Friday, November 13, 2020
My deepest condolences on Rick's passing.
I remember Rick as a man who loved life and was passionate about sports, all sports but particularly about hockey. I remember fondly the years that he and my father spent coaching me in my brief hockey career, and later on coaching my brother as well. They were a great coaching duo and were really well liked and respected by the guys on every team they had. Rick went over and above for all the guys always making everyone's game experience the best it could be, and he was competitive; he liked to win but when we lost he set the example of how to lose, graciously, no bad blood, remember this loss the next time we play them and do better.
Rick was a great friend to our family, particularly to my Dad. I remember the many Sunday dinners that he shared with us, he was always a welcome addition to our table, to our home, to our family. I looked up to him during those years, I didn't have an older brother but there were times that I felt that I had one in Rick. In some ways I felt that he looked out for me, he was kind, fun loving, and was interested in what was going on in my life. I remember the Grey Cup games he watched with us. He always seemed to be rooting for the other team that I was cheering for, always throwing friendly jabs at my team and players, and getting them back from me in return. For a couple of years, back when Grey Cup games were played in the early afternoon, we had established a bit of a ritual where we grabbed our ball gloves and played catch in the snow during the halftime show.
Probably one of the most fun things that we did together was play golf. When my Dad invited me to play along with he and Rick, it was a huge deal to be part of their threesome, and it was a lot of fun. Windsor, Pinawa, Falcon Lake, there were other courses, but I particularly remember playing these ones with them; never really had a great game, got angry at my game too easily, but I will always cherish the memories that I have from golfing with them, learning from them, just being with them on those days.
You could say Rick was a bit of a hero to me in those years, I really looked up to him. He was older, cooler, drove an awesome car, but that's not why I say that. It was his kindness, his compassion, the way he treated you as a person not just as a kid, that makes me say that. He earned that status with me. I miss him...
