NHLers in Israel

Okay, while it is against my general nature, I have something nice to say. No, I am not going to make this a habit so don't get too comfortable with my short-term generosity of spirit. It is strictly temporary.

Do you know who Jeff Beukaboom is? What about Steve Thomas?

I didn't either until three days ago. That's when I met them both.

As it turns out, Beukaboom is a retired defenseman from the Edmonton Oilers, and later the New York Rangers. And Thomas is a retired Maple Leaf, Blackhawk, Islander, Devil, Mighty Duck and Red Wing right winger. Who knew? Oh, I am sure some of you did know, but I definitely did not.

Actually, I think I remember the name Steve Thomas from my days and his days in Toronto. Our days never crossed paths but as an ever-hopeful Toronto Maple Leafs fan I listened to the sports reports daily on the radio. I guess I picked up his name there.

Beukaboom is one of the biggest people I have ever met. I spent most of the time he was speaking to the young hockey players he voluntarily escorted to Israel, wondering how big his wife is. I know he has one because he was wearing a wedding ring. Thomas, on the other hand, is more of a normal-sized person and that seems to have been a gene he passed on to his beautiful teenage daughter who was with him in Israel. So was his mom. You gotta like a guy who travels with his mom. Of course, if I was traveling with a daughter who looked like that I would bring my mom along too. Particularly if she had a black belt in karate.

I bet they aren't Wilt Chamberlain types (oh I can just hear the quiet cries of "you are so bloody naive" from my jaded readers), but even if they were, they weren't about to mention it to the kids to whom they were giving a pep talk. Instead they talked about all the good messages that successful adults are supposed to give to kids: work hard; never give up; hard work takes you further than talent and luck; Eat properly; Gets lots of sleep.

Truthfully, it was a parent's dream listening to them.

Also, the most important message they gave was the only one they didn't come out and say, but it was loud and clear to me. These two non-Jewish professional athletes with no previous interest or involvement in Israel, volunteered to coach the two Canadian Jewish junior hockey teams that are in Israel for the International Jewish Hockey Tournament. And even though they got free plane tickets to come here, what they did was a big thing. At least in my books.