Day 15

My 100th post is, once again, in memory of a life lost in that terrible plane crash. This one was much harder to prepare for- I don't often take pictures of the bench and if I do, it's usually of a silly face or Babcock making his famous death stare. Also, although I've been told some very nice things about the man, I never had strong feelings either way for him. Brad McCrimmon was on the periphery of my mind, as he often was in my pictures. Still, he was one of us and that can't be ignored. From all accounts, he was a good man and a good teammate. Nicknamed Beast, he hoped to break into the NHL as a head coach after establishing himself as one in the KHL. I don't have many pictures of him, but here are two I found.

Rest in peace, Brad.

Day 14

In shock over the tragedy that struck the hockey world yesterday, I simply could not find it in myself to post, consider Day 13 as a pictorial moment of silence. Today belongs to Rusty. I was skeptical of him at first, but before the preseason was over, Ruslan Salei was quickly moving up to become one of my favorites of the "other guys" (people not named Nick Lidstrom or Pavel Datsyuk). Breaking a Duck's fist with his face cemented that place in my mind, I was officially a Rusty convert. Sure, he didn't score often and he only broke the fist of one player, but he was a handy fella. From every account I've read or personal testimony I've heard, Rusty was an all around good guy who loved his family and loved hockey. He was also hilarious, any interview will show you that. I may have started a campaign to post goofy pictures of him until he scored, but this blog, this hockey fan, has been behind him the whole of last season. He moved on to other things, but, unlike some players I've seen leave the roster, I genuinely wished him well and hoped he would find what he was looking for. In remembrance of Rusty, today's post contains pictures of him. You might see repeats from earlier posts (and some aren't of the best quality) since I'm using my favorite pictures.

Rest in peace, Rusty, you'll be missed.