Maple Runs Across the Country

[dogwoodmaple 359]

After being eliminated from the VHL postseason, Vancouver Wolves forward Dogwood Maple was unsure of how to spend the rest of his time this offseason.

 

"Obviously my first reaction was just being downright mad. We made such a fantastic comeback not just in the regular season, but in this series as well.  When it was 0-2, I know a lot of people gave us up for dead, but not anyone in this locker room.  We knew what kind of squad we had and that we were just too good to be swept.  So it wasn't a surprise at all to us that we were able to square the series up at 2-2.  Social media and the networks were going crazy, but we weren't the least bit in awe or shocked.  But we also knew that deciding games would always be coin flips so all we could do was give it our best shot.  When we came up short, it was devastating and we all definitely needed time to heal from that.  After a few days, I finally decided how I'd spend the rest of the postseason," Maple explained.

 

Dogwood wouldn't be going on vacation or relaxing by a pool somewhere.  He'd be running.

 

"People were surprised at first, which I totally understand.  I told them I wanted to run all the way from Vancouver to my hometown of Atlanta, Georgia to take my mind off of hockey.  I'd poured so much of myself into the sport this season that I just had to take a break," Maple said.

 

Many of his teammates thought he was out of his mind and his coaching staff tried to put a stop to it.  They were worried that he would be injured or just run himself out of shape for the coming season.  They even resorted to calling him Forrest Gump, who famously went for a run one day and didn't stop for months.

 

"I laughed when I first heard the Forrest Gump jokes. It's a great movie and I'm a huge Tom Hanks fan.  But this was all about me just trying to clear my mind.  I couldn't have just sat around my house or the team facility and watch the rest of the playoffs on television. It would've been too painful for me, so I have to do everything in my power to do literally anything to take my mind off it."

 

Maple's journey took him all the way down the California coast, across Arizona and New Mexico, into Texas and finally into the American South.  When Maple finally crossed the state line to bring himself into Georgia, there was a huge parade waiting for him by people who had been following his run for months.

 

"It really was awesome to get that kind of support in my home state.  To know that there were people out there who were supporting me from across the country was just incredible.  I honestly don't think I could've finished the run without all of those folks."

 

When Maple finally made it to Atlanta, there was an enormous crowd waiting for him at City Hall which quickly turned into a massive block party.  And fortunately for Maple, Delta Air Lines was one of the companies represented in that celebration and they graciously offered to fly him back to Vancouver, first class.

 

"I'm glad they offered," Maple said, "I couldn't have run all the way back."

 

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