RIP Don

I met Don Thomson in 1993. He was the marketing/sales rep for Karhu USA (Canadien, JOFA, KOHO), specifically promoting and selling their new line of roller hockey products. This included KOHO Ultimate player sticks and the JOFA ISD roller hockey puck. I managed a skating rink in Orange, California and toward the end of my tenure there, ran the roller hockey program.

Don came to visit one day and talk to me about the product. We not only talked product, but talked quite a bit about the business. Don was the reason I wanted to become a sales rep in the hockey business, which I finally did do from 1996-2008.

At 20 years (1993-2013), Don was the longest friendship I had in the hockey industry, and despite being a jokester, he was a great and professional guy.

In September 2004, I resigned from TPS Hockey. A few days after my resignation, Don called to tell me that TPS had phoned him to fill my position and asked if it was OK with me if he take it. He didn't have to call or ask, as we all have to do what's right for our families in order to put food on the table, however, it was nice touch that he did call.

So many memories over the past 20 years and you just had to love the guy! He wasn't afraid to tell you how he felt or what he thought of a particular person, and him calling you a "douchebag" was that term of endearment that you were in his inner circle.

We'd gotten together many times for dinner, beers, stayed at each other's houses while we were on the road. It was nice to just hang out, watch TV, talk shit, drink beers, grab a bite, and laugh.

Over the past two years we hadn't kept in touch as much as we probably would've liked, however, it was nice to speak to him this past Friday. I could tell he was in a good place and despite his promise to me that he'd phone me back, he didn't.

I take solace in that Don finally got back to being in a good place with his life, and despite the ugly way that he passed and the fact that his passing is a tough pill to swallow, he is in a better place showing everyone how to party and throw back beers.

I'll forever miss my friend, but he has left me with a lifetime of laughs and memories.