Crowd Shots

“When the magazine comes, my mom hides it; it’s her way of making me do chores” The spirit of hockey My nine-year-old daughter, Becca, plays for the Tillsonburg Lightning atom rep girls team and recently lost a friend, Angie, to cancer. You can imagine the challenge of dealing with death at such a young age. On the way to a game she said to me: “Dad, if I score, I’m gonna do this (pointing to the sky) and say ‘that’s for Angie.’ ” Later, after the girls got dressed, Becca came out of the change room sporting a huge smile and a letter ‘A’ on her sweater, because she was awarded the assistant captaincy. She said to me: “Look dad, ‘A’ for Angie,” and the waterworks erupted from me. During the game, the girls were…

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Middle Men

JEFF CARTER AND MIKE RICHARDS were separated by 13 places in the first round of the 2003 NHL entry draft – and by practically nothing else since. “Same draft year, world junior together, won a Calder Cup together,” Richards said. They also struggled during the proud Flyers’ worst season ever together, rebounded in one season to become Eastern Conference finalists together and now have Philadelphia challenging for the Atlantic Division lead together. “It’s nice to have someone in same position as you,” Richards said. “We’ve been able to draw from each other.” Best of company are the two Philadelphia centers. But if Daniel Briere, delayed again in his return from abdominal muscle surgery to a team that has gone 23-8-6 without him, makes it back this season, three will not be a crowd.…

Why we’re feting Cherry

DON CHERRY AGREED to be interviewed for this edition’s cover story with a smidgen of wariness. He wanted some assurance he wouldn’t be sandbagged as he ruminated on his life and times during 75 years on the planet. He’d been burned before and, naturally, didn’t like the feeling. We don’t blame him. And we’re respecting his wish. In the seven-page Q&A piece, he speaks for himself without judgment from us or anyone else. Still, we feel it’s important to clarify why we ventured down this road and explain our editorial position on the most controversial man in hockey. (Sean Avery isn’t really in hockey right now, is he?) Opinions of Cherry among THN staff members are likely reflective of hockey fandom in general – wildly varied. Some love him and embrace him…