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November 12, 2010 at 4:34 am #3292

Participant

The power of perspective and privilege

Players skip morning skate to honour those who paid the ultimate price for their luxuries

By Iain Macintyre, Vancouver Sun November 11, 2010

From rooms on the west side of the hotel where the Vancouver Canucks stay in Canada's capital, players can see from their windows the National War Memorial, although it is easy to miss.

Parliament Hill looms iconically behind it, home to the Senate and House of Commons and the Peace Tower clock. Next door, the Chateau Laurier hotel gleams at night like a castle palace. Across Wellington Street, between the Canucks' hotel and the War Memorial, is the Government Conference Centre, formerly Union Station and still magnificent in everything but name.

Amid this glorious triangle of Beaux-Arts and Gothic Revival architecture, the War Memorial stands humbly. But it is there. Players have looked at it. Few have probably really seen it.

They will today.

Believing there are things more important than hockey — yes, even Tuesday's 2-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens — Canuck general manager Mike Gillis and coach Alain Vigneault have cancelled the usual morning skate in Ottawa and instead will walk with staff and players to the War Memorial to observe Remembrance Day.

For once, these National Hockey League millionaires have no special privileges. They'll merely gather in the hotel lobby, and walk solemnly with their poppies and thoughts to the cenotaph, joining the crowd of thousands who gather annually at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

They'll watch and listen, see wreaths laid near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, see the faces of war's survivors and ponder the millions of lives sacrificed for freedom.

Perspective, Gillis believes, is a powerful thing.

"When you participate in the NHL, it's easy to lose sight of other things that are very important," he explained Wednesday. "It's good for everyone to have some perspective about life. If these guys can go and see the emotions and the interaction of veterans, it will be a healthy and lasting memory."

"We were all for it," associate coach Rick Bowness said. "Some things in life are more important than a morning skate."

The decision to attend today's ceremony was made during the Canucks' long flight Sunday between Vancouver and Montreal.

Bowness coached in Ottawa for four years but said the NHL schedule never allowed him to take the Senators, then an expansion team, to a Remembrance Day ceremony in the 1990s.

He did, however, take players to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington and once ordered the Senators' bus to stop in the forlorn neighbourhood around old Miami Arena so players, who had everything, could see on the streets people who had nothing.

"I still tell these kids today that every day in this league is a blessing and never take it for granted," he said. "Appreciate how lucky we are, how fortunate we are, how well we're treated.

"We're here in Ottawa and it's Remembrance Day. Why not take advantage of this opportunity and let players share in the Canadian experience? It kind of puts things in perspective for everybody."

After their poorest game in three weeks, the Canucks play the Senators tonight in suburban Kanata, Ont. Attending an emotional Remembrance Day ceremony is highly unorthodox preparation.

Yet, players who were asked after Wednesday's practice seemed genuinely eager to attend.

"I think it's a special opportunity," centre Manny Malhotra, who is from Toronto, said as blood trickled from his lip due to a deflected puck.

"You go through it in school, study it in history: What is Remembrance Day? But I don't think we can really grasp what those men and women went through.

"Compared to the rest of the world, we live in an incredible country. We had good childhoods without hardship. We live an incredible life. We should remember the men and women who gave their lives so we could have this life."

Winger Tanner Glass, who is from Craven, Sask., said: "Hopefully, we'll come back to the rink with a sense of all the things we have, how lucky we are.

"For me, when I think about the Second World War, I think about all the young men who were sent there. If there was a war today, that would be us. We would be the ones on the front line."

Canuck centre Ryan Kesler, who is from the Detroit area, has a better understanding than most players about war and what is at risk.

His brother-in-law, Derek Evans, is preparing to be deployed to Afghanistan with U.S. Forces. Kesler said it will be Evans' third tour in the Middle East.

He said his grandfathers fought in the Second World War, but neither talks about the experience, even to Kesler's parents.

"I think it's important that we're doing this," Kesler said.

"Hockey is not life and death. Some things are more important."

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."