Maurice Boscorelli
Senior Member
- Joined
- May 30, 2010
- Messages
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Hamilton Spectator By
He was watching the OHL draft on the computer with his brother and had turned to him to talk. So he didn't see his name pop up.
But when he did?
"I jumped up," Ben Fox says.
The fact that the Niagara IceDogs selected the 16-year-old from Fonthill with the final pick overall was a wonderful, classy move. The fact that Fox could physically respond as he did is a miracle of sorts.
In August, Fox was finishing a practice with the Southern Tier Admirals when he collapsed. Doctors later discovered he'd suffered a devastating stroke. Recovery has been tough, but he's improving rapidly. So quickly, in fact, that on Thursday he got his G1 driver's licence.
During the IceDogs' playoff game the next night, someone on staff suggested to owner Bill Burke that they might want to use their final pick on Fox. Burke loved the idea, cleared it with OHL commissioner David Branch, then gave the go-ahead.
When Ben's mom, Jodi, found out on Saturday afternoon, she was deeply moved. Had he not suffered the stroke, he almost certainly would've been drafted on Saturday. This was a nod to that and a motivating moment for him.
"I can't believe the OHL did such an incredible thing for him," she says. "It's so classy."
Burke says Ben will be invited to the rink soon to be honoured as a draft pick, just like all the others.
"He's part of our team now."
https://www.thespec.com/sports-story/5553326-niagara-icedogs-draft-stroke-victim-in-classy-move/
Kudos to the Niagara IceDogs and OHL commissioner David Branch.
This is why the OHL is the best junior league in the world.
He was watching the OHL draft on the computer with his brother and had turned to him to talk. So he didn't see his name pop up.
But when he did?
"I jumped up," Ben Fox says.
The fact that the Niagara IceDogs selected the 16-year-old from Fonthill with the final pick overall was a wonderful, classy move. The fact that Fox could physically respond as he did is a miracle of sorts.
In August, Fox was finishing a practice with the Southern Tier Admirals when he collapsed. Doctors later discovered he'd suffered a devastating stroke. Recovery has been tough, but he's improving rapidly. So quickly, in fact, that on Thursday he got his G1 driver's licence.
During the IceDogs' playoff game the next night, someone on staff suggested to owner Bill Burke that they might want to use their final pick on Fox. Burke loved the idea, cleared it with OHL commissioner David Branch, then gave the go-ahead.
When Ben's mom, Jodi, found out on Saturday afternoon, she was deeply moved. Had he not suffered the stroke, he almost certainly would've been drafted on Saturday. This was a nod to that and a motivating moment for him.
"I can't believe the OHL did such an incredible thing for him," she says. "It's so classy."
Burke says Ben will be invited to the rink soon to be honoured as a draft pick, just like all the others.
"He's part of our team now."
https://www.thespec.com/sports-story/5553326-niagara-icedogs-draft-stroke-victim-in-classy-move/
Kudos to the Niagara IceDogs and OHL commissioner David Branch.
This is why the OHL is the best junior league in the world.
