St. Louis Blues' Robert Thomas and grandpop Bruce Waechter enroute to a team practise. |
The dads, plus one very happy grandfather, watched Tuesday's game between the Blues and Florida Panthers from a suite at BB&T Center, then flew on the team's charter to Tampa Bay on Wednesday. Thursday (tonight), they will cheer on the Blues from the stands at Amalie Arena as they battle the Lightning. And before each game, they are being treated to a pregame dinner with Hockey Hall of Famer Al MacInnis.Pumping his fist enthusiastically, Bruce explained "That's what I did when Robert (Thomas) called and asked me if I wanted to come on the Dad's Trip. "I'm a calm and laid back type of person all the time, OK? I'm not the rambunctious type. But the insides of me just got so excited."
"When I found out about the trip, I obviously wanted my dad to come, but he was away on business, so it was a great opportunity to invite my grandpa," Thomas said. "He's always been there supporting me through hockey and for every tournament, he's been there for me. It was pretty cool to be able to invite him for this. From the moment I told him, I could tell how excited he was."
Waechter took the first flight out of Toronto on Monday morning and was in Fort Lauderdale by 9:15 a.m. Soon after dropping his suitcase off in Thomas' room, he boarded the team bus, sat in the team's pre-scouting meeting and watched the Blues practice.
"I'll remember this as long as I live," Waechter said. "There are about 16 of us that golf in the summer time back home, but in the winter time, we go to the local pub in Southampton for lunch every Monday. Only about half of those guys know I'm down here in Florida. I can hardly wait to get back to tell them about this."
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