I just read the sad news of the passing of former Hawks enforcer Reggie Fleming.   I know that the majority of you are too young to remember him as a player.  I do not remember him as a player with the hawks but with the Flyers, Sabres and later the Chicago Cougars. 

This is not about reading about some hockey player from thirty years ago passing away.  This is about a man I actually knew, a neighbor and a really, really good man.

When I was a kid, I was Reggie Fleming's paperboy.  I remember going to his house in an area known as the gully and having to collect money from him for his subscription to the Daily Herald.  I know that when I stopped at his house I was nervous because he was a professional athlete.  When you are 11 years old and have a real athlete on your paper route, it is way too cool.  Reg was a good tipper too.

My other memory of Reggie was that there was a park across the street from his house where they would flood it with water in the winter and allow kids to skate and play hockey.  One day. we were out on the ice and Reggie came over and asked if he could play with us.  Of course we said yes.  I'll never forget what my friend Dane did.  He came over and whispered in my ear "don't piss him off!"  Because Reggie Fleming was far better known for his fighting than anything else.  We thought he was like that all the time, perpetually angry and willing to beat up the first kid that displeased him.  We were so wrong, too.

I've covered hockey and the one thing I've discovered about hockey players is usually the tougher a guy in on the ice, the more tender he is off of it.  Reggie was no exception.  He was always polite and nice to me as a bumbling, star struck kid.  He was always kind to the kids on the ice and even offered instruction.

A tough guy on the ice, but a great guy off it, Reg will be missed.