A CASUAL GESTURE THAT WILL STICK
Teen’s lucky moment at Winter Classic in Massachusetts might mean even more to dad
It hardly seemed momentous. An athlete, en route to his dressing room, hands off a piece of equipment to a kid in a fleeting moment of acknowledgment.
But to the wide-eyed recipient, that celebrity encounter might become a lifelong memory and the souvenir a symbol of a family bond. Take the goalie stick, for example, passed like a magic baton from Montreal Canadiens goaltender Mike Condon to a teen wearing his same bleu, blanc et rouge and shouting encouragement from the other side of a barrier at the NHL’s New Year’s Day Winter Classic.
Condon couldn’t have known that his stick, used in a 5-1 victory over Boston, would be lovingly protected by its recipient, Max Horsley, 14, and his 18-year-old brother, Ross, as they made their way out of Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts through the barrage of those, many clearly fortified to face the cold, offering to purchase the piece of memorabilia.
Or that it would be taken to a UPS Store the next day to be swaddled by a clerk lest it be damaged in being shipped home to Vineland, Ont. “We had her wrap it in foam and then wrap the foam in bubble wrap and then put it in packing peanuts and then in a foam-lined box,” explained Ross.
Or that it was destined to be mounted — along with the Habs sweater Max was wearing, the one injured netminder Carey Price signed that same day, and their tickets and program — and hung in the basement, where the family watches the Canadiens on television.
Or that a father witnessed the entire scene unfolding that day, understanding that Condon’s gift was much more than another trinket from a family trip. So much so that he would choke up in the retelling days later.
“It was very emotional because it’s one of those things they’ll always remember they did with their dad,” said Craig Horsley, who you’ll almost always find at Vineland Hardware, the store he owns with his sister. “I didn’t do a lot with my dad and I’ve always regretted it. When they’re 50 years old watching hockey, they’ll remember going to the game with me. The stick is a great memento of that.
“I didn’t watch much of the game. I watched more my boys, just because I realized Ross will be 19 this year and Max is into high school and this whole hockey dad thing is kind of coming to an end. Getting that stick is just a culmination of all the years of driving to hockey rinks and tournaments, early morning practices, heartaches and joys and everything else. What a way to end it.”
The game and the trip — Max took a morning off school in the fall, working the Internet to get tickets — was a family Christmas present that will long resonate.
Dad got his time with the kids. Ross, a photography nut, got to be in a picture taken by one of his heroes, longtime hockey shooter Dave Sandford. (“That was the even cooler part for me,” he said.) Max, a diehard Habs fan, has his keepsake.
“I was screaming his name and he just looked up at me and gave me the stick,” he said.
“When I got it . . . I had so much excitement I really didn’t understand what was going on.”
When Max got home, he posted the picture of him receiving the stick on Instagram. One of the “likes” came from Condon.