Bighat
01-11-2015, 11:26 AM
After reading Greg Harder's article, headlined "The Forgotten Side of the WHL Trade Deadline," I felt compelled to provide another perspective and at the same time offer our family's thanks to the Regina Pats and the community.
There is an expression, "You are only as happy as your saddest child." The extent to which this resonated with Carla and I could only be understood if privy to the conversation I had with Dryden after his trade to the Medicine Hat Tigers.
The emotion was raw. He felt loss. And we were sad for him. I did what any father would do. I acknowledged his pain, and even shed a tear myself for his sadness, and I rationalized the team's decision and explained how everything would turn out fine. And it will. He knows it as well.
The reasons were well understood and, less emotionally attached than our son, we were convinced he will be just fine in his new hometown and team. But we only had to hear the sadness to fully understand the profound impact of both his experience in Regina and the trade away from what had become his home.
So later, like remembering the loss of a loved one, we thought it important to reflect on all of the good that came from his time in Regina and with the Regina Pats' organization. It moved us from sadness for his honest feeling of loss to feelings of gratitude.
In August of 2010, he arrived in Regina as a 15-yearold ready to participate in camp. Our plan was to take in the experience and return him to Westside to begin his year in the BCJHL. The convincing, professional and well-respected Chad Lang, Dale McMullin, Pat Conacher and Brent Parker had different plans.
I flew back home leaving our 15-year-old with comfort he was in the hands of these really good people I had met and knew they did not take lightly the responsibility of developing and caring for our son.
Moreover, he was surrounded by an old friend in Morgan Klimchuk, with whom he had played hockey in Alberta, and another young man by the name of Kyle Burroughs, who was a respected opponent of Dryden's for years.
He developed as a hockey player and person under the leadership of Pat, Malcolm Cameron, Billy McGuigan, Josh Dixon and more recently Dave Struch, Darrin McKechnie and John Paddock, who alone left an indelible print on Dryden's character and confidence. It was a privilege to have him coached by such a dedicated group of hockey professionals.
More importantly, he learned the importance of respect and commitment, learned to understand the responsibility we all have to the community, and while enduring an emotionally trying year off with injuries, he learned first-hand the importance and the gift of support, love and friendship from the players, coaches, management and staff (especially trainer Greg Mayer for whom he has a great deal of respect and to whom we are very thankful), his billets and the community.
We especially appreciate Chad's and Brent's commitment to Dryden during his year off with his hockey future in question - a commitment that reveals a lot of the good within the business and specifically within the Pats.
Fast forward four years - less than a week after his friend Morgan was sent to Brandon. Dryden was traded to Medicine Hat with Kyle Burroughs. On the heels of this, his linemate and great friend Connor Gay was traded and all three were leaving behind their cherished friends Colby Williams and Braden
Christoffer. We are delighted that Dryden forged such close friendships with that great group of young men and many more over the years. We are grateful to Joan, Gary and Michelle, who furnished him with a supportive, loving home and a set of rules that helped guide him.
We are grateful to the Parkers (Brent and Karen), who gave him the opportunity, looked over him and welcomed him to their home when he needed it the most.
We acknowledge the countless hours of time from volunteers and staff that held a respectable balance between that which was good for the "business" and that which was good for or required by the "kids."
We thank Greg Harder and the Leader-Post, who shared all of the stories and anecdotes that provided us another lens through which we could experience our son's life away from home.
At this early stage in Dryden's time with the Tigers, we already miss the incredible work of CKRM's Phil (The Thrill) Andrews and his partner Daniel Fink, who entertained us in their webcasts and informed us through other social media.
The list of contributions the Pats family made to our son and these young men is long and touching.
We are very grateful for the experiences, the care, the life lessons and joy you all afforded our son. We will be obligatory Tigers fans now, but the Pats will always feel like extended family and we will always be indebted to the Pats and the community for helping to shape our son. Our reluctant release of him to a group of strangers four years ago proved to be an incredibly fortunate and rewarding leap of faith.
