In two moves indicative of the compassionate side of a warrior minded sport, the Tampa Bay Lightning drafted a player in the seventh round, and the University of Denver honored an agreement with the same player. This despite the fact that he has little hope of ever playing competitive hockey again, let alone in the NHL.

David Carle, from Anchorage, Alaska was expected to be a second to third round pick in the recent entry draft. However, at the combine in Toronto, it was discovered that he has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition that leads to sudden cardiac arrest.
Carle just graduated from hockey super school Shattuck-Saint Mary’s in Faribault, Minnesota. This is the same high school that has produced countless NHL players, most recently none other than Sidney Crosby.

The other classy move came from the University of Denver. The school informed Carle that they would honor his four year scholarship, in full, despite the fact that he will never play a game for them.

The moves have made the rounds on the blogosphere, and are now finding their way into the main stream media. The question that then comes form those outside the hockey world, is why. Why is this news, why is this important, why would a team “waste” a draft pick on someone they know full well will never play. The answers of course go without saying to those of us who know and love the game. For those outside this universe, here's an explanation.

Imagine if the University of Michigan signed a talented recruit to be the next starting quarterback, only to have him find out he can no longer throw a football. You could bet your bottom dollar that the scholarship would be pulled, and given to whoever filled his spot.

Imagine if the Boston Celtics drafted a kid who, say, is paralyzed from the waist down. Imagine if the Yankees signed someone with one arm. Media and fans alike would think the athletic directors or general managers had lost their collective marbles. Fans of the greatest game in the world, however, know that there is a community in hockey.

For those of you reading this who will doubt the accuracy of the examples given due to the fact that a quarterback is an important position, or because football is a critical sport at the University of Michigan, keep in mind that hockey is the lifeblood at the University of Denver. Honoring this scholarship is a major sacrifice for the program. While the loss of a seventh round pick may seem insignificant, there are players out there that would kill for the chance to have the chance being any pick brings with it.

In another recent example of this spirit, fans in Minnesota reached out to bitter rivals north of the boarder. Canucks fans hate Wild fans, and vise versa. However, when defenseman Luc Bourdon was killed in a motorcycle accident, all bets were off. Letters of support were sent from Saint Paul. The news led fans to post condolences on the Canucks and Wild message boards, usually places to trash talk and taunt the opposing side.

There are examples of this same compassion in other sports, but they are few and far between. A quick internet search yields no other examples of a major university honoring a scholarship for an incoming recruit after that recruit informed them they could not hold up their end of the bargain. Again, this only could happen in hockey.

Tampa Bay and the University of Denver are to be commended for the class they have shown. The mainstream media has simply picked up on a small taste of what the rest of us already knew. In the hockey world, we are family.