Perspective. According to dictionary.com, "the faculty of seeing all the relevant data in a meaningful relationship". Sometimes it takes perspective. I've recently been forced to have perspective. Hockey is just not that important.

Please don't get me wrong. Hockey is a great sport. Arguably the best sport for kids and families. While I am suffering from perspective, my views will not change nor do I want to force perspective down your throat. Still, I must explain.

Last Friday night while I took my son to the Notre Dame game, many of the kids on his team attended a local high school hockey tournament. Unfortunately, those attending watched a 16 year old player die on the ice. Early Saturday morning we got a call telling us a 16 year old high school player had passed away after colapsing (no contact, just colapse) during play on the ice. I had met the father a few months back. A truly tragic event. Perspective.

Turns out, my son who has befriended just about everyone he's ever met, had befriended Steve Scotton, the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) player who passed away. Steve worked at our home rink. I watched my son, age 12, ask to attend a memorial at the rink. He cried. It was hard to watch as a parent. Perspective.

Nothing that playing hockey can't cure. This morning I loaded the family in the car and hit the road for a couple of games in Detroit. A half mile north of Auburn, Indiana I watch a semi-tractor trailer cross the median of I-69, block the entire highway and crush the vehicle just in front of me. I hit the breaks, but hit the truck that was just crushed by the semi. Everyone in my vehicle was wearing a seatbelt. My wife, son, daughter and I are uninjured. Five hours later I watch them load my vehicle on a flatbed truck as I stand on the passing lane of I-69. In that five hours of standing on I-69 God refilled my perspective. I gave away two quilts hand crafted by my now 90 year old grandmother who is suffering from Alzheimer's and congestive heart failure in order to comfort two individuals crushed head-on by a semi-tractor. I watched emergency services professionals spend hours extracting them from their vehicle. I later heard that the driver didn't make it. My family not only came through uninjured, but the rest of my family even attended (my son played) our two games in Detroit today. We walked away, others didn't. Perspective. Perspective!