Copyright NHL.com
TORONTO -- Kirk Combden is a native of Portugal Cove-St. Phillip's, a small village a short way from St. John's, the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador. Eager to partake in this week's festivities leading up to the Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony, the 29-year-old set out on a journey towards Toronto. In optimal conditions, a flight from St. John's to Toronto takes a little less than four hours to complete. However, optimal conditions in Canada's maritime provinces are a rare occurrence indeed, given the constantly changing weather patterns at the far eastern reaches of the country. Combden was once again made aware of that fact this week, yet nothing was going to keep him from reaching his destination. Nothing in the world was going to stop him from attending the Hall of Fame question-and-answer session featuring his childhood hero, Joe Thornton . "On Thursday, the night before my trip, it was snowing and the temperature was awful," recounted Combden on Sunday. "I drove over to my parents' place because they live closer to the airport, but the weather changed so quickly, I ended up driving my car into a ditch. It wasn't anything too bad, just a minor accident. But I had to deal with a messed-up car just as I was about to leave. Fortunately, I'm here now in Toronto. "At first, I was supposed to land in Toronto on Friday morning, but I eventually made it Friday night. At St. John's airport on Friday morning, we had an initial seven-hour delay with our flight, then we had to wait three more hours. We managed to leave for Ottawa. Once we got to Ottawa, there was another delay. I had to wait a real long time, but I ended up making it into Toronto at around 10:45 Friday night. We were supposed to get here at 10:30 in the morning." The multiple delays did nothing to dampen his spirits. On this Sunday afternoon, Combden was among the first people to show up to the Hall of Fame in order to grab a seat for the traditional Q&A fan forum featuring five of the six players from this year's Hall of Fame class: Thornton, Duncan Keith, Zdeno Chara, Jennifer Botterill, and Brianna Decker. Of the five legends, Combden cared most about meeting Thornton. The Newfoundlander asked the second question overall to "Jumbo Joe" during this hour-long session, after giving a quick synopsis of his travel misadventures from two days before. Combden had not even finished speaking before Thornton stood up out of his seat, walked over to Combden and gave him a bear hug. When he returned to the stage in the middle of the Great Hall, the former Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks legend gestured towards Combden to indicate that he would come back over there at the end of the session to give him an autograph. After the event, Thornton held true to his word in autographing two jerseys for Combden – a Bruins jersey, complete with Thornton's name and number 19 on the back, as well as a jersey from the 2009 NHL All-Star Game in Montreal, including Thornton's name and the number 97, which he would later wear as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. "I thought his reaction was so nice," remarked Combden. "I've always loved his personality. He's got a very human side. I wasn't surprised to get a hug from him. I've been a Bruins fan since I was four, and Joe was the captain of the team before he left for the Sharks. "When the Bruins traded him (Nov. 30th, 2005), I was nine. I learned about the trade when I woke up the next morning. My heart was broken, I still remember it. Several years later, Joe came close to winning the Stanley Cup in 2016 with the Sharks, but they lost to the (Pittsburgh) Penguins. That was another sad moment for me. But Joe had such a great career, and I'm so happy to see him get into the Hall of Fame. I didn't want to miss this."
