By Fred M. Isbell
It has been a while since my last BLOG involving hockey. The tragic passing of a youth hockey player in Grand Rapids MN Marshall “Turbo” Bader though very sad made me think about the amazing hockey community. Like the line from the classic movie “Miracle” - a hockey team and the community around it is truly a family.
I never met Marshall. As a long-time youth hockey coach in Massachusetts I know he would have been a great player and awesome teammate on my hockey teams, and I would have enjoyed coaching him. His passion for the game was undeniable and his work ethic monumental. Having grown up in Philadelphia, and despite a third of a century living in Boston, I am still a huge Flyers fan. The image of Marshall in his orange Grand Rapids Youth Hockey jersey is awesome - he reminds me of a young Brian Propp, my good friend and Flyer legend and ambassador, and the 1980’s era Flyers jersey is spot-on.
Like the tragedy that impacted the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team, people have honored Marshall by putting their hockey sticks out at night, on their porch with the lights on. The daughter of Herb Brooks, the legendary coach of the 1980 “Miracle Team”, posted a special tribute to Marshall on Facebook and included her late dad’s Olympic Gold Medal with the hockey stick outside the door. The scene was repeated hundreds of times around the world, and a special tribute hockey game and fundraiser for Marshall’s family was standing room only. The logo for these events was “later Bader” with Marshalls GRHA #5 prominently featured and worn by many teams around the hockey community.
I too put my hockey stick out for Marshall. My post was seen by many on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and shared across the hockey community. I also posted it on the Grand Rapids Amateur Hockey Association Facebook page and received an amazing reaction and feedback from local folks including a thank you from Marshall’s dad. This made me think - while the NHL has run a “hockey is for everyone” campaign, which is awesome, it is also “hockey is everywhere” and transcends nationality, politics, geographic bounds and much more. It truly is a family that takes care of its own and is there in both the good times and the bad times for each other.
I won’t get into a debate of the existence of heaven. I do believe there is one heck of a pickup hockey game in Heaven and have the image of Marshall skating on a line with another one of my former youth hockey players Mike Hazel who also left us “way too soon” - centered by the great Gordie Howe. He played with his two sons Mark and Marty (one of my great pleasures seeing them all together for the Hartford Whalers, the city where I was born) and Mr. Hockey and these boys are having a blast! In fact, the late Pelle Lindberg, a Flyers goalie who won the Vezina Trophy in the era of Marshall’s vintage hockey jersey, and who also left us at a young age, was the goalie the boys scored on. Pelle lifted up his vintage goalie mask, took a sip of water, winked at Marshall and quietly said “later Bader”. And the boys and girls played on, eternally youthful with endless energy fueled by their passion for hockey.
Later Bader and thanks for your impact on the world. Please save me a spot on the bench for when my number comes up (#27) down the road.
Fred M Isbell is a former Senior Marketing Director at SAP and a long-time high technology marketing veteran and an independent marketing consultant and analyst