stfrank
Posts: 11824
Joined: 7/22/2007
From: Twin Cities
Status: offline
|
A long read from Russo....enjoy at your leisure....
Raising an NHL player: Five Minnesota Wild dads share stories, laughs and insights
Michael Russo 59 minutes ago
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — They come from all different corners of North America, yet they have one thing in common with many of you: They’re hockey dads.
Once upon a time, they frequented youth rinks around their community, drove their boys to early-morning and late-evening practices and loved virtually every second.
The difference, maybe, than many of you — their sons reached the pinnacle: the NHL.
Eric Staal’s father, Henry, a sod farmer from Thunder Bay, Ontario, helped raise four professional hockey players — three that are still active in the NHL in Eric, Marc and Jordan — that have combined for 2,567 regular-season games, another 230 in the playoffs and two Stanley Cups.
Matt Cullen’s father, Terry, a former high school hockey coach from Virginia and Moorhead, Minnesota, helped raise three professional hockey players, including one in Matt that is still playing at age 41, has won three Stanley Cups, has played more regular-season and playoff games (1,522, with Friday against the Florida Panthers set to be his 1,400th regular-season game) than all but one Minnesotan and is the fourth-leading Minnesota-born scorer in NHL history.
Jared Spurgeon’s dad, from Edmonton and an account manager for a building supply company, helped raise two professional hockey players, including the undersized defenseman who is arguably the biggest success story in the Wild’s Chuck Fletcher/Brent Flahr regime.
Devan Dubnyk’s dad, Barry, a Mazda dealership owner who has lived all over Canada, helped raise the Wild’s all-time leader in save percentage and goals-against average and somebody three victories from being alone in second on the Wild’s winningest goalie list.
And Jason Zucker’s dad, Scott, the director of design and construction for Station Casinos in Las Vegas, helped raise a young, budding, super-fast forward who’s well on his way to a career-best season in the middle of a contract year.
On Thursday, four days before Christmas on a sunny, humid, 80-degree morning in South Florida, the five sat down with The Athletic for a Wild hockey dad roundtable.
It was a fun discussion with lots of laughs and insight into how their boys made it this far.
Enjoy.
Wild dads
Five Wild dads sat down for a wide-ranging Q&A. Facing the camera, from left, are Henry Staal, Terry Cullen and Barry Dubnyk. With their backs turned, from left, are Barry Spurgeon and Scott Zucker. (Credit: Katlyn Gambill/Minnesota Wild)
===
Bound for greatness
The Athletic: You’ve raised five boys that have made it to the NHL. When did you know that your son had something special?
Zucker: Baby steps for us. For me, I just wanted Jason to get a college education. It was never the NHL. Just get a college scholarship. We didn’t even know if that was possible until he played for Compuware (in Michigan), and I started seeing all the scouts in the stands, and all of a sudden, the phone would ring. That was the first time that I knew as a parent that he could make it to college. Forget the NHL. As far as the NHL goes, he was already in college playing — I think he won Rookie of the Year — and then I started to see, “You know what? Maybe he has an opportunity here, maybe God-willing he could be drafted.”
Spurgeon: With Jared, when he was small, when he was playing eight, nine, 10 years old, you could see he really saw the game differently. But because of diminutive size, I never thought it would be possible for him to have a career. Junior, I thought, yes. But even when he got drafted, because of his diminutive size, there was still a question if he’d ever make it.
The Athletic: Jared easily could have been forgotten about, but clearly, he had something special the Wild recognized.
Spurgeon: Yeah, he got drafted by the Islanders and never really had an opportunity to really prove himself. Minnesota gave him that opportunity. It’s worked out well.
The Athletic: Henry, you’ve raised four pro players, three who played a long time. When did you know Eric could really make it?
Staal: I think you and I have talked about it before. Eric was the first one, so we didn’t know. In Thunder Bay, Eric was a pretty good player, even as a kid. But there were better kids than him at his age. But when he was 15, he went to that Ontario Championships. I didn’t know anything. But at that particular tournament, he just erupted. He just scored goals and played phenomenal. It’s Toronto, that is hockey mecca. All of a sudden, it kind of hit me that he could play major junior. To me, it wasn’t about the NHL. I’m watching it, and he’s playing against kids his age group, and he won the MVP of the tournament. And I was like, “Wow, he’s actually pretty good.” But I was still pretty naïve, and then all of a sudden, there’s agents coming up to me and I was like, “What’s going on?” That’s when you’re thinking, “Wow, he might actually do something in this game,” but he still never really thought NHL. Maybe college or something like that. But, 16, 17, 18, he just improved. He has three years in junior, which was good. You know, he was small. I remember his first training camp in Peterborough, even himself, he was intimidated, but he was only 5-11, 140 pounds or whatever …
Spurgeon: So, same as Jared.
