Watching the Red Wings win the Stanley Cup last night was huge. I was a big hockey fan when I was a kid so to experience it along with my 10-year-old son was pretty special. If you love the game, you know just how exciting it is to reach the finals and it’s even better when you watch something like that unfold through the eyes of a child.
Jesse was born six days after they won the Cup in 1997 and was in Beaumont Hospital at the same time as the Red Wings who were injured in the limousine accident. A year later, they won again. A few more years passed and I watched them win as my five-year-old sat and drew Red Wings with magic markers at the coffee table in our family room.
We’ve always had a special connection with hockey. We love to play the game and watch it too; we’re on a team together and even play it in our own backyard. Hockey, like any passion in life, is something you encourage or pass on.
When I think of the people that inspired my love of the game, I think of my Dad who probably saw it as an outlet for all my “energy” as well as a great benefit to the other people who lived with me as it got me out of the house for several hours a week. I’m sure they’re still grateful.
I also think of my Aunt Mary who worked in the Olympia Room at every Red Wings home game. After being on her feet and serving patrons all night, she always remembered to grab me an official game program on her way out. Today, down in my basement, I have boxes with every copy of every Red Wing magazine she ever gave me.
Monday night as the game 5 headed into triple-overtime and Mom was long off to bed, Jesse’s eyes were getting heavy. They were on the brink of winning the Cup, and yet, he was beginning to fade. As the clock headed toward 1 a.m., I realized that there was only one thing a responsible father could do for his child at time like this: I made him a milkshake.
As much as we wanted the glory of that overtime win the day before, in the end we got something even better – another night to do it all over again. And as we watched them finally win it all, I hoped it would be one of those moments frozen in time, like the games at Olympia Stadium with my Dad when I was a kid; only back then, we listened on the kitchen radio and we never won a thing. And I still remember it like it was yesterday.
Fred Nahhat is DPTV Director of On-Air Fundraising
Jesse was born six days after they won the Cup in 1997 and was in Beaumont Hospital at the same time as the Red Wings who were injured in the limousine accident. A year later, they won again. A few more years passed and I watched them win as my five-year-old sat and drew Red Wings with magic markers at the coffee table in our family room.We’ve always had a special connection with hockey. We love to play the game and watch it too; we’re on a team together and even play it in our own backyard. Hockey, like any passion in life, is something you encourage or pass on.
When I think of the people that inspired my love of the game, I think of my Dad who probably saw it as an outlet for all my “energy” as well as a great benefit to the other people who lived with me as it got me out of the house for several hours a week. I’m sure they’re still grateful.
I also think of my Aunt Mary who worked in the Olympia Room at every Red Wings home game. After being on her feet and serving patrons all night, she always remembered to grab me an official game program on her way out. Today, down in my basement, I have boxes with every copy of every Red Wing magazine she ever gave me.
Monday night as the game 5 headed into triple-overtime and Mom was long off to bed, Jesse’s eyes were getting heavy. They were on the brink of winning the Cup, and yet, he was beginning to fade. As the clock headed toward 1 a.m., I realized that there was only one thing a responsible father could do for his child at time like this: I made him a milkshake.
As much as we wanted the glory of that overtime win the day before, in the end we got something even better – another night to do it all over again. And as we watched them finally win it all, I hoped it would be one of those moments frozen in time, like the games at Olympia Stadium with my Dad when I was a kid; only back then, we listened on the kitchen radio and we never won a thing. And I still remember it like it was yesterday.
Fred Nahhat is DPTV Director of On-Air Fundraising
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