Dogwood Honored at the University of Georgia

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This week, Dogwood Maple was honored by the University of Georgia as they retired his jersey and raised it to the rafters.

 

"I'm a Georgia Bulldog, through and through, and this honor is one of the highlights of my entire life.  I grew up an enormous Georgia fan and spent many, many days in Athens with my family growing up.  I formed some of my core memories there and it's a place I'll always consider my second home.  To have my jersey retired there is just incredible. I cannot put into words what this means to me and my family," Maple said.

 

In addition to the jersey ceremony, there was one more surprise waiting for Dogwood. When he arrived at the arena for the actual ceremony, there was a new name adorning the hockey complex.

 

THE DOGWOOD MAPLE ARENA

 

"I was absolutely shocked.  When I walked up and saw that the name was covered up with a white banner, I just figured they were doing renovations or something.  I was astounded when they dropped it and my name appeared.  I spent so many hours there in college training, working, and honing my craft, which makes this honor that much more special.  The blood, sweat, and tears shed there made me the hockey player I am today and I'm so thankful for all of that," Maple explained.

But the fun didn't stop there!  After the ceremonies wrapped up and the awards banquet ended, Maple was getting ready to head back to the hotel when he was stopped by one of the organizers.

 

"I had an early flight the next morning, so I wanted to get plenty of rest.  Thanks to my sponsorship with Delta, I get to fly first class so I knew it would be an enjoyable flight.  But then someone came up to me and told me that my flight had been cancelled, which was a huge bummer.  Their face lit up, so I knew it wasn't bad news though.  That's when they told me that @Frank was sending his personal private jet to haul me back to Vancouver!  I recently had a bad experience with helicopters and Frank, but I had full faith that he would come through.  Not to mention that they even had my favorite coffee, my preferred pizza, and 19 flavors of ice cream all on board!  What an incredible gesture from a great GM!" 

 

Indeed, the flight went off without a hitch and they were wheels down in Vancouver after just a few hours.  The only hiccup had nothing to do with the plane or the flight, but rather Dogwood's meeting with the training and nutritional staff after his return.

 

"So I went to meet with our training and nutritional staff, which is something I do every week, and they were not pleased.  Apparently they found out that I ate four pizzas and had six ice cream sundaes on the flight back from Athens.  I don't know who snitched on me, but I guess it's not that big of a deal after all.  I knew I'd have to get in great shape for the coming season anyways, but that didn't stop the staff from being mad.  Can't a guy enjoy a little ice cream?