http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...421/index.html
The cultivation of Nathan Gerbe as a hockey prodigy included some stock elements. There was the frozen pond, of course, on his family's wooded property in Oxford, Mich. There were the two older brothers who taught him how to skate and pushed him until he became the most competitive and resourceful young player anyone had ever met. And there was the demanding father whose training methods seemed excessive -- the early morning runs at the high school track, for example -- but were vindicated as the greatness emerged in the youngest of his six children.
It is not an original narrative, save for this detail: Gerbe, a junior forward for Boston College, stopped growing when he was around 14. Judging by his physique, the 5' 5", 165-pound Gerbe has no business playing Division I hockey, let alone dominating it as he did last week at the Frozen Four in Denver. Emboldening undersized skaters everywhere, Gerbe almost single-handedly beat North Dakota in the semifinals, scoring three goals and adding an assist in the Eagles' 6-1 victory. Then he potted the first two goals (and later two assists) in a 4-1 triumph over Notre Dame in the final last Saturday. After losing in the championship game in the previous two seasons, the Eagles won their third national title, and it was all because of the runt of their litter.
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<---- Patrick!
To the runt of the litter!
