THEY and we are honor ing a role model at the Garden tonight, honoring a superior Ranger who was and is a greater New Yorker than he was a hockey player, honoring Adam Graves for who he is as an individual, and not merely what he was on the ice.
He embodies all the qualities we wish for our children to inherit; generous, selfless and genuine. He is the friend you’d trust with your life.
They’re honoring the man every bit as much as the 1994 Stanley Cup champion in raising No. 9 to the rafters before tonight’s game against the Thrashers. They’re honoring one of the most beloved professional athletes to ever represent New York.
The goals he scored, the battles he waged, the checks he threw and the leadership he provided cannot be minimized. But Graves’ greatest impact in his 10 years as a Ranger came off the ice in the community he adopted, the charitable causes he embraced and the children he helped empower.
For Graves, it is about the children, not as a tag line, but as a way of life he lived as a child himself, when his father Henry, a cop on the beat in Toronto, and his mother Lynda, took in up to 40 kids who needed love and who needed a home. It’s about the way of life Graves lives now with his wife Violet and three children to raise.
“In many ways this is a tribute to my dad, who as many of you know is no longer with us, but is very much here,” Graves said yesterday at a Garden press event. “I was lucky, I learned from my dad and my parents that everything was about family, that you sacrifice for each other, and that you wake up every day with a smile on your face.
“For myself, now with a 13-year-old, nine-year-old and eight-year-old, there is no greater joy than seeing my kids smile. It should be no different for anyone.”
Graves will be the final member of the 1994 Stanley Cup champions to have his number retired, joining Mike Richter (35), Mark Messier (11) and Brian Leetch (2). His number will hang tonight beside theirs as well as the banners for Ed Giacomin (1) and Rod Gilbert (7). On Feb. 22, he’ll be joined in the circle of Ranger immortality by Andy Bathgate (also No. 9) and Harry Howell (3), when they are recognized by the organization.
“I feel a great weight and very humbled,” Graves said. “I can feel the weight in my chest, and it’s only grown as this night has come closer.
“It will be an opportunity for me to say thank you to everyone for allowing me to be part of New York, this jersey and this tradition. I always looked at [being a Ranger] as a privilege and I always will. This is beyond anything I could ever have imagined.”
We celebrate our athletes primarily because of the home runs they hit, the touchdowns they score, the plays they make and the championships they win for the home team. Their impact is both confined and fleeting.
But we celebrate Graves for the man that he is, the lives he has enhanced, the enduring impact he has carved in New York.
And the smiles he has put on the faces of our children.