Herder Program Winning Number KENN OLIVER
The Telegram
The winning number is 89 and the winner is Thomas Byrne... Congrats!
Hustling for Mike KENN OLIVER
The Telegram
It would have been easy to feel sorry for Michael Dinn. A respected hockey official, and father of 11-month-old Joel, Dinn had seen his life turned upside down in recent months as cancer ravaged his body.
But Dinn would have had none of your pity. That's just the way he was.
On Friday morning at 6:30 a.m., Dinn finally succumbed to the disease. He was 35.
Days before his death, friends and colleagues were eager to talk about Dinn and sing his praises.
"When we're not sure how to react, we turn to Michael and he puts us in a better mood," said Sean Tobin, Dinn's friend of nearly 20 years and a fellow hockey referee.
"It shouldn't be that way, but it is."
Dinn was always the type of person to put other people at ease, Tobin said. "I think that's why he's so liked and well-respected."
In September 2008, Dinn was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer. Expecting his first child with wife Mandy, he underwent surgery to remove part of his colon.
Following several more surgeries and a series of aggressive chemotherapy treatments over the months that followed, Dinn was set to return to the ice in November to referee his first game since Game 6 of the Telegram Herder Memorial Championship Series in 2008.
He didn't make it to the rink that night and when Tobin called to see why, Mandy explained the latest news. The cancer had spread to Michael's brain.
Tumours.
"Since we had made a big deal about people coming out to his comeback game," said Tobin, "his first response when we got back on the phone was, 'I hope I didn't disappoint anyone by not showing up last night.'
"That's Mike, never thinking about himself, always thinking about someone else."
Don Kelly, Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador's referee-in-chief, visited Dinn in hospital in recent months and said, "even though he was being challenged, you knew right away his spirit was still there.
"I don't know of any other person in this world who has the same spirit, positive attitude, same outlook on life and the future as Mike in the condition he's in," Kelly said before Dinn's death. "When you go in there, you're trying to uplift him, but you come away feeling that way, saying to yourself, 'I must have drained his battery because I got all the energy out of this.'"
That was Dinn in the hockey world, as well.
One of just a handful of Level VI-certified Hockey Canada officials to come out of the province, Dinn helped build a successful officials program in the Goulds, training dozens of officials during his nearly 20 years of service.
Even as he moved up the ranks and started working higher levels, the Petty Harbour native was never far from his roots.
Along the way he earned a reputation for being quiet, yet well-spoken.
"He didn't have to say a lot to get a strong message across," Kelly said.
"It's a very down-to-earth, easy going approach everyone can respect," Tobin added.
"Even in his battle with cancer, he's taken that approach."
No pity
It would have been easy to offer Michael Dinn your pity.
But no one in the hockey fraternity was giving it.
Rather, they followed his lead, rallying by his side as he championed the Hustle for a Cure campaign across the province.
The Hustle initiative was founded by Angelo D'Amico, whose father John, a longtime NHL linesman, lost his own battle with acute leukemia in 2005. In conjunction with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada, the charity was born.
Funds raised go towards research, as well as support programs and resources for patients and families.
"When he brought up the Hustle, and said he was interested in doing this, everyone was on board," said Tobin, one of several close friends he asked to help carry the movement as his own condition worsened.
"This is important for us because there's nothing we can do about the cancer. All we can do at this point is let him know we love and support him, that the kind of things he recognized as important are just as important to us."
Team Michael Dinn set a goal of $2,000 to start for the Hustle campaign.
It's been met, but the fundraising continues.
"It's something we want to continue on for him," Tobin said.
The relationship between referee and player, in the sport of hockey in particular, is viewed as dubious, and Kelly can attest to Dinn being in some precarious situations over the years.
"A few short years ago, we went out to central. I think we needed three RCMP officers to escort him out.
"But that was on the ice."
Tobin and Kelly agreed that support - not only for Hustle, but for Dinn and his young family - has been a testament to his reputation and the respect he garnered fostering the development of the game he loved.
In addition to a massive outpouring from his brethren within the Goulds and Metro Referee Associations and the communities of Petty Harbour and the Goulds, contributions have come from teams from all levels, HNL and Hockey Canada, and even from the NHL, through Dinn's friends from his days as a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League official.
"It's all a reflection on him, on how he touches people," Kelly insisted. "No matter who meets him, it is but to like him or love him."
No amount of money could have cured Dinn's cancer.
In recent weeks, the cancer had worked its way to his lungs, leaving doctors with no recourse but to send him home on oxygen.
Thursday morning, he was moved to palliative care. There's no time for pity now. Instead, there are only memories left to cherish and a life worth celebrating.
koliver@thetelegram.com
The Herder Memorial Championship
Brought To You By The Telegram
Returns to Mile One Centre
(St. John’s) The Herder Memorial Championship brought to you by The Telegram returns to Mile One Centre for
Game 3 on Friday, April 2nd at 7:30pm, and Game 4 on Saturday, April 3rd at 7:30pm. Game 5 will be played on
Sunday, April 4th at Mile One if necessary.
Teams to be announced.
Tickets to Games 3, 4 and 5 go on sale Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at 12noon. Please note: Tickets for game 5
will not be available online.
Tickets are $14.00, plus surcharge for adults and $6.00 plus surcharge for children 12 and under.
Tickets can be purchased at the Mile One Centre Box Office; by phoning (709) 576-7657, (toll free) at
1 800 361-4595 or online at www.mileonecentre.com
Media Contact: Michelle Eagles, Mile One Centre, 758-5484 or meagles@mileonecentre.com
Dave Brazil, Bud Light Avalon East Senior Hockey League, 727-1068 or davidbrazil@gov.nl.ca
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