Scatter shooting on grief, the past, humanity, and re-connecting with Sheldon Dries

No idea if this is going to make sense, but I hope this comes off as very human.

Happy Friday, taking a bit of a scattershot approach this morning because that’s where my mind is at.

For starters, and one of the reasons I’ve been in a tough space this week, I have to start with a somber note.

I lost a good friend a week ago, his name was Doug Chmiel and he was an awesome dad to his three kids. We got to know each other through watching both of our kids learn to ice skate. We would often be at the rink at the same time for kids figure skating or hockey things, and we would chat about life, our kids, and whether the Detroit Red Wings would ever make the playoffs again.

Just a couple days before he passed we were at the rink watching both of our kids skate and we were talking about how his son, who is starting to play goalie, recently had a shutout for his 8-and-under team. He was so proud of his kids, and he was the type of dad I hope to be.

I guess I’m sharing this because it’s how I grieve, I went to the wake yesterday, and just hearing people share stories about Doug and what he meant to others, it doesn’t bring him back, but it allows his memory to be more of a blessing, it allows you to smile about the good times when it’s most difficult.

(If you want to support Doug’s family, there’s been a GoFundMe setup for donations.)

The hockey and skating community I’m part of through my kids will never be the same, and I made sure to hug my kids a little closer last night while putting them to bed.

There’s no good segue from that topic, and I apologize for opening a bit more somber, but one of the things I’ve heard from readers in this space is that you appreciate my humanity, and that’s been a big part of my humanity this week.

Anywhom, I wanted to drop a video in here from my appearance this week on the StrongSide podcast that D Magazine puts together with my D Magazine editor Mike Piellucci.

The interview with me starts at around the 46-minute mark and it’s a fun dive into the state of many things Dallas Stars related.

And if you must know about the picture that’s in the screen grab, Mike somehow went and found the video from when I was in college and tried to walk-on to the Bowling Green State University hockey team.

Like any of us showing videos or work from our past, I should be incredibly embarrassed of this, but here’s a 2008-version of Sean.

Just to pile onto myself, here’s another video from college where we went and learned how to kick field goals.

The internet is a wild place, and there are so many times, particularly in writing, that I look back at something and wonder how the hell anyone let that kid publish or put anything out into the world.

But here we are and that’s cool, and I’ve kind of grown and realized that I should celebrate clunky past a bit more, it’s how I’ve learned and become the person, albeit still flawed, today.

Speaking of some upcoming projects, I’m very happy to inform you that Expected by Whom? returns this week.

I’ll make sure to put more about the episode when it drops and I’ll make a dedicated post to it here, so stay tuned and I’m hoping you’ll enjoy the project as we ramp up.

I’m also working on another semi-video related project in the background that may or may not surface in early April, as that gets closer and some details become available I’ll make sure to share them here. Again, I think it’s something readers of this site will enjoy.

To end this all up, I wanted to go down a bit of a wormhole that I went down yesterday after Red Wings morning skate with Sheldon Dries.

I’ve known Dries since the 2017-18 season when signed with the Texas Stars on an AHL deal after finishing up a collegiate career at Western Michigan.

Dries was part of a Texas Stars team that reached the Calder Cup Final that season and he parlayed that into multiple NHL offers, ultimately deciding to sign with the Colorado Avalanche that summer because of their center depth and what it meant for his potential NHL call-ups.

He’s since spent eight seasons, most of them in the AHL, but has amassed a collection of more 126 NHL games for the Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks, and now Detroit Red Wings. He’s also been a key leader for a Grand Rapids Griffins team that’s doing historical things this season in the AHL.

Dries and I chatted yesterday about his career journey and the perspective it’s given him, how throughout all of this he’s never taken any of these opportunities for granted, especially the fact that after a decade he’s still playing professional hockey and doing so for an organization that allows him to live close to his extended family in Michigan.

I really like this line of thinking from Dries, who for many people outside AHL fandom, probably have no idea who he is.

“You get to come to the rink for work, you get to play a game and you never take the NHL for granted, ever,” Dries said. “You kind of know who you are, I know who I am to an organization, and it’s why you have to look at opportunities and embrace them when and if they ever come, because I think once you realize your someone that is only going to be defined by their work, when you don’t have a draft pick next to your name, you don’t ever let anyone outwork you.”

Anywhom, I hope all of this makes sense today, and again, I appreciate the humanity readers both accept and allow at this site, because it really allows me to write to my fullest.

Have a happy Friday we should have more things published this weekend.