When Peter got his contract with the NHL and was about to move to Canada, his dad told him in no uncertain terms not to think he was “anything special.” It’s possible that the old man meant it more gently than it came out, that he intended to say that humility and hard work would take the boy just as far over there as they had here. It’s possible that drink made his words sharper. It’s possible that Peter didn’t mean to slam the door quite as hard as he did. It doesn’t matter now. A young man left Beartown in silence and when he came home again it was too late for words. You can’t look a
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