Friday night we abandoned our normal Shabbat dinner plans and headed down to the Parade of Champions. EPCOR has been teaming up with the Oilers and sponsoring special events featuring Canadian Olympic athletes. Benny and I accompanied LA to meet Olympic kayaker Adam Van Koeverden .
Adam is a bit of a celebrity athlete. It doesn’t hurt that he has the boyish charm and good looks of a movie star and the body of, well, an Olympic champion kayaker. But he’s actually a lovely guy who can really inspire when he speaks from his heart.
The Parade of Champions event is great because it brings together young athletes and Olympians. On this night, Adam was joined by a group of young Edmonton-area paddlers who got an opportunity of a lifetime to talk with Adam about the sport they have in common. Adam was gracious with his time and attention, even signing Benny’s shirt.
We were fortunate to be able to watch the Oilers take on the Stars from first row seats, right up against the boards. I hadn’t sat this close to a hockey game since way back in 1979 when John Gagnon took Frank and I and my mom to a Leafs game. Somehow, he managed to get first row tickets and he was clearly trying to impress mom by impressing us kids. It worked.
It was tough to keep Ben’s attention on the game which is all the more important when you are sitting this close. A few seconds of daydreaming and a couple of 200 pound brutes can come crashing into the boards. And you feel it. Well, Ben felt it, getting a knock on the chin in just this situation. He cried a bit, but cotton candy heals all.
In the end, Adam Van Koeverden’s spirit of greatness and the overall good feelings of the evening couldn’t pull the Oliers out of their funk. Though they fought back from a 2-0 deficit early in the game to tie it 3-3 late in the third, they were deflated seconds later when the Stars bagged the winner.
Poor, pathetic Oilers. You could almost feel bad for the young millionaires. Almost.
