From the Amherst Youth Hockey:
We received an email today about a player by the name of Gabriel C, who is an alternate goalie on the AYH 10U AAA major team. This player and his family showed true sportsmanship. This is just another reason why so many people say that hockey is more than a sport, it’s a huge family.
The AYH board would like to recognize this player for his very selfless act.
Here is the story as sent to Amherst Youth Hockey:
Some days life can throw you the unexpected Knuckle Puck and this past weekend the Monroe County Eagles faced a big one, moments before it’s Playoff Game against the Buffalo Regals in Cheektowaga, NY.
In a brief moment of error, the lone goalie for Monroe County made probably one of the biggest mistakes of his young career. A mistake that is sure to NEVER let happen again… While preparing his equipment bag for the game, the goalie inadvertently failed to pack his chest protector. Without this piece of equipment, his day and the rest of the team’s day was sure to an even larger uphill battle.
After searching High and Low for a store to be open at 7:30AM (with no luck) and the inability to secure a temporary loaner from anybody in the arena, his coach (Scott Miller) resorted to contacting a number of him managerial connections within the Buffalo area.
Within a few moments of reaching out to his coaching contact, a game saving reply came in. It was a return call from the coach of the Amherst Knights. After hearing the news, he quickly reached out to the parents of his team. Within minutes another call came in to save the day.
In the true spirit of Sportsmanship, the father of the back-up goalie for the Amherst team jumped in his car and dove to the rink with a spare chest protector for use during the game. Not only did he help out a fellow team in his division, he also helped secure the health, well-being and safety protection of a fellow youth hockey player.
This move of kindness outshined any Win or Loss that day. It also goes to show you that even when your chances of a league championship are on the line (as their team played the winner of this game), kindness will always prevail and be the Winner on the day.
The Monroe County Squirt Major team would like to Congratulate the Amherst Knights on their recent win over the Buffalo Regals to secure the 10U Squirt Major, Orange Division Championship. We hope that this recent display of kindness gave them just a little extra touch of good luck on the day.
