I’ve always had a belief that hockey players are among the most down-to-earth, unaffected and unassuming of our professional athletes.
Part of this, I believe, stems from the way the grew up. Most of these guys are from small, remote Canadian towns. When they become pro athletes, they bring with them that sense of family and community.
Two things happened in the past week that only reinforce those feelings.
The first appears on our front page today. Yes, that is Flyer Scott Hartnell. And that kid next to him, lying in his hospital bed, with the 1,000-watt smile and thumb’s up, is injured Ridley teen Anthony Oswald.
Anthony was among a group of Ridley schoolkids who were mowed down by a hit-run driver as they tried to cross MacDade Boulevard. Anthony was the most serious injured, and he’s been in Children’s Hospital ever since.
As it turns out Anthony is a huge Flyers fan. Apparently, word filtered back to the Flyers about Anthony and his struggle to recover from serious injuries.
So Hartnell decided to pay Anthony a visit after practice on Friday.
Note that this was the day after the Flyers had suffered a heart-breaking 1-0 loss to the Sabres in Game 1 of their opening Stanley Cup playoff round.
Hartnell visited with Anthony and his family in his hospital room, and delivered a jersey signed by members of the team.
Just the look on Anthony’s face tells you how much it meant to him.
And the kind of class act Hartnell is. One thing to note here. Hartnell did not alert us to the fact that he was doing this. And my guess is that he’s probably not all that thrilled that it’s splashed all over today’s front page. He just wanted to do something nice for a kid who was struggling.
Pure class.
The other event happened last week. We originally had planned to have Flyers coach Peter Laviolette on with us Wednesday night for a special Flyers’/Stanley Cup preview show on “Live From the Newsroom,” our live-stream Internet show.
But the coach had a conflict and let our Flyers beat writer Anthony SanFilippo know he would not be available.
Luckily, Anthony approached Flyers’ winger Danny Briere, who kindly said he would join us for a 10-minute conference call during the show.
The only problem was that Anthony told him the show went on at 6. We actually go on at 7. And we are “live.”
Briere indicated the 6 p.m. time slot would work perfectly for him because he had an event at his son’s school later that night.
It was left to Anthony to let him know we actually were going on at 7.
No problem, Briere said.
This is a guy who is a legitimate NHL superstar, who left his son’s school event to make himself available to us for our show.
That’s class. And it’s something you don’t often encounter among today’s pampered, whining professional athletes.
No wonder Delaware County has always had a soft spot for the Flyers.
I do, too.
Part of this, I believe, stems from the way the grew up. Most of these guys are from small, remote Canadian towns. When they become pro athletes, they bring with them that sense of family and community.
Two things happened in the past week that only reinforce those feelings.
The first appears on our front page today. Yes, that is Flyer Scott Hartnell. And that kid next to him, lying in his hospital bed, with the 1,000-watt smile and thumb’s up, is injured Ridley teen Anthony Oswald.
Anthony was among a group of Ridley schoolkids who were mowed down by a hit-run driver as they tried to cross MacDade Boulevard. Anthony was the most serious injured, and he’s been in Children’s Hospital ever since.
As it turns out Anthony is a huge Flyers fan. Apparently, word filtered back to the Flyers about Anthony and his struggle to recover from serious injuries.
So Hartnell decided to pay Anthony a visit after practice on Friday.
Note that this was the day after the Flyers had suffered a heart-breaking 1-0 loss to the Sabres in Game 1 of their opening Stanley Cup playoff round.
Hartnell visited with Anthony and his family in his hospital room, and delivered a jersey signed by members of the team.
Just the look on Anthony’s face tells you how much it meant to him.
And the kind of class act Hartnell is. One thing to note here. Hartnell did not alert us to the fact that he was doing this. And my guess is that he’s probably not all that thrilled that it’s splashed all over today’s front page. He just wanted to do something nice for a kid who was struggling.
Pure class.
The other event happened last week. We originally had planned to have Flyers coach Peter Laviolette on with us Wednesday night for a special Flyers’/Stanley Cup preview show on “Live From the Newsroom,” our live-stream Internet show.
But the coach had a conflict and let our Flyers beat writer Anthony SanFilippo know he would not be available.
Luckily, Anthony approached Flyers’ winger Danny Briere, who kindly said he would join us for a 10-minute conference call during the show.
The only problem was that Anthony told him the show went on at 6. We actually go on at 7. And we are “live.”
Briere indicated the 6 p.m. time slot would work perfectly for him because he had an event at his son’s school later that night.
It was left to Anthony to let him know we actually were going on at 7.
No problem, Briere said.
This is a guy who is a legitimate NHL superstar, who left his son’s school event to make himself available to us for our show.
That’s class. And it’s something you don’t often encounter among today’s pampered, whining professional athletes.
No wonder Delaware County has always had a soft spot for the Flyers.
I do, too.
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