t have been nicer.
However, what transpired next was very revealing.
Within moments of meeting and having a tiny conversation with Dale Hawerchuk, my helper and I started to leave the Media Room when we encountered Daniel Zweep, the former Attack forward who was working for the Barrie organization.
My helper might not have known Dale Hawerchuk of NHL fame, but she certainly knew Daniel Zweep and it’s not much of a stretch to say she was quite rattled and somewhat blushing.
Later that year at Barrie, I ran into Dale Hawerchuk before a game and told him about the sequence of events in Owen Sound.
He smiled and understood perfectly that time marches on, and in his case, I think it’s fair to say, time marched on too quickly for Dale Hawerchuk.