Rassell plays in memory of his friend
If Mark Rassell looked a bit more fired up than usual for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarter-finals against the Brandon Wheat Kings, it’s because he was playing for Spencer Dial.
The Medicine Hat Tigers captain lost one his closest friends and biggest fans when Dial took his own life on March 4 while studying abroad in Australia. While a late scheduling change forced Rassell to miss Dial’s funeral in order to lead his Tigers into the playoffs, he still managed to honour his friend’s memory with an unforgettable evening at the Canalta Centre.
“The funeral was supposed to be (Saturday) so I would have gone up for it but then they changed it to (Friday). I was obviously pretty disappointed that I missed it, but Game 1 was a very important thing for me to be part of, so I missed it and then I told the guys I was going to play for Spencer,” said Rassell, who had a goal and two assists to earn Friday’s first star.
He has also been wearing the same suit and tie combination to honor Dial’s memory.
“When I need a little bit of luck it’s what I put on. It’s the last suit and tie combo he ever saw me in — it was when we played in Calgary, we grabbed a picture. I wore it for goals 49 and 50 and then I wore it (Friday) night and it seems to be bringing me some pretty good luck.
“Until the luck runs out I’ll wear that same suit and tie combo.”
Rassell says Dial “was a really outgoing guy, a really positive and fun-loving guy,” which made his loss come as a shock. Chasing down 50 goals on the season, Rassell says he had to take a step back and re-align his priorities after hearing the devastating news.
“There really isn’t much detail about why or what happened, but he took his own life. He was a really good friend of mine, so I heard the news on the Monday right before the Regina game and it kind of made me realize that hockey is just a game. I was really stressed with trying to get to 50 at the time and I kind of just took a step back and thought about him,” said Rassell. “I was more shocked than anything. On the Tuesday game I scored my 49th of the year and I had to take a few breaths, it was kind of emotional.”
Rassell added Dial was one of the most supportive people in his life. After the two attended high school together in Calgary, Dial moved on to study at the University of Calgary, but he never stopped following Rassell’s exploits on the ice.
When he heard that his friend had been invited to compete with the Calgary Flames at development camp last summer, Dial insisted on having Rassell autograph every piece of Flames memorabilia he owned.
“He got me to sign all of his Flames paraphernalia, all his Flames jerseys, I signed the flag that’s still there in their house to this day. He was really supportive like that,” said Rassell. “It was a joke, but even then he was 100 per cent convinced I was playing for the Flames this year.
“He texted me on my birthday (Feb. 28), just a few days before he passed and he was talking about coming back for Stampede and how I had to skip development camp because I was a lock to make the team anyway.”
Rassell added he made sure to get a message to Dial’s parents following Friday’s blowout win over Brandon to open the playoffs, letting them know that he and the Tigers had prevailed in their son’s honour.
“They were just so proud and so happy,” he said.