Farewell, Stevie G

I'm not going to make this sound like an eulogy because, well, he hasn't died. That doesn't mean I'm not upset, but y'know, this is professional sport where players move around on a regular basis.

I will, however, recall a story.

I'm in the players' lounge on Boxing Day. There's a fairly good mood in the room - we'd just beaten the Panthers 2-0 - but I'm getting extremely nervous and agitated about meeting Max Lacroix having sponsored his sticks for the season. All of a sudden, there's this little girl on stage with the microphone in hand, and she starts singing. Everyone's heart melts and all my nerves vanish.

That little girl was the eldest child of Steven and Sam Goertzen.

Their smiles are infectious. They lead without even really knowing it. The way Steven conducts himself on and off ice is the perfect example of a captain. Sam is great at interacting with everyone she comes across, even just a simple smile when she doesn't even have to acknowledge you.

This is before we even get onto how good a player Steven is. He blocks every shot. He busts a gut every shift. He leads from the front. He's pretty nifty on the puck too. He's essentially everything you'd want from a hockey player.

I don't pretend to know what happened or why he's left, and I don't really want to. I just want the following on record.

Thank you for your time in orange Steven. You gave us your all, and left nothing on the bench. You will be a tough tough one to replace. Good luck in Coventry, they know how good a player they're getting.

More than anything, thank you for this:

All the best.

Liam and the Frozen Steel team

(NB: I'm going to cover all the signings in one post at the end of the summer, so will not be writing a post on Rod Sarich's re-signing just yet.)

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