Lost a keeper.

O Captain! My captain! Our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:
But O heart! Heart! Heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

Walt Whitman wrote those words in 1865 and while you can hardly compare anything to the assisantation of President Lincoln, the words hit me yesterday as appropriate.

I should explain....I love defensemen. Don't get me wrong, I love a good goalie or a slick forward, but my heart belongs deep in the defense corp. So when my partner in crime told me yesterday that Jason Smith was calling it a career, that heart of mine took a hit.

Smith played 17 years in the NHL and just over a thousand games for five teams. He was drafted by the Leafs but it was after a trade to Edmonton where he made his mark. As captain of the team, he was the sort of player who ignored the pain and just played through it as much as he could. When normal people break their arm, they go have a cast put on it. Jason iced it down and taped it up. He seriously taped up a broken arm and went out to play. Teammates knew it was serious because "he missed practice."

Watching him play, you'd wonder what would go through his mind as he blocked shot after shot, took hit after hit. I saw where some writer said, "At times it seemed like there was a Terminator under all that blood and tape, an entity that felt no pain and no mercy and wouldn’t stop battling no matter what." That describes Jason to a T.

After serving as the longest running captain in Edmonton's history, he went to the Flyers where he continues his ways (and captain role) even playing with two separated clavicles. At season's end, he moved on to Ottawa where you could see time and his body were catching up with him. His ice time diminished (but you never heard him complain about it) and his recovery time was getting longer. He was getting ready for the season to start but his aches and pains just weren't getting better. His heart was willing, but his body just couldn't go on.

John Buccigross once wrote about the 'values of hockey' and he said this:

This is the value that is needed to turn heart into a commodity. Everyone who loves skating has heart, but everyone who skates isn't a hockey player. Courage carries the heart and the dreams around the rink. There are nine other skaters, boards and glass. Courage enables the player to play as if he or she is skating on Lake Michigan, to play with freedom in narrow, cluttered spaces, ignoring the obstacles and charging on. A life can only be a life if you have the courage to go for your dreams. Watching Jason Smith play defense in Edmonton is watching courage in action.

That was Jason. Never the fastest or flashiest, he was always a favorite. He was never up for an award and unless they drastically lower their standards, will never make it into the Hall, but him and players like him will always have a special place in the game and in my heart.

Thanks, Gator. From being a monster on the ice to reportedly one of the nicest men off it, you've earned your retirement and time with your family. You will be missed.