First Game Back

We were not sure how it would go. From the email we received from the team manager earlier in the week, we knew the team would be sporting a bit of a different look for the duration of their season. 

A few days earlier, I burned a CD for my son with all the pics and videos from his ordeal the previous weekend. I had included some video of his game the day before he was injured. He said he was ok to watch the hockey footage so I considered that a test to guage whether he would also be okay as a spectator while his team played without him. 

We did not have to get him there as early as when he had to dress to play, but we could have left the house earlier than we did. As a result, we arrived at the State Fair Coliseum after the game had started. It was a few minutes into the first period. We found a spot amid the well-wishing parents who indicated how glad they were to see Matt getting around. We shared the story about what we went through from the injury through the emergency surgery as we watched the game.

For a good part of Matt's life, he has seemed to be making a statement. Now, at 6'-6-1/2", it is difficult to miss him. In addition to his height, he has a flair for fashion. He has cultivated a look. It is more than the mostly black articles of clothing thing. It includes the finger-less gloves and the studded belts and all that but there is something else. Something unique to Matt. Aside from the fact that it happens to be his favorite color, I figure the most likely reason this tall lanky teenage guy wears pink wrist bands and pink laces on his skates is to prove a point. These, along with the pink skate blade guards, pink lanyards and pink whatever he can get his hands on, all scream "WE ARE ALL EQUALS ON THIS PLANET AND WE CAN ALL GET ALONG AND THERE IS NO REASON TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST ANYONE BASED ON HOW THEY LOOK ON THE OUTSIDE!" Or maybe he just wants to get a rise out of people. Either way, you will always see pink whenever you see Matt.

It is important to explain this because, what we saw while watching the game was how the rest of the team was making their own statement about Matt. The team uniforms are mostly black with some white and red, but that day, there was an additional color that had been added to their helmets.  

Most of them had a  simple stripe while a couple players went so far as adding tape to form Matt's number, "00". It was all done in pink tape. The color that is unique to Matt was ever-present on the rest of the team that

day. The coaches noticed that Matt was a spectator at the game and during the intermission between the first and second period, suggested the team skate across the ice to where Matt stood to acknowledge him and indicate they were glad to see he was okay. All Matt's teammates, with the pink tape applied to their head gear, slapped the ice with there sticks and waved to him. He smiled and waved back. It was a moment.

When he played hockey, Matt had very physical style. He enjoyed playing the game as he felt it was intended to be. As a defenseman, Matt knew that checking could be as effective as knocking the puck away with your stick or stealing it and skating away. But a consequence of a more physical style of play was a greater chance of getting whistled for a penalty. As a result, Matt garnered more than his share of time in the penalty box during the eleven or so years he embraced the game.

The game this day was ugly and several "game" penalties were earned as Matt's teammates reacted to the numerous late hits after the whistle from the opposing team by getting more physical than the rules allow. It was a fitting though unintended tribute to the tall kid wearing his "00" jersey and standing near the penalty box for most of the game.