(This made everybody laugh.)
Staal: But a different position, Barry. But he didn’t have a very good camp and they were worried they were going to send him back to Junior A. But he gutted it out.
Jared Spurgeon and Tyler Ennis
The Wild's Jared Spurgeon and Tyler Ennis — childhood friends — are flanked by dads Barry and Bruce for a photo op during the Wild's father/mentor-son trip. (Courtesy Jared Spurgeon)
The Athletic: Everybody says Matt wasn’t the best skater of that incredible high school class in Minnesota, yet here he is at age 41 still playing in the NHL.
Cullen: Yeah, not even close. But he was always a good player, a real good player. Probably the thing that stood out was his commitment at a young age. He really loved and wanted and I don’t know if he had a dream in the back of his head even at a younger age — I’m not sure, but he planned to make it. And I was a high school coach, and I’d say to his mother, “Don’t ever get ahead of ourselves because so many good hockey players don’t make it.” There’s so many aspects that need to be right, whether it be the heart, whether it be the head, whether it be the hands. There are so many variables, and if one of them is short, you’re not going to get very far in this game. So, we were always very cautious about thinking ahead. But as he got to be a junior high player and he got to be in high school, he kept progressing, and his commitment (was) off the charts. His feet weren’t great, but his hands were. And he worked real hard on his feet, and they kept coming and coming. Barry, like you mentioned with Jared there, you have to be in the right place and get the right opportunity unless you’re an Eric Staal or someone who is a really, really great player. We’ve all seen so many players for one reason or another it doesn’t work here, but it clicks over there on this team.
Dubnyk: I can relate to that.
Cullen: We all can relate to a lot of hard times and challenges. Some of those times drop off the table. Henry and I were talking about so many different players, “What about him, what about him?” So many guys just disappear into the night, so we’re very thankful. No click time. No moment for me like Henry at that tournament.
Dubnyk: Devan started playing goal at nine. At 10, I thought he was pretty solid, but you still don’t really know. It started to hit when he got called up with Kamloops in the WHL as a 15-year-old goalie. I didn’t realize that that’s almost unheard of as a goaltender. And that’s when the agents started coming around. It was everybody else talking that made me realize there may be an opportunity here.
The Athletic: What was the story you once told me that you were looking over a scout’s shoulder trying to figure out a grading system he wrote next to Devan’s name?
Dubnyk: Yeah, yeah, he had written down L-L-A-G. I asked what it was, and he said, “Looks Like A Goalie.”
(More laughter.)
The Athletic: Jared, Eric and Matt always lived in the same place. Jason had to leave Vegas to play hockey in California and Michigan to “make it.” You moved around a ton for work. How did Devan integrate into so many different teams, because one would think it would be hard for him to make teams?
Dubnyk: He always seemed to be the type — you see now, he’s pretty social — that could get along fine. He was always like that. Of all three of my kids, he was the one that never had trouble adjusting. And then when he got to his formative years for hockey, fortunately we settled down at that point and only moved once into Calgary.
===
Their very own “Field of Dreams”
The Athletic: Did you build outdoor rinks for your kids? I figure yours wasn’t ice, Scott?
Zucker: Yeah, we couldn’t make the ice work. Yeah, it’s a 35X77-foot concrete roller rink, and Jason would go out there and shoot for hours. They never skated on it in roller, but they’d just run around it in shoes and practice tip drills with his brothers. They lived out there on that rink.
Spurgeon: I did one winter, but then I found out it was a lot of work, and we had one not even a block away from the house, so the boys could go over and play on the outdoor community rink and get a lot of ice time. But Tyler Ennis, he had an undeveloped basement and they would go down there for hours and hours and hours and shoot pucks and work on their skills.
