One of those stories that just makes you feel good
The family just recently moved back to this area from Calgary so not all the boxes have been unpacked yet. Finding certain items at this point would be like finding the Ark of the Covenant in that warehouse at the end of Raiders.
So thankfully most of his equipment was in his hockey bag. All but his sweater. It was missing. With no time for an expedition to find it, they headed to the rink figuring there’d be an extra one he could borrow. Which there was. A box of them.
When dad reached in and grabbed the one on top ...
Let’s pause here for a little background.
The boy at the centre of this story is Nic Pauls. You likely don’t know him but you know about his great grandpa. Harry Howell just happens to be the greatest hockey player ever to come from this city. Once the youngest captain in NHL history, he’s now a Hockey Hall of Famer and an all-time good guy whose No. 3 is retired and hanging in the rafters of Madison Square Garden.
This means little to Nic. He just turned six and doesn’t yet know all those details or what they mean. Of course, he’s seen pictures and some black-and-white videos and heard plenty of stories about Pa Pa Harry from his mom and grandma.
In his bedroom back in Alberta he had a four-foot-tall Teddy Bear wearing a Rangers sweater and skates that had been given to Harry and passed along to him (getting that home on a plane is a story unto itself ). The rest of the connection between him and hockey greatness isn’t ingrained yet. It will come, eventually.
Anyway, when they moved back here and signed him up for hockey, Josh and Natalie went online to see what rink might be home base for their boy. Carlisle Arena, they concluded. That’s closest to them. Which would be kind of cool since Howell lived in that town for a long while and has roots there.
“Then I got the email and I said, ‘He’s playing at the Harry Howell Arena,’” Natalie says, her voice rising in excitement as she recounts the moment. “Crazy, right?” Josh says. Which is how the family ended up at the rink bearing great grandpa’s name on the weekend. Walking through the sliding front doors under the giant HARRY HOWELL ARENA sign. Passing the glass plaque outlining his amazing career. Walking past the
massive poster of Harry overlooking the concourse. And by the display case filled with photos.
Nobody knew why they were taking such a special interest in the place. The family hadn’t told anyone about Nic’s connection to the arena’s namesake. But none of them had been back since the renaming of the place four years ago. Being there again was cool.
In the midst of their excitement, there was still the matter of a practice. Which meant finding a sweater for Nic.
Once dad had signed him in for his house league assessment, someone pointed to a nearby box and told him to help himself. Josh couldn’t see what was inside but he reached in and grabbed the jersey on top.
As he pulled it out, the Timbit logo was facing up but he immediately noticed the thing was red, white and blue. Rangers’ colours.
Hmm. What are the odds?
He’d taken a few steps back toward the dressing room to finish getting his boy dressed when he spun it around to look at the back.
Number 3.
By the time he reached Natalie and her mother, Cheryl, he couldn’t help himself.
“You won’t believe the jersey I got,” he said.
Which is how, shortly after 4 p.m. on Saturday, No. 3 for the Rangers skated onto the rink named after his legendary Pa Pa and then, without any prompting, started playing defence. Completely unaware of why this was such a big deal that made everyone around him beam.
They took pictures and videos which will be taken to Harry. His Alzheimer’s doesn’t allow him to get out these days, but they want him to see this. They’re pretty sure he’ll get it.
It was a moment for all of them. One they never expected. Not like this. Amazing, isn’t it?
“It’s as if it was meant to be,” Cheryl said.