A former member of the Everett Silvertips family recently survived a brush with death.
Shaun Heshka, a mainstay on Everett’s defense the past three seasons, escaped major harm when his car crashed en route to Winnipeg, Manitoba, to report to his professional team.
Heshka, a first-team Western Conference all-star last season and the Silvertips’ career leading scorer among defensemen, rolled his car early in the morning of Sept. 23 on his way to report to the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League.
“These things happen on the highway and I’m fortunate enough to walk away with no serious injuries, just some bruises and cuts and stitches,” Heshka told the Winnipeg Sun. “I had been driving for too long, I dozed off a little bit and rolled my car. It was a slip up and it was scary.”
Heshka arrived in Everett a misfit and departed a star. He came to Everett’s first training camp in 2003 a free agent, having been passed on by the rest of the WHL. But he improved so much during his time with the Silvertips that he earned a professional contract with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks after an offseason tryout. Manitoba is Vancouver’s AHL affiliate.
Everett captain Cody Thoring, who played alongside Heshka for three seasons, and the rest of the Silvertips first found out about the accident while on the bus en route to their season-opening game at Chilliwack.
“He was pretty shaken up about it,” Thoring said. “That’s pretty scary stuff. The day before he was hanging out with us, the next day we get a call that he rolled his car. It makes you realize how short life is and how fast it can be taken away.”
Heshka did not dress in Manitoba’s season-opening 3-2 overtime loss to Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday.
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