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Originally Posted by ~Crashintome89~
I would love to hear some Carchards stories.
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Yeah, do Dustin and Nicole ever go on double dates with them? That would be precious.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JRS1386
Lappy hanging it up. Hell of a player and I assume an amazing person. Spent the last two years helping the Flyers train up their rookies while being on LTIR instead of just retiring right away so he did count against the cap. A very selfless man. I'll never forget his guts during the 2010 playoff run
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=634523
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You are so very correct on all counts. Out of all the players I've seen over the years, I'm hard pressed to find a more team guy than Ian Lapperriere. Never the biggest guy, but always had the biggest heart of any team he played for. When he played for the Avs, I saw him step in to defend anyone and everyone on the team, whether it was a superstar or a recent AHL call up. I saw him block shots like a demon and take more abuse than an ugly step child. What a career.
I think I may have told this story a couple years ago, but my favorite story of Lappy is kind of a personal one. Worth repeating as a tribute to him.
A family friend (single mom with two teenage boys) lost one of her sons to suicide. They were huge hockey fans, and someone in the Avs organization heard their story and flew the mom and remaining son out to Denver to meet the team and see a game.
They arrived right after the morning skate had ended, and the son got to go in the locker room. There were two players that immediately went up to him, introduced themselves: Adam Foote and Lappy. They took some time to get to know him, then gave him a jersey and stick and personally escorted him to each locker stall to get it signed by every player and coach on the team. Foote then took him back out on to the ice for a skate-around with some of the other guys, and Lappy sought out the mom. He wasn't asked to chat with her, he honestly just wanted to meet her, offer his condolensces, and just get to know her better. She said he sat and talked to her for like half an hour outside the locker room, still in his practice gear. She said the biggest thing was that he made her smile and laugh, and that it was the first time she'd done so since the passing of her son.
That right dur is why I freaking love hockey players, especially guys like Lappy.