Staal: We started out on the pond in November because the rink wasn’t ready. And I’d set up lights until the rink was ready in December. And we had the flashing pucks that Marc found at a tournament in Minnesota. You’d hit it, and they’d glow. The lighting wasn’t very good, so they would have this glowing puck. It worked pretty good, and we’d watch from the house, and we’d just see this flash. It was kind of cool. My wife, we could turn the lights to the rink off from the house. If they had to come in for dinner or because they had school tomorrow, my wife would hit the breaker. And they would stop, and then she would wait, and they’d never come up. We couldn’t see. So we’d turn them back on to see where they were, and they’d be just standing in the middle of the rink and they would start playing again.
Dubnyk: Didn’t work.
Henry Staal
“My wife, we could turn the lights to the rink off from the house,” says Henry Staal (center) of the family's homemade rink for the boys. “If they had to come in … my wife would hit the breaker. And they would stop, and then she would wait, and they’d never come up.” (Credit: Katlyn Gambill/Minnesota Wild)
Cullen: Always had an outdoor rink. It’s kind of cool because I think that’s Matt’s favorite love right now is building that rink for his little boys, and being out there. He just loves that.
Staal: Same with Eric.
Cullen: Absolutely loves it. I remember the first time in Minnesota, and he was trying to build a rink and I went down there and helped him, and he was so disgusted, so frustrated, like, here I am in the NHL and can’t even make a rink for my kids. Henry talked about the lights, I remember we used to get those little clamp-on lights and I’d hang them up on the gutter of the house, and they weren’t anything special, but they could see. The boards were old lap siding that they’d taken out of somebody’s house, and other than that, it was the snow bank. And that was always the fun part. You’re going on the snow bank, buddy, I know that.
Dubnyk: In Calgary, we had a rink, and same thing, the kids always just lived on it. I enjoyed building it. I found it very relaxing to stand out at night cutting it. The kids would scrape it, and then you’d just stand out there pouring the water on it and watching it smooth up.
Staal: Yeah, it is actually kind of satisfying. You’re right, it’s kind of neat. Eric now, it’s so funny, sometimes they’ll send Snapchats now, his wife will, because from his house, you could literally stand there and see the rink down there on the bottom. And Eric’s down there at 7 in the morning sweeping the ice. He just loves it. He loves getting out there and flooding it and building it. I guess for him, it’s bringing him back to his childhood watching me. I didn’t realize how much they actually loved it as kids, and now he wants it for his kids. It’s so fun. We get these videos, and he’s just out there. Just out there skating, doing nothing. “Field of Dreams.”
===
The struggle of watching games
The Athletic: Do you watch the game through the eyes of your sons, or can you sit down and enjoy a game? In other words, are you watching a game and enjoying it or stressed?
Zucker: Unlike these guys, I didn’t play. They didn’t have much in the non-traditional markets of California and Las Vegas. There wasn’t really much to offer back in the day when I was a kid. I think we had one rink. I watch it as a fan if it’s not the Wild. When it’s the Wild, of course it’s a little bit different. I’m just really focusing on the shifts and how he’s doing. I’d be lying to you if I said I don’t get stressed at times, but it’s way better now.
The Athletic: Do you ever get angry if Jason makes a mistake?
Zucker: Nope. Nope. We might talk about it after the game, but that’s it.
Spurgeon: You know, I’ve always enjoyed hockey. I remember watching Toronto. They used to be my favorite team when I was a kid. So, I’ve always enjoyed watching hockey, and when the kids were younger they would watch it with me. So, I just like watching it for entertainment and now that Jared’s there and his brother is playing professional hockey, too. I just enjoy watching the boys play hockey and watch them enjoy the game that they love playing. It’s just pure enjoyment for me.
Barry and Devan Dubnyk
It's tough watching Devan Dubnyk play in net, father Barry says, because “every mistake goes up on the scoreboard. I wouldn’t give it up for a second, but … It’d be a lot easier to watch the game if he was a forward.” (Courtesy Devan Dubnyk)
Staal: I mean, I watch a lot obviously.
(More laughter.)
