Regardless of what Eagles Head Coach Blaine Neufeld might want for Christmas this year, his gift truly came early.
Not for new skates or a new goalie stick or even extra wins for his Surrey Eagles team, it was for a recovery for former team-mate Craig Cunningham.
Neufeld knows Craig as a friend, and became close to him during their playing days with the Vancouver Giants in the 2006-07 season.
For many hockey fans that were fortunate to watch Craig Cunningham play junior hockey, it was when his BCHL Trail Smoke Eaters came to play against a lower mainland team in the 2005-06 season.
As a youngster growing up in Trail, BC, his love of hockey showed from the start and his dream was to one time play in the NHL as other NHL players from Trail have done. The other players include the likes of Ray Ferraro (1258 games), Shawn Horcoff (1008 games), Dallas Drake (1009 games), Barret Jackman (876 games) and of course former Vancouver Canuck goalie Cesar Maniago who played 568 games and managed to record 4 assists in his career.
Following his time with the Smoke Eaters he moved on to play with the Vancouver Giants under Head Coach Don Hay who helped him focus his career direction. Other players on the Giants in his first season were Milan Lucic, Cody Franson, Lance Bouma and current Eagles Head Coach Blaine Neufeld.
The Tucson Roadrunner captain fell to the ice November 19th prior to the start of a game with what was described as acute cardiac arrest.
The following day’s he was kept on life-support system with a team of medical experts working around the clock to keep him alive.
He did a phone interview last Tuesday with TSN’s Bob McKenzie and told him:
“I do feel lucky to be alive it’s taken me a while to realize what I’ve been through. They explained to me what happened; the doctors showed me video of when I went down on the ice. I didn’t know (it was that bad). Now I realize why I’m in such rough shape.”
Cunningham continued, “I do feel lucky. I know that. But at night, I think about it, and it bugs me I can’t play (hockey) again. Hockey is the only thing I’ve ever known. Since I was four years old, the only thing I’ve ever wanted to be was a hockey player. Now I have to move on, focus on something else.”
When Craig was playing with the Giants we managed to get an interview with him and he mentioned that his Father was killed in an automobile accident in Trail leaving his Mother (Heather) to raise three young children between the ages of four and seven.
He mentioned that as a single Mom she had to hold down several jobs to make ends meet for the family and he is truly grateful for what she did for the family. The hockey world is grateful that Craig is on the road to recovery, but he knows his hockey career as a player is over and for anyone involved in the game, it’s a tough pill to swallow. The Surrey Eagles and myself wish Craig and his family all the best on his road to recovery!
