OXFORD, Ohio - Miami hockey seniors are all expected to give a short speech during the end-of-season Night of Celebration banquet held at Shriver Center every April.
Over the years, some players have openly acknowledged they dread that moment.
But on Saturday, Gary Steffes got on stage and said he had actually been looking forward to giving his senior speech. It was the first time I'd ever heard anyone admit that.
Steffes opened his speech by pointing out that he played in less than half of the RedHawks' games this season, and he recorded just one point. Last season, he said, media wanted to interview him and he scored a goal in the national championship game.
Steffes then challenged the audience to judge his career at Miami as a success or a failure.
This senior class is the first to play at Cady Arena for its entire career, and I became a season ticket holder when the rink opened, so I have seen every home game in which Steffes has played (except one when I had to attend a funeral in Chicago).
I met Steffes for the first time a few weeks ago, and it was because I wanted a quote from another senior for a feature I was doing on Brandon Smith. My first choice was Jarod Palmer, whom I already knew and had done a feature on previously.
Plus Palmer is having the type of season that has NHL teams watching. But he had a late class that day and left practice early, so I asked if I could talk to Steffes.
I talked to everyone else for my story, and I was waiting on him to finish his lifting regiment. I stood in the visitors' bench for five minutes, then 10, and a thought in my head kept getting louder.
Wouldn't this guy be a little resentful that I'm asking for a quote about someone who has basically passed him on the forward depth chart this season?
When he finally emerged from the locker room, I met a player who seems utterly incapable of feeling such envy. The ultimate team player, Steffes was more than willing to sacrifice his time to benefit a teammate and close friend.
I'd heard from others what a great person he is, but that's the type of thing one has to experience for his or herself. He's one of those rare people whose mere presence makes one feel a little more upbeat.
He's the type of person the world needs more of.
So near the end of Steffes' speech on Saturday, he told people not to feel bad for him. He talked about how he wasn't close to any of his family members when he enrolled in college.
But he said the growth he underwent and friendships he made at Miami made his experience in Oxford unforgettable. And now he's closer than ever with his family.
He's also going to leave Miami with a degree, having accrued a 3.6 grade-point average.
It was like he was reading my mind, because standing there on the visitors' bench before he arrived for our interview, I felt sort of sorry for him and a little anxious because I wasn't sure how he would take being asked about a classmate who was having more success.
As a hockey player he had progressed so much during his collegiate career, but his senior season ended with him wearing a suit during the Boston College game in Detroit.
Steffes probably won't take a shift in the pros, but The Brotherhood made him a better person, made that unfocused college freshman into a man, and that will last longer than a hockey career.
"I feel like the most fortunate person in the room tonight," Steffes said near the end of his speech.
He wasn't the only one that felt that way.
Yes, Steffes' Miami career was a success.
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