Staal: I don’t get near as tight as I used to partly because they’ve all been around for eight, nine, 10 years, so that makes a difference, too. So you don’t get as nervous because they’re established more. Still, I have a tendency to focus on your own guy when they’re out there. For me, I almost don’t even want to talk to people watching it live. Live, it’s more enjoyable as a fan. I think as a parent, like, I’ll get a text after every game and I try to be as honest as I can without being negative. But sometimes they want to know, too. I don’t know what your guys are like. But mine, they’re fishing for information. I’ve had it where they’re struggling and they’re like, “What I am doing? What am I not doing? Give me a tip. Give me some tips.” Right to the NHL and beyond. And I’m thinking, “Don’t you have coaches?” But now, I kind of get it. They want some feedback. It’s mostly when they’re struggling, right? So a lot of the times when I’m watching, I try not to be critical, but I want to try and help them. Sometimes I’m just like, “You’re playing really good,” until I get a feel for what they think. Mom’s always like, “You were great, you were always the best player on the ice.” I try not to be that guy. But I don’t want to be the other guy either, where I’m like, “You were brutal.” You get that, too, with some parents.
The Athletic: Terry, you’re the coach. Do you look at the game differently?
Cullen: I don’t enjoy the games as much. I think when Matt’s all done playing — and my other two boys are all done playing now — when I go to watch a game that I don’t really care about, I think I’m going to enjoy it more. I won’t say I love watching. I love watching games and I never miss any, hardly ever. But I see the game through my son’s eyes and everything’s about how it goes for him. So, there’s some nights, it’s hard to sleep if it’s not a good night. Maybe I’m being selfish or whatever, but I see the game through No. 7, which I find it’s not relaxing at all. Some nights it’s great. But I see it as a coach, as a dad, and not as a spectator. And I would much prefer to watch it in my own living room than with some fella behind me coaching the game and he’s had eight beers. You know, I don’t need that.
(More laughter.)
The Athletic: Can I ask you honestly, Terry, has this year been tougher for you than most just because it has been a tough start?
Cullen: Yeah. No, it hasn’t been a great start and it’s been a little tougher, especially coming off the last two (Stanley Cup-winning) years (with Pittsburgh) where things were pretty darn good. I agree with Henry a lot. I visit with Matt a lot after the game, next day, whatever, a text or talking to him. I think he understands the game pretty well, they all do. So, I think I try to be more supportive at this age than coaching. And you have opinions, but I’ve been keeping more of those to myself than I used to. I just try to be more supportive.
The Athletic: I’ve got to think watching the game of a son who’s a goalie has to be the absolute worst. I can’t even imagine. It’s got to be an excruciating experience.
Dubnyk: It’s worse for the goalie dad and the mom. It’s interesting on a couple of fronts. Mike Liut is Devan’s agent (and former NHL goaltender), and he put it in perspective one day. He said he was playing for one of 30 jobs in the world because there are 30 NHL starting jobs. So, you sit back and you go, “OK, that’s true.” I’m an old goalie and I read a book by Jacques Plante, and he was asked, “What’s it like to play in the NHL?” And he said, “Imagine going to work, you sit down in your office, you make a mistake, and 16,000 people stand up and cheer.” And that was the perspective he put on it. But do I enjoy it? The answer is absolutely because he’s living his dream, and we’re living his dream. Is it relaxing? Absolutely not. I focus on the 40 feet in front of the net. The rest of the game I sort of watch and then I just obsess with the high-danger zone, as they call it. I can’t help it because every mistake goes up on the scoreboard. I wouldn’t give it up for a second, but, you’re right, it’s tough. It’d be a lot easier to watch the game if he was a forward.
===
Shutting out the noise
The Athletic: In today’s world, everybody has an opinion. … Do you read articles? Do you pay attention to what the fans say? Do you pay attention to social media? And how agonizing is that when your kids are being dissected?
Zucker: I watch every single thing. I follow it all. I mainly did it when he first broke into the league just so I could keep tabs. I don’t need to now, but I do. I’m on every single social media. I don’t reply. I have not once on any of them.
The Athletic: Tempted ever?
Zucker: No. All I do is just monitor and see what’s out there.
Spurgeon: Nope.
The Athletic: Not even the articles?
Spurgeon: I’ll read what’s in the (Edmonton) Journal or your articles or whatever, but I don’t go on social media or anything like that. I just watch him play and enjoy the time that he’s having with Minnesota and that’s about it. I think his mother does a little bit.
(More laughter.)
Staal: I used to when Eric was way younger and when he first started. We talked about that yesterday actually. When you read, not so much the journalists, but when you get on the social media, it’s like being in the stands and some guy is trying to coach and starts chirping your kid when he has no clue what he’s talking about. So, I’ll read like an article after a game. But not of the fans, none of that stuff.
