Nov 23, 2015 | dstewart | 1725 views
Hearts of Lions
To say the coaches are proud of these boys would be the understatement of the year. Paris won their third game in a row buy battling the third place Simcoe Warriors all night long...the boys were short handed again as two key players Captain Christian P and rock solid D man Coleman L were out due to illness.
Alex B from Atom A/E was a late call up and he played outstanding filling in admirably zipping around the ice like the energizer bunny, Ethan R was called up again from Local League scored two third period beauties firing low rockets to stick side from the top off face off circles. Owen M (Taz) scored once and assisted on two more with Lukas P netting one plus assisting on another and Gavin M (McGavin) closed out the scoring with a beauty for the Paris squad. As Paul Harvey used to say "Now the rest of the story"...
Coach Stewart had to explain to the boys why Coach Dalpe couldn't make it to the game tonight as his beautiful wife and best friend passed away from cancer in the summer after a very courageous battle and they were having a tree lighting ceremony in Lisa's honour downtown Paris. After my little chat I asked the boys to try to win one for Coach Dalp...after that I left the room...I had too...standing outside the dressing room regrouping Caleb T popped his head out the door and said "hey Coach Stewy can we honour Coach Dalps wife Lisa after the game by raising our sticks at centre ice in her honour...WOW ,for Caleb T and a bunch of 11 and 12 year olds to be that thoughtful and caring I was blown away and so was Coach Dalp after I told him the story later on that evening. The coaching staff, Paul and I will never forget that amazing gesture from those little men...you parents have to be so very proud, goes to show it's more than hockey. I know it made Paul's night and he couldn't get over the fact that our team and especially Caleb T. would do that for him and his family...Needless to say during our in between period chats during the game I didn't have to say much as three or four players would remind the team we are winning this one for Coach Dalp and Lisa...Tied 4-4 with less than minute to go and we have a man in the box and Simcoe is all over us...not looking good...then a pass to their D man jumped over his stick just as McGavin was coming out of the box...BREAKAWAY...As the crowd and coaching staff held their collective breath Gavin M raced in from centre ice cool as a cucumber and drilled a laser over the goalies arm into the net...5-4 Paris win. What a beautiful sight to see our team at centre ice raising their sticks to the sky in honour of Lisa and Paul...a hockey and life moment I will never forget. As Coach Dalp says "we are supposed to be inspiring your children and they are inspiring us" Thank you to each and every player and parent...very much appreciated.
Next game is this Friday at 7pm vs Tillsonburg at the ice palace,you'll pay for the whole seat but only use the edge. Hope to see you there...