Game On Magazine 2017 February 2017 | Page 16

WINNIPEG TRIPLE A MIDGET LEAGUE
to play every shift for her . That was my motivation to keep playing .
“ Through it all , my dad ’ s been really good . He ’ s helped my sister and me deal with all of it . He ’ s been really strong . I ’ ve gotten a lot closer to my grandpa ( Ted ), too , and he ’ s helped us through a lot of it .”
Brian has believed since the day his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer , that hockey played a role in Brady ’ s efforts to cope with his mom ’ s illness . If nothing else , it was a chance to escape .
“ There is no question that hockey was a release for him ,” Brian said . “ Hockey definitely was a way for him to escape from his reality . But more importantly , it was great for him to be around kids that were having fun . We grew up with a lot of the parents that are in this community and if I was on the road travelling with work , they made sure he was looked after . I can ’ t thank the families and the teammates in this game enough for what they ’ ve done for us and for what they are still doing now . It doesn ’ t go away . It ’ s amazing .”
Brady , himself , makes no bones about the fact that hockey was an important part of the healing process . The game , indeed , gave him a chance to leave the heartbreak behind .
“ Oh , for sure ,” he said . “ As soon as it happened , I took a week off from school , but I never missed a practice . I knew when it came to hockey , I had a family – my team – to hang out with and take my mind off it . Hockey has been the most important thing for me , for sure . It takes my mind off what happened and I have a good time whenever I play hockey . It helps a lot .
“ And my team has really helped me . They ’ re all such nice guys . I love all of them . They ’ ve sure helped me through a lot .”
Although he ’ s only 5-foot-6 , 120 pounds – he ’ s always been the smallest player on the ice – the young Foreman is a fast , quick and tremendously skilled young player . He might love his teammates , but they certainly love him back . Monarchs head coach Jamie Corbett has been a minor hockey coach for 16 years . He didn ’ t know the Monarchs Triple A Midget