re: Craig MacTavish...
MacTavish's character helped him get through the most distressing time of his life, which came after he was drinking at a bar on Jan. 29, 1984, then drove home, colliding with another car on his way, killing that car's driver, 26-year-old Kim Radley. At the time MacTavish had moved up from the college ranks and was a promising 26-year-old forward on the Boston Bruins. He pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and spent a full year in jail, the first few months in a small cell with a pail for a toilet.
The Oilers were the first of four teams to approach him in jail about resuming his NHL career, and Boston let him go without compensation so he could start his life again in a new setting. MacTavish paid for his crime, not only by doing time, but by speaking at numerous schools about the dangers of drunk driving and by serving as the honorary chairman of Edmonton's CheckStop anti-drunk-driving program. He also forged a bond with Kim Radley's parents, Ron and Hazel Foote. They visited MacTavish in jail and forgave him for his crime. Out of this visit came a relationship that has lasted to this day, with Hazel still sending a card to MacTavish on his birthday.
"I have a great deal of respect for Craig MacTavish," she says. "He was a young man who made a tragic mistake and was extremely sorry for it. I regard him very highly."
http://communities.canada.com/edmontonj ... r-fox.aspx
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