Old Friends in New Places

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The roads were clear and dry as our bus rumbled past the New Brunswick border.  We were headed to Moncton for an afternoon game with Robert Irving’s recently stacked Wildcats.  The Cats are the odds on favorites to win the President’s Cup after acquiring a slew of players (Gabriel Bourque, Kelsey Tessier, Alex Wall and Spencer Metcalfe) during the trading period.

Sawyer Hannay stretched out his 6 foot 4 athletic frame over two seats and gazed out the window.  The 17 year old  rookie defenceman’s thoughts were clearly on the upcoming game.  He was scratched Friday and Saturday due to a nasty cut just above his Achilles.  He was itching to get back in the lineup.

“I sure hope I can play today.  My family is coming,” stated the rugged Moncton native.  “and it will also be great to see Spencer again.”  I interjected.  “I’m not sure he will be playing, he may be suspended after picking up a fighting major and game misconduct last night.”

Sawyer had become very close to Metcalfe during his 4 month stay as a Moosehead. He had tremendous respect and admiration for the Oakville, Ontario native who arrived at training camp with an intimidating reputation.

“I remember my Dad telling me, ‘be careful at camp because there is a fighter coming.’  I was pretty nervous around him.  Then he challenged the entire bench.  There were no takers.”

Hannay twisted the dark blue cap off the clear Dasani water bottle and took a long slow drink.  He reflected on their relationship.  “He was the first veteran to show me what’s up.  He was the first to show me what I should be doing on D and was teaching me how to fight.”

From there, their relationship grew.  Hannay started to type a text message. We were half an hour from Moncton.  “He’s hilarious.  He’s one of the funniest guys I have ever met.  In the room, he knew when it was time to have fun and yet he knew when it was time to get serious.    He didn’t have to say much but he knew what to say.”

Travis Randell leaned over Sawyer’s seat.  “Are you guys talking about Metter?  Geez – I miss him a lot.”  Travis, Costello and Bernier had taken him out for dinner at Boston Pizza Wednesday night after learning of the trade.

Costello was seated in front of Hannay.  “He’s just a great guy overall.  He was great in the room.  When things were going bad, he could always lighten things up and he fought anyone, no matter how big they were.”

Sawyer reached for his cell phone and smiled as he was reading a text message which had just arrived.  He held it up so I could read it, “I heard you had a beauty game yesterday.  Are you suspended or anything?”   I nodded.  Sawyer scrolled down so I could see Spencer’s response.  “Ha. Ha.  Yeah, I did man and no, I’m not.”

“Have you ever thought the day may come where you have to fight Spencer?  I asked.

Sawyer’s long fingers wrapped around the Dasani bottle and he used the index finger of his other hand to tap against the blue label “Pure Refreshment.”  He paused.

“Its crossed my mind.  I hope it doesn’t happen.  If it happens – it happens.  Its part of my job.  That’s part of my role on this team.  I’m sure if you asked Spencer, he would feel the same way.”   (Metcalfe leads the Q in fighting majors, Hannay leads the Mooseheads).

Our bus came to a rest inside the Coliseum.  The players began to unload.  Sawyer received the word – he would take the warmup.  In fact, he played and fought 6 foot 5 Tyler Howe in the 3^rd.   As for Spencer, he did not play against his old teammates on Sunday afternoon.  Instead he watched with his parents from the stands. He found out 10 minutes prior to warmup he had been suspended.

Spencer and the Wildcats come to Moose country, Saturday, February 27^th.

See you Friday when the Sags visit Metro Centre.

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