It was not necessarily a joyous occasion, but it was a special one for the Aberdeen Knights.
The Knights, who are in their first year of existence, retired the jersey of Lake Lenore native Craig Hartl at a ceremony prior to their Feb. 2 contest.
Hartl was in his first season with the Knights, before passing away suddenly on Jan. 28.
“We all kind of huddled together and talked about how good Craig was… it was pretty sad. We mourned all together,” admitted teammate Anthony Hamoline.
The ceremony to retire Hartl’s jersey was bourne as a way to remember a guy who would do anything for the team, noted Hamoline.
“He was amazing to everyone on the team, there wasn’t just a select few he was good to. It was just everyone. And being from Lake Lenore not Aberdeen he just wanted to help out and see our brand new team… he just wanted to see it take off.”
While Hamoline serves as player and part of the management team for the organization, he notes it was often Hartl who would remind him of various things that either they needed to do or could do.
“He wanted to help out as much as possible so we felt it would be good to retire that jersey and give him the utmost respect that he gave to everyone else.”
That drive to help others was evident from the first time Hamoline met Hartl, he says.
“(I) didn’t know him for a long time and he introduced himself right when he came on to the team to help me out with fundraising… he was right there. I didn’t know his name. He was just saying we should get involved in schools and help everyone out. He just wanted to help all the time.”
That drive to help others is something Hamoline hopes people remember most about Hartl.
“A selfless person big time. He had a huge heart,” he said.
“He definitely touched everyone on the hockey team, their heart pretty good. Even if you met him a couple of times he still made that impact.”
While Hamoline was glad the team was able to remember Hartl, he says he wishes they could have done more.
“I feel like it almost wasn’t enough, to be honest, because that guy would have done anything.”