Cullen: I don’t have Facebook. I don’t have Twitter. I read the newspaper. I have The Athletic. I do. There’s a lot of interesting things in there to read up. But I don’t get into the others.
Terry and Matt Cullen
How does Terry Cullen keep track of son Matt? “I don’t have Facebook. I don’t have Twitter,” he says. “I read the newspaper. I have The Athletic.” (Courtesy Matt Cullen)
The Athletic: It’s got to be hardest for you, Barry.
Dubnyk: I follow a lot on Twitter for information, but the one thing I learned, if you put out a tweet, I don’t go in and read the comments because they’re irrelevant. You quickly realize it doesn’t matter if they say Devan’s the best goalie in the world or he’s the worst goalie in the world, their view is irrelevant. Especially if he ever has a bad game — not if, but when he has a bad game — then I don’t look at anything the next day. Because a day later it’s all old news and nobody cares anyway.
Cullen: I’m like that. If things aren’t going well, then I find I read a lot less and I tend to stay away from it. But if things are going good, then I might read about that.
(More laughter.)
Dubnyk: The biggest thing I had to do is resist the urge to get on Twitter and start making comments. I figured it wouldn’t be a good thing to get in a Twitter battle with somebody.
===
Advice for hockey parents
The Athletic: Your kids are at the pinnacle, five of basically 700 players in the best hockey league in the world. It’s so, so hard to get here. You have to be talented, you have to get noticed, you have to be healthy, you have to keep progressing with countless players trying to take (your) job. Every parent out there who loves watching their kid play hockey hopes he’ll one day play in the NHL for … 20 seasons, Terry. What advice would you give these hockey parents?
Zucker: We have a lot of that going on in Las Vegas, especially now with the NHL team. Everyone thinks their kid is going to the NHL. I tell the parents, take it in baby steps. Whatever age group your kid is, just work to get to that next level. Don’t set it at the NHL. If your goal is to get to college, keep that as your goal. If your goal is to get to juniors, keep that as your goal. Keep it simple and baby steps is what I usually tell them. It’s not a race, it’s a marathon.
Spurgeon: Mine was just always make it fun for them. Tell them to go out there and do their best, work their hardest, but the game’s gotta be fun. It doesn’t matter whether you’re playing hockey or your 9-to-5 job, if it’s not fun, you’re not gonna perform and you’re not gonna enjoy it. So, that’s what I always told my boys. Go out and enjoy it. Was never, ever hard on them when they didn’t have a good game. I always tried to be supportive.
Staal: For me, I don’t know if my boys would say it, but tried to enjoy it myself as a parent. You know, as you’re coming up through minor hockey, I never really did get that wound up with it, even when they were younger. I mean, sometimes, you know, in my own home sitting there I would in my mind, but I would never at the rink. I never yelled and screamed. Actually, it’s amazing, all four boys played. We didn’t talk about hockey a lot at home. Very little. But I think you have a sense of your own kid whether they like it or not. You don’t have to push them. You just give them the opportunity and enjoy it yourself. That was my philosophy, you know? Not every kid is gonna make it. There’s a lot like you said that goes into it. Certain God-given talent, and of course, there’s other things that go into it. But as a parent, just to be supportive and enjoy it.
Cullen: I think it’s much, much more difficult today as a parent. There’s so, so many options. We had that discussion at breakfast a little bit. Ryan Suter’s got a boy. Eric’s got a boy. You know, kids about the same age and the opportunities that are there blow your mind. Some of the parents are all-in and “my kid’s gonna get a college scholarship.” I think that’s probably the biggest thing in Minnesota. But it’s so different. And I thank God that when I was coaching and raising my children that I didn’t have all those opportunities and decisions. How much to do? They can play all summer, they can play all fall, they can play all spring. They can play all the time. How much is too much? How much is good? It’s really tough.
Scott and Jason Zucker
“I tell the parents, take it in baby steps,” Scott Zucker says of kids chasing NHL dreams. “Whatever age group your kid is, just work to get to that next level. Don’t set it at the NHL.” (Courtesy Jason Zucker)
The Athletic: It’s funny you say that. I just spent yesterday with Olli Jokinen and Radek Dvorak, and they own a hockey academy with Tomas Vokoun and (Ed Jovanovski) works there. They have 63 kids, and they’ve got entire families moving here from Colorado and North Carolina and Toronto and the Czech Republic so their kids can play for the academy.
