Thursday, February 10, 2022
In our younger days, a bunch of high-school buddies all managed to play on the same Rep team for many years. We were fortunate to get to know each other and our parents also were connected through hockey and actively supported the team which quickly became a family.
Some parents took a more active role with the team and Mr. C was one of those parents. In the dressing room and on the bench, Mr. C was always upbeat, positive and fun to be around.
During one of our tournaments, the parents were, as usual, gathered in one room playing cards and telling stories and we were, as usual, running reckless throughout the motel and playing hockey in the snow outside.
Mr. C. joined us in the parking lot to "check up" on us. After surveying the motel and making sure were well intact and accounted for, he offered to treat us to a drink from the pop machine. He disappeared into the parents' party room and returned with several cups. He showed us the old style pop machine that had a vertical row of Coke bottles laying on their side with their caps facing outward. Mr. C lined us up tallest to shortest and told us to choose our bottle and get the cups ready. He proceeded to open each bottle and then tipped the pop machine forward pouring the pop into our cups.
That was a typical Mr. C moment.
I have such clarity of those wonderful times that we shared with our parents. As time has passed, my memory of the game has become small, but the memory of the circle of family and friends remains immense.
I can still picture Mr. C with absolute clarity at the end of the bench working "the gate" and always a kind word regardless of the shift or the score.
Wayne Sulman
