Hockey Heartbreak: A Tale of Two Moms

This is the story of two mothers.

Both have sons who live and breathe hockey and aspire to reach that elite level- the NHL. Both boys enter the NHL draft. One gets picked to be the New York Rangers top prospect. The other learns he has a heart problem that could cause a sudden and fatal heart attack. That boy gives up his NHL dreams, but receives a surprise. The new owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning uses his last draft pick, to select this boy and help fulfill a tiny bit of that dream, even if only in a symbolic way. The boy with the heart problem goes to college and tries to adjust to a life of hockey-- without being able to play.

The mother of the boy diagnosed with the heart problem agonizes for him, but thanks her lucky stars that he is alive. 19 year old David Carle has a full-ride scholarship to the University of Denver. Even though he can never play hockey again, he will help the team on the sidelines. He will live the NHL dream through his older brother Matt, who now plays for the team that drafted David, the Tampa Bay Lightning. However unhappy he may be, however well he may be adjusting to his new life, David is alive, his heart keeping the beat.

The mother of the boy picked by the Rangers probably beamed with pride at the thought that her boy will one day leave Siberia and live the NHL dream in America, with one of the oldest and best teams in the league. In the meantime, he was honing his skills in the Kontinental Hockey League, as a member of the Avangard Omsk. His skill already rivaled countrymen Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Pavel Bure, all NHL stars. He was maturing under the tutelage of former NHL great Jaromir Jagr. The Rangers and their fans could not wait until this boy was ready to take the Big Apple by storm. The future looked bright for 19 year old Alexei Cherepanov.


That bright future imploded in crushing heartbreak this week, when Alexei collapsed during a game and died. It turns out, he suffered from a condition that kept blood from reaching his heart and organs. He suffered an apparent heart attack while sitting on the bench next to Jagr, talking about a missed scoring opportunity. He died at the hospital.

Now, there are reports that an ambulance stationed at the arena left before the game was over and had to be called back. It did not return until 25 minutes after Alexei collapsed. There are reports that emergency workers did not have a defibrillator on hand to shock his heart back into action. Some Russian lawmakers are calling for a criminal investigation.

None of this takes away from the fact that a mother has lost her son.
No criminal investigation will bring him back.
No amount of finger pointing will ease the pain in her own heart, as she faces the crushing task of laying her boy and his dreams to rest forever.

My heart goes out to both of these mothers.
I, too, have a son. He has no heart problems. He does not play hockey.
But I worry about his health and safety just the same.

In that way, I am no different from David or Alexei's mothers, or anyone else with a son or daughter.
I don’t have to explain, and neither do they.
We already know.
We are Mothers.

The HEART of the NHL

I LOVE HOCKEY.

I freely admit it.

I love everything about the game: the speed, the grace, even the violence.
And after reading an article posted by Jodie over at “The Sidney Crosby Show”,
http://sidcrosby.blogspot.com/2008/06/oren-koules-is-awesome.html , I have another reason to love hockey, or at least, one NHL Team owner.

The article talked about a young hockey player named David Carle, who was projected to be drafted as high as the second round. And why wouldn’t he? By all accounts, the 18 year old was a terrific player, a talented defenseman headed to the University of Denver on a hockey scholarship. And I’m sure he set out for the NHL Combine with high hopes of passing every physical and intellectual test.

I don’t know if you’ve seen what goes on at an NHL Combine. I’ve seen video and it looks brutal. Players with their feet taped to the pedals of a stationary bike, being loudly urged to ride as hard and fast as they can. I’ve seen some kids throw up after this “exercise”. There are also other grueling looking “exercises” that I’m sure are meant to test endurance and mettle, including one where a guy does goes all out-- while breathing into a tube with his nose pinched shut while some drill-sergeant type guy yells at him to go faster. Like I said, brutal.

But I digress.

David went to the Combine. I don’t know how many exercises he went through, or whether he went through any at all. What I do know is an EKG uncovered a heart defect that had not been found in previous exams. More extensive tests at the Mayo Clinic revealed that the defect could cause a sudden, fatal cardiac arrest if his heart endures too much stress.

How this boy survived playing hockey for so many years with this defect boggles my mind.

But what happened next will stay with me forever.

His advisor notified all 30 NHL teams that David was taking his name out of the draft, since he can no longer play hockey. 29 team owners took it in stride, but one did something amazing.

Oren Koules, the new owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning, used his last pick to draft David Carle. When asked why he did it, here’s what he said: "The kid worked his whole life to be drafted in the NHL, and I didn't see a reason he shouldn't be."

David Carle will go down in the books as the 203rd pick of the 2008 NHL Draft, because one team owner decided to forego adding to the fold, to make a young man’s lifelong dream come true.

So… the teen whose heart problem forced him to give up his dreams of NHL glory, got to live just a little piece of that dream, thanks to a man whose heart was bigger than his business sense.

This could be the end of David’s story.

It‘s not.

As they say in those annoying TV commercials, “BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!”

Remember the hockey scholarship to the University of Denver?
The school will honor that scholarship. David will get a college education, and the coach says he will be involved with the hockey program in some way. It might be small comfort to someone who has lived and breathed the game since he could walk, but somehow, I think he will be okay.

Want to read the article for yourself?
Here’s the link: http://www.adn.com/sports/story/443351.html

And after you’ve read it, ask yourself: What can I give from my heart today?

The answer may just surprise you.