It was a scary scene in Tucson last November when Tucson Roadrunners captain Craig Cunningham collapsed on the ice prior to puck drop. Thankfully the staff in attendance rushed to his side to help him and ended up saving his life.
On Saturday night, the Tucson Roadrunners captain returned to the Tucson Arena for the first time since the incident and you can bet the team and fans were happy to see him back in the building.
Some of the players spoke about what it was like to be surprised by their captain ahead of the pre-game warm-up and how great it was to have him in attendance.
“I think it brings up a lot of emotions for everyone. Everyone here has obviously seen Craig throughout the process, but for a lot of us it was just great to see him around the rink, see him smile, hear him laugh a bit before the game, it was awesome,” Stefan Fournier told Tucson Roadrunners beat writer Alex Kinkopf.
Christian Fischer also added in on the special moment.
“We didn’t know that he was coming in, so it was pretty cool to see him in here. I think anytime we see him in here, our spirits are pretty high just to see him smile. It was nice to be able to give him a little tribute too. He’s stuck with it all of the way, it’s amazing to see this comeback that he’s came from. When he’s here, that definitely lifts our spirits and gives us a little more energy. We played for him tonight.”
You can bet he gave them an extra spark, as the Roadrunners came out flying and scored three goals in the first period and went on to defeat the Texas Stars 3-2.
(H/T Twitter/RoadrunnersAHL)
