CHL Mississippi RiverKings

RiverKings Player Visits Memphis Optional School

Published on December 9, 2003 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


MEMPHIS, Tenn.—RiverKings center Jerry Gernander visited John P. Freeman optional school in Memphis Dec. 5, where he read "Goin' Someplace Special" and "Davy Crockett Saves the World" to kindergarten, first and second grade classes.

Gernander was among special company, as the day's visitors also included Trenyce of "American Idol" fame and Rocky the Redbird.

After Gernander finished reading, each group had the opportunity to ask him some questions.

"Do you ever get mad and want to punch someone?" asked one child.

"Yeah," Gernander said, a little bit at a loss for words, "but I don't fight very much."

"Is hockey hard?" another child asked.

"Some people think it's hard because all you have to stand on are two little blades, but I've been doing it so long it's easy for me," Gernander said.

"I went to one of your hockey games," Justice Washington, 7, said.

"Really? Did we win?" Gernander said. "Yes," Washington replied.

"Maybe you should come more often," he quipped.

Washington said afterward that he enjoyed the game, but that he enjoyed the intermissions more.

"My favorite part was when the hockey players take a rest and the people who do all the other stuff, like entertainment, get on the ice," he said.

In addition to the questions about fighting and whether or not hockey is fun to play, the students made sure that asked the important questions pertaining to a career in professional hockey: Do you have all your teeth? How much money do you make?

"I've been really lucky," Gernander said. "I have all my teeth. If you play hockey in the NHL, you can make a lot of money, but the guys in our league play because we love the game."

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Central Hockey League Stories from December 9, 2003


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