The world of professional sports is a strange one.
Hockey is indeed a boy's game played by men. And yet, at the same time, it's an all-encompassing passion that can swallow your life whole.
Vernon Fiddler walked that line perfectly.
The gritty forward, who announced his retirement from the NHL on Wednesday, could smile and laugh and enjoy the game as much as anyone, and yet he could also dig in and fight to the seeming death. He knew that both sides of the game were important, and he was genuine in his approach to mirth and combat.