Reported in the Chicago Tribune:

“It began with the rarest of elements in professional sports: silence. No press release. No major announcement. No photo opportunity. Just the quiet of people doing a nice thing, the right thing. …

“[Blackhawks general manager] Dale Tallon looked up and noticed a few members of the Hawks’ front office wandering into the funeral home. That’s odd, he thought. This is Gravenhurst, Ontario. They’re supposed to be in Chicago. In the whirl and clatter of his emotions, Tallon was having trouble connecting thoughts. …

“Sports sections are filled with stories about angry, greedy, self-absorbed athletes. There’s a simple reason for that. There are a lot of angry, greedy, self-absorbed athletes. So you tend to notice when a group of players goes the opposite direction, especially when it’s done in a near whisper.

“On Nov. 22, the Blackhawks beat the Maple Leafs 5-4 on Dave Bolