This is an extremely difficult message for me to write.  Frankly, I had
no idea I would feel so affected by what has happened.  As I'm sure many
of you know Erik Drygas, University of Alaska Fairbanks sophomore
defenseman, was seriously injured last Monday when he fell into the
boards during a drill in practice and severely fractured the fifth
cervical vertebra in his neck.  Right now Erik is in the Fairbanks
Memorial Hospital Intensive Care Unit recovering from surgery on
Wednesday to help repair some of the damage by making a bone graft from
his hip.  He is breathing on his own and talking, but has only limited
feeling in his upper body at the present time.  Fortunately, his spinal
cord was reported intact but seriously bruised.  However, there is no
way to tell now what the extent of his recovery may be.
 
Even here in Fairbanks we were affected by the injury to Travis Roy
early last season and rallied to help him.  No one is going to forget
him and we're still pulling for him as he rehabilitates from his own
injury.  With Erik's injury though we have learned first hand just how
it affects everyone who has seen him play hockey and watched him through
the years.  I think about him a lot and it hurts.  It could be any of us
or one of our children.  It's especially difficult because Erik is from
Fairbanks and grew up here.  In the early days of the university's
hockey program here, when very few people paid much attention, Erik was
a Nanook stick boy.  As he grew up, he learned to play hockey here and
played at all the levels of youth hockey.  He went to high school in
Fairbanks and played hockey there too.  After Erik left home to play
junior hockey in Iowa and Colorado, he came back home to play for the
Nanooks.  He could have gone somewhere else but here he was almost
exactly a year ago scoring his first and so far only collegiate goal in
his very first game as a Nanook against Anchorage.
 
Now the young man in #21 is not on the ice and we miss him and many of
us think about him at least a little almost all the time.  Yes, we will
miss his play on the ice and it's going to be difficult season without
him, but it goes way, way beyond that for the players and everyone in
the community.  We lost a heartbreaker last night to Anchorage, but even
if we'd won Erik is still in the hospital.  That's not going to be easy
to forget.  His father, Mark, said earlier in the week that they have
never been prouder of their son than they are right now.  We are all
proud of him.
 
Last night the Nanook hockey team made it clear that he is and will
remain a member of the team.  As his jersey hung from the goal crossbar,
he was introduced first as an honorary member of the starting lineup to
a very emotional and roaring standing ovation from a capacity crowd at
the Carlson Center.  His jersey was taken to the bench by the team where
it will be placed much like Travis Roy's was until he comes back and can
wear it himself.  We will be waiting for that day.  No matter what
happens during his recovery, I have a feeling Erik has a great deal he
can still bring to this town even if he never takes the ice again.  We
hope to see him back soon, we hope to see him up walking a year from
now, and we will not forget about him.
 
A number of people have asked me where cards for Erik can be sent.
Please send them to the following address and we will see to it that his
family, friends, or teammates deliver the cards to Erik:
 
Erik Drygas
c/o UAF Face Off Club
P.O. Box 81043
Fairbanks, AK 99708
 
I want to thank everyone who has e-mailed me messages of concern and
best wishes to send to Erik.  I can assure you they have been passed on
and I will continue to do so with any that I receive.
 
Unfortunately, this is also going to be a lengthy recovery and
rehabilitation process for Erik no matter how successful it may turn out
and he and his family are going to need help.  The UAF Face Off Club, in
conjunction with the university and the Rotary Club of Fairbanks
Sunrisers, has set up the Erik Drygas Fund to help with his hospital
bills.  Any contributions should be designated for the Erik Drygas Fund
and may be mailed to the UAF Face Off Club at the above address or sent
directly to the Denali State Bank at
 
Erik Drygas Fund
c/o Denali State Bank
119 North Cushman
P.O. Box 74568
Fairbanks, AK 99701
 
Eric Carlson
UAF Ice Hockey Web Site
http://www2.polarnet.com/~jcarlson/uafhockey/index.html
 
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