Go Pats Go! Jeff, Carla, Sawyer and Reece Hunt, Nelson, B.C.
© Copyright (c) The Leader-Post
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There is an expression, "You are only as happy as your saddest child." The extent to which this resonated with Carla and I could only be understood if privy to the conversation I had with Dryden after his trade to the Medicine Hat Tigers.
The emotion was raw. He felt loss. And we were sad for him. I did what any father would do. I acknowledged his pain, and even shed a tear myself for his sadness, and I rationalized the team's decision and explained how everything would turn out fine. And it will. He knows it as well.
The reasons were well understood and, less emotionally attached than our son, we were convinced he will be just fine in his new hometown and team. But we only had to hear the sadness to fully understand the profound impact of both his experience in Regina and the trade away from what had become his home.
So later, like remembering the loss of a loved one, we thought it important to reflect on all of the good that came from his time in Regina and with the Regina Pats' organization. It moved us from sadness for his honest feeling of loss to feelings of gratitude.
In August of 2010, he arrived in Regina as a 15-yearold ready to participate in camp. Our plan was to take in the experience and return him to Westside to begin his year in the BCJHL. The convincing, professional and well-respected Chad Lang, Dale McMullin, Pat Conacher and Brent Parker had different plans.
I flew back home leaving our 15-year-old with comfort he was in the hands of these really good people I had met and knew they did not take lightly the responsibility of developing and caring for our son.
Moreover, he was surrounded by an old friend in Morgan Klimchuk, with whom he had played hockey in Alberta, and another young man by the name of Kyle Burroughs, who was a respected opponent of Dryden's for years.
He developed as a hockey player and person under the leadership of Pat, Malcolm Cameron, Billy McGuigan, Josh Dixon and more recently Dave Struch, Darrin McKechnie and John Paddock, who alone left an indelible print on Dryden's character and confidence. It was a privilege to have him coached by such a dedicated group of hockey professionals.
More importantly, he learned the importance of respect and commitment, learned to understand the responsibility we all have to the community, and while enduring an emotionally trying year off with injuries, he learned first-hand the importance and the gift of support, love and friendship from the players, coaches, management and staff (especially trainer Greg Mayer for whom he has a great deal of respect and to whom we are very thankful), his billets and the community.
We especially appreciate Chad's and Brent's commitment to Dryden during his year off with his hockey future in question - a commitment that reveals a lot of the good within the business and specifically within the Pats.
Fast forward four years - less than a week after his friend Morgan was sent to Brandon. Dryden was traded to Medicine Hat with Kyle Burroughs. On the heels of this, his linemate and great friend Connor Gay was traded and all three were leaving behind their cherished friends Colby Williams and Braden
Christoffer. We are delighted that Dryden forged such close friendships with that great group of young men and many more over the years. We are grateful to Joan, Gary and Michelle, who furnished him with a supportive, loving home and a set of rules that helped guide him.
We are grateful to the Parkers (Brent and Karen), who gave him the opportunity, looked over him and welcomed him to their home when he needed it the most.
We acknowledge the countless hours of time from volunteers and staff that held a respectable balance between that which was good for the "business" and that which was good for or required by the "kids."
We thank Greg Harder and the Leader-Post, who shared all of the stories and anecdotes that provided us another lens through which we could experience our son's life away from home.
At this early stage in Dryden's time with the Tigers, we already miss the incredible work of CKRM's Phil (The Thrill) Andrews and his partner Daniel Fink, who entertained us in their webcasts and informed us through other social media.
The list of contributions the Pats family made to our son and these young men is long and touching.
We are very grateful for the experiences, the care, the life lessons and joy you all afforded our son. We will be obligatory Tigers fans now, but the Pats will always feel like extended family and we will always be indebted to the Pats and the community for helping to shape our son. Our reluctant release of him to a group of strangers four years ago proved to be an incredibly fortunate and rewarding leap of faith.
Go Pats Go! Jeff, Carla, Sawyer and Reece Hunt, Nelson, B.C.
© Copyright (c) The Leader-Post
Email this article
A+