Two weeks flew by as the trip to the Nepean Raiders CCHL main team camp was here. Joey and I loaded up the car and headed north to Nepean, Ontario, Canada. I knew that he wasn’t ready for this. The stitches were recently removed from his forehead and he was still barely eating. In his frail state, there was no way that he would be able to perform in the manner needed to make a Canadian Junior Hockey team. As a parent it’s your job to back your child as best you can. This trip was expensive and very time consuming like most hockey trips. There was so much on the line for Joe. We could only hope for the best.
The tempo was fast and furious. A Junior team rosters about twenty two players. There were at least forty five fighting for a spot. Even if you had already signed a contract, like Joe, you could lose your spot with a bad performance. Unfortunately, this was the situation we were in. Coach Goulet called Joe in at the end of camp and offered him a position on his team in a lower division. There was no way that he was in shape to play at the top level in the CCHL. Joe was mad. Really mad. He turned Coach Goulet down on his offer and said that he would go elsewhere. In fact, he asked the coach to call other teams in the area whose camps were starting later. Ballsy move. He knew that Joey was hurting but as a GM he needed to do best for his organization. He called a few coaches to humor him and set Joe up with another tryout. I kept mum as I needed just to back Joe up. It was a terrible situation. One that he was never accustomed to. The next day we would be on our way to Pembroke.
The Pembroke Lumber Kings were about an hour and a half drive north. A storied and well known Canadian team, the Lumber Kings were always major competitors. The town of Pembroke bordered the Ottowa/Quebec line and was a blue collar, rugged place. It lived and breathed ice hockey. We met the GM and Coach, an NHL McCarthy brother, who was just as rugged as the town he coached in. He was a nice guy and must have been filled in by Coach Goulet, of course. I felt his compassion and thanked him after Joe made his way to the locker room. He told me that he had seen Joe play before and wanted to give him a shot. Thanks Coach. OMG. The first day of camp there was like a Navy SEAL hell week. Players were dropping like flies. All skating, the whistle never stopped. For two hours straight, a short break, then two more hours of hell. Joe held his own. I couldn’t believe it. That night in the hotel he collapsed in his bed and was out cold. Two more days to go. Oh boy.
I was so proud of him. After the third day of camp, he made the forty player cut. Amazing. His chances for making the final cut were very slim though. I knew that but his fight and determination were remarkable. The coolest thing was that the last day of camp, the players were divided into two teams that would play an exhibition game in front of almost two thousand people. Called the Red and White game, after the teams colors, fans of the Lumber Kings came from all over. The French speaking Quebec natives and Pembroke locals made for a dynamic audience. This game was a tradition for over forty years. What a game! The Pembroke fans got to see the veteran players and the new blood coming in. This was pure Canadian Hockey. Fast, rough, skilled and low scoring. The goalies were fantastic. Joey gave everything he had. But it wasn’t enough. After the game, Coach McCarthy talked with him and said that he played great. He also said that for what was going on the last two months, Joe should be proud of himself for his determination and will to overcome his illness. But…again, he needed to be ready to go now. And he wasn’t.
Back at the hotel, my phone rang with an unfamiliar number. I answered it and to my surprise it was another GM. The Kanata Blazers GM. Here we go again. Another camp and another disappointment. But this was different. He knew Joe wasn’t ready. He also knew how good Joe was pre Lyme disease and had an idea to get him in shape and potentially be able to play later in the season. His answer… a twenty thousand dollar a year school/sports academy run by another former NHL player. In Toronto. For free. Just attend some post grad classes and play hockey. Get back in shape. Build up your strength and weight. Sounded like a great idea. Back to Doylestown, pick up Mom, drive to Toronto, drop him off and wish him luck. I was exhausted….physically and mentally. I felt so bad for my son. “The things we do”, a familiar mantra for parents everywhere. For me, it meant so much more. For the kid that I thought I might never meet, and the other that I thought I might never see again…I would do anything for them. Anything.
Next Up: C’mon Bud