Craig Cunningham stepped on a red carpet, issued a slight wave to the crowd and walked in front of the Coyotes bench.
He fist-bumped players’ gloves, stopped briefly for a hug from former teammate and current Wild center Martin Hanzal and then continued moving until he stopped and looked to his left and then his right.
This wasn’t the first time the Tucson Roadrunners captain had ventured back onto the ice since he collapsed on it before a mid-November game in Tucson when his heart stopped working.
Nor was it the second.
Actually, before descending on center ice Saturday for a ceremonial puck drop ahead of the Coyotes’ season finale against the Wild, Cunningham skated inside Gila River Arena.