In case you may have missed the news on Thursday, Canada's golden boy and Los Angeles Kings prospect Akil Thomas waived his no-trade clause to be traded to the Peterborough Petes as they look to win a championship this season.
Though Akil Thomas has worn the number 44 through his entire career, when he arrived in Peterborough and was asked what number he would like to wear, he knew there was something he had to do before he made his selection.
In an act of pure class, Thomas chose to reach out to Chris Montador, brother of the late Steve Montador, to get the family's blessing to wear 44, in honour of Steve, who was the last Pete to wear the number, during the 1999-00 season before making the jump to the NHL the following season.
Chris not only obliged the request, but he also went so far as to declare that the Montador family would be honoured to have Thomas wear the number. He went on to congratulate the 20-year-old on his WJC gold medal and commended him for netting the "golden goal".
If nothing else, this shows that the great traditions in hockey and the respect that players have for one another, past and present, lives on through the generations.
You can watch the touching video in the tweet provided below:
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