Bay 2,003 Posted August 9, 2013 http://ftw.usatoday....o-chara-jersey/ Trista became the victim of bullying this past spring and came home sad every day for weeks. Her parents gave her several pep talks, and both Greer and his wife talked her through scenarios with bullying, how she might be able to handle it without tattling to teachers, and pumping her up to try and give school another go. Over the summer, Greer decided he wanted to do something big to pick up his daughter's spirits. He was attending an auction and golf tournament that summer to benefit Minden, a town in Ontario that was affected by severe flooding earlier this year. The tournament would have several pro hockey players in attendance. Greer found out they would be auctioning off a game jersey of Zdeno Chara, who is Trista's favorite hockey player. Greer asked some friends and family to contribute to a "'cool daddy' fund" and he put together $500 to bid for the jersey for his daughter's birthday. When the auction started, Greer excitedly started bidding. The price quickly passed $500, though. Determined, he kept bidding. When he got to $800, he figured he could find the money. When it passed that, however, he realized he couldn't make it work. His daughter wouldn't be getting the jersey. Then something unexpected happened. Matt Duchene, who is a center for the Colorado Avalanche and one of the NHL hosts of the event, pointed to Greer, who was sitting across the table from him. "Get it for her," said Duchene. "I've got you covered." Greer couldn't believe it, and kept bidding. The price went up and up, and every time Greer looked over at Duchene, he nodded at him to keep bidding. It passed $1,600, and Greer wanted to stop. But Duchene wouldn't hear it. The money was going to a good cause, after all. He looked at Greer and held up two fingers. Greer grabbed the microphone and yelled "Two thousand!" and the jersey was his. He gave it to Trista for her birthday, along with a note saying Happy Birthday from Matt Duchene. Trista now has a new favorite player in the NHL. Matt Duchene 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
housemd 338 Posted August 9, 2013 Duchene is amazing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RANGA+ 1,210 Posted August 10, 2013 Haha awesome story Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
badgers 380 Posted August 10, 2013 (edited) That's a nice story. Read the link afterwards and it always makes me a bit sad inside to hear about bullying. Especially at such a young age like this. It can really affect them for the rest of their childhood and adolescence. Edited August 10, 2013 by badgers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bay 2,003 Posted August 11, 2013 Btw just ordered a Matt Duchene jersey. Expecting big things. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CARDINAL 205 Posted August 12, 2013 Matt Duchene What a really classy guy. Someone who values helping other people over money or his own material belongings. Very impressed by his actions in this heartwarming story! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oochymp 2,393 Posted August 12, 2013 I was expecting (because I knew from the thread title that this story was going to have a happy ending) that somehow Chara found out they'd missed out on the auction and sent her an autographed jersey, as cool as that would have been, this is much more awesome for many reasons, class act Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