Staal: It’s funny, you’re exactly right. Eric’s kind of going through that now. So, I’ve kind of looked at it, and I know with Eric, our philosophy, especially when they were kids, you played wherever you played and that was it, right? But now, the fear of a parent, I think, is sometimes you’re scared when you don’t put them in that or put them in that, that their peers, or other kids, are gonna get ahead of them and they’re going to get all behind so they won’t develop properly. But I think that’s overblown, in all honesty. Like yeah, you can’t just skate twice a week, you have to be out there, but ultimately I don’t think it’s a big deal. But as a parent, I get it. Even Eric is going through it right now. Do I sign them up for that? Do I put them in that? Well, I don’t really want to because I don’t want to be that type of parent, but if I don’t and he falls way behind, is that my fault? You know what I mean? Like, I think that’s a bit of a fear in anything.
Cullen: It’s way different today than when we were raising our kids. Hockey is such a learned sport. It’s not if he’s a good athlete, he can run like hell, and catch a football. I mean, there’s not a lot of training that needs to go into some of those skills. But with hockey, it’s all learned. The skating, there’s extensions on the feet and the hands, it’s not just a pick it up and go. And we, as a sport, we get so fine-tuned at such a young age where you’ve got all these teams at age eight or nine, and “Hey, you want to be on that team?” It’s tough today. I think it’s really tough.
The Athletic: Barry, how about advice for a goalie parent?
Dubnyk: Genetically, the players have to be good enough. Because genetically, if you’re not good enough to get to this level, the rest doesn’t matter. Like you could have the most desire and all the rest of it in the world, so …
Cullen: Seriously, I loved it, I had the desire, I just wasn’t any good.
Dubnyk: Yeah, my genetics were a little bit short of the goal line as well for when I played. But the thing is, if that’s not there then it doesn’t really matter. You can’t take a kid that’s not good enough and make him a pro hockey player. But, it’s just give them the opportunities and encourage them. And in my case, did I push him hard? The answer is absolutely. I wanted him to work hard, I wanted him to try hard, and if he got there, great, and if he didn’t, it wasn’t for lack of effort.
Cullen: That’s right.
Dubnyk: And the biggest thing too is have fun. My wife said to me one day, “What would you do if Devan didn’t want to play hockey?” I said, “I’d be devastated, but I would support him because I don’t ever want him playing if he’s not enjoying it.”
===
What they're proud of
The Athletic: What are you most proud of about your sons?
Zucker: That’s a tough one. I mean, his dedication, his love, his passion for the game, and how he takes that off the ice into the community. And how he works with the Children’s Hospital. He’ll take the time to sit with a kid and give him an autograph. It’s what happens off the ice that I’m most proud of.
Spurgeon: I would say just his professionalism on and off the ice and him being such a good dad. It takes good character to be a good father and Jared is a very good father. That’s what I’m proud of.
Staal: Very similar with Eric. On the ice, it’s one thing, but off the ice he does a better job than I could ever do. That’s why I was talking about the hockey dad thing because he’s struggling with that a little bit because he wants to do the right thing. And he’s always kinda been like that, he’s pretty mature. And it’s pretty cool that he’s made his own way.
Cullen: You know, I could not be more proud of my son or my other children either, but I think Matt has used the platform that he’s given, where he’s at, to … you know, I think as a dad and as a husband, I just marvel at what I think is just fabulous. But … he’s done a lot of things with charity and he’s been given a platform, and he uses it to help a lot of other people, which I think is pretty special.
Staal: Yeah, he does it the right way.
Dubnyk: Two things. One, how level-headed Devan is compared to me. He is just so even-keeled. Like he said, the puck goes in the net, he says, “Don’t worry about it.” He says, “I can’t take it back.” He says, “Just stop the next one.” He tells me just to relax and forget about it, so I’m like (a roller coaster) and he’s just level. And, the other thing is just in the recent years what he went through with Edmonton and that whole debacle where he was almost flushed out of the league. To be able to watch him come back from that, it made me realize just how strong he was mentally. I’m pretty proud of that.
(Top image: Clockwise from top left — Henry and Eric Staal, Scott and Jason Zucker, Jared and Barry Spurgeon, Devan and Barry Dubnyk, Matt and Terry Cullen. Individual images courtesy of the players.)
|
Printable Version
RE: General NHL Talk - 
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread