The Left Wing Lock

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Seven years ago in the the foyer of my mom’s Leelanau County house I made a promise to her Portuguese Waterdog, Roger Maris. My mom was undergoing multiple complications from hip replacement surgery and did not feel as though she could care for two dogs. In many ways Roger had always been my dog — we had an instant connection. So I leaned down that evening on my way out of town and kissed his fuzzy head and told him if he could adapt to living in my third floor condo than I was willing to give it a try.

Fast forward seven years and Roger has been an integral part of my life. I often think about that scary promise I made to him all those years ago and what an honor it has been each and every day to keep it during the good days and the bad ones too. The breed standard life expectancy is 13 years so at 14, Roger is in the sunset of his years. Along with age comes a number of health issues that require significant care including a degenerative disc disease in his back, bladder stones and most recently kidney failure. In many ways we are on borrowed time or as I like to call it bonus time. He has helped me learn many important lessons in life and was probably the biggest help while I mourned the loss of my mother over two years ago. I am thankful for every minute even if caring for him these days involves multiple medications and a lot of extra time and patience. We will keep going as long as he isn’t in pain or the quality of his life is significantly impacted.

Given his fragile health, I do not feel I can leave him like I have in years past without the risk of losing what time we have left. It is with deep sadness that I announce I will not be attending the 2016 NHL Prospect Tournament or Red Wings training camp. I will still have some pre-tournament coverage and box scores linked on the site but will not be onsite to provide the usual in-depth coverage and interviews. I have been a part of each of these events since their inception spending my own personal resources to cover them first for Red Wings Central and now for the Left Wing Lock. It has been a pleasure covering both camps long before other media were involved so making this decision was not easy.  That said Roger has stood by me through some of the most difficult times in my life so this is the least I can do for a member of my family. Thank you for your continued support over the years and to the hundreds of volunteers that make both events happen, I will be wishing you a successful few weeks.  Please keep my buddy in your thoughts.