ESPN E:60 Travis Hamonic

[murphydump55]

I just watched E:60's stories of the year episode and there was a story on Isles' player Travis Hamonic.

I highly recommend you to tune in if you have the chance to watch it, what a fantastic story. One of my biggest beefs on message boards is when people say things like, "I hope one of our players takes player A out of the game with whatever it takes". I don't wish injury upon anyone. These guys are all human beings and have families that watch them every night. I've witnessed friends go down injured in the NHL and it's the worst feeling in the world and I wouldn't wish that upon anyone. You're left sitting there helpless, not knowing what's going on, no updates, it's not a good feeling.

The reason I say this, is because Travis Hamonic is one of those players that I've heard people complain about because he plays that tough and rumble game. There's a lot of hate towards this guy when we play against him, myself included. This story showed what an amazing human being he is.

He grew up on a farm that harvested wheat, helping his Dad with the duties of farm work along with his brother and sister. When he was 10 years old, his father passed away from a massive heart attack. Obviously the family was lost without their dad and they were terrified of the future. He and his brother finished the harvest that year without their Dad and his Mom sold the farm the following year. They then moved to Winnipeg Manitoba and his hockey career started to take off. Drafted by the Isles, he finally got the call up from the AHL and hasn't looked back since.

Since he's been in the NHL, after every home game he meets with a child that has also lost a parent. He goes out to a meeting area after the game, brings them a stick, signs programs, and takes them on a tour of the dressing room. Once the crowd clears out he talks to them about what they have in common, how he dealt with it, and that the sun will still come up everyday. He mentions that they're unfortunately in a "club together", but they can stick together and get through it. He gives each child his email in case they ever need to talk about anything.

It's just a fantastic story and might change your view on the guy going forward.

The next story is about a highschool girl that runs long distance that has MS. Again another amazing story that will blow your mind and make you appreciate every day. I highly recommend tuning in if you can.

[Avyran]

There was a thread posted last year with the clip up on Youtube (it's been taken down by copyright claims). Amazing story, and 100% worth the watch. With that story, & stories like Montador's kid being born today, it's a very important reminder that there's more than just wins & losses. Keeping everything in perspective, etc.

Hockey players, as a whole, tend to be quality people. This story is probably example #1 that I'd point to from the past couple years, though there are thankfully a plethora of choices.

The clip is up on ESPN's site, if anyone wants to watch it (and you should ).

[dodint]

Yeah, we discussed it a while back. Really liked the story, posted it to my FB which is saying a lot.

[tfrizz]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/hocke ... -1.2133023" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's incredible how two teams I despise (NY Islanders and UPEI Panthers) can come together to create such a good story out of such a tragic one.

[Skatingpen]

Murphy you are something else, what a great description of a great human off the ice. Thanks sir