Recently I wrote about the story of Jack Jablonski, the Minnesota teen who was paralyzed from the  neck down on a hockey hit that went wrong. Shortly after his injury, he was told not only that he would never walk again but that he would not have movement in his arms and legs.

Fast forward nine months and Jack is not only back at school wheeling himself around in his motorized wheelchair but is throwing a baseball without any help.

Here was the scene at the Twins-Yankees game Monday night:

» Continue reading “Another Great Sign: Jablonski Throws Out First Pitch”

Ryan Suter with Jack Jablonski at the “Bel13ve In Miracles” Gala held in Jablonski’s honor.

Here on Intermission Report, we talk about the NHL, AHL, sometimes even the KHL…basically all of the Pro leagues. Every once in a while a story appears from another level that not only captivates everyones’ attention but deserves some recognition. For the past nine months, that story has been Jack Jablonski.

For those who aren’t aware, Jablonski is a 16-year old Minnesota hockey player who was paralyzed last December on a perfectly legal hockey hit that went wrong. The outcome? A severed spine and diagnosis that he would never walk again. Jablonski’s reaction was spoken like a true hockey player – “I don’t care if I walk again, I just want to skate”.

» Continue reading “Jack Jablonski Nominated As Courage In Sports Honoree”

Photo: TeamNiemiClowe/Flickr

Every team, every game even, has a hero. Heck, every sport has a hero. In hockey, however, there’s usually more than one hero per team. Some, such as Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos, Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, Washington’s Alexander (Alex) Ovechkin and Boston’s Tim Thomas to name a few, are always near the top of newspaper headlines, appearing in All Star games and Olympic events and often times appearing at the NHL Awards Show in Las Vegas as a finalist for at least a few awards. Other players, meanwhile, quietly go about their business of trying to win games for their team without much fanfare. For this, I believe these players deserve some recognition of their own. Given that I’ve decided to start a new feature, debuting every Tuesday morning, featuring a different “unsung hero”. This week’s nod goes to the San Jose Sharks’ Joe Pavelski.

In San Jose, the names you usually hear the most are Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Dan Boyle and Logan Couture but the right winger, Pavelski, literally proved to be a rock in the Sharks lineup last season. Appearing in all 82 regular season games, Pavelski was 4th in team scoring with 61 points, tied for first in goals scored (31), third in power play scoring (eight goals) and led the Sharks with a plus-18 rating. » Continue reading “Unsung Heroes: The Premiere”