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During a recent television time-to during an Edmonton Oilers home game, Cory Blashill, perhaps, thought it was a good time to pose such a deep personal question.
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“So, will you be my playoff buddy?” he asked.
The question didn’t surprise me. We’ve enjoyed — or, at least, I have — a commitment all hockey season in the Rogers Place press box: Cory in seat 27, with seats 26 and 24 assigned to me.
I accepted his offer with one caveat: my eldest grandson Nicholas and I agreed on a lifetime commitment, in 2017, right before puck drop of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs when the Oilers hosted the San Jose Sharks in their 13-game post-season prance.
We agreed that, as long both parties could, we’d attend every Oilers home playoff game. Together.
The Oilers have always issued two press passes to me for an assistant, since I live with cerebral palsy.
I ran Cory’s request by Nick.
Game on.
The unique thing is you may not have seen Cory, but if you’re an Edmonton Oilers fan, he makes it his business — and, he’s very good at it — that you see as many thing as you can.
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Corey’s a cameraman with Sportsnet.
Although he doesn’t travel with the team anymore, he’s a mainstay around Rogers Place, and records the prince of puns. — that would be Sportsnet’s Gene Principe.
He leaves the press box with 10 minutes left in the third period to go downstairs to get his gear — gear being the operative word, I have learned — ready to go into the Oilers dressing room.
In media scrums Cory, while operating his camera, often takes my cellphone — I use that to record interviews — and holds it in front of the player being interviewed so I will have the audio.
In 2009, a family member was getting married, and days before the wedding, the couple didn’t have anyone to record the event on video.
I shared this with Cory one morning at Oilers practice.
“I’ll do it,” he quietly said — and what a great job he did.
Three weeks ago I lost my cellphone. It was found in the middle of Argyll Road the morning after I lost it.
Cory called my number to see if I was going to the Oilers game that afternoon.
The person who found the phone answered. Corey picked up the phone and took it to the Apple Store, had it repaired and then brought it to me at my home.
He’s an incredibly kind, kind man.
The Oilers and the Rogers Place staff surprised me a month ago by cutting a piece of the ledge in the press box so I could get my wheelchair situated to see the game on ice, rather than watching it on a television screen.
Cory was just as excited as I was.
I’m getting ready for Monday night for Game 1 against the Kings and am so lucky to be sitting in the middle of two guys I think the world of.
We should get to know each other very well.
I have a hunch Cory, Nick and I could be together a great deal this spring.
camtait58@gmail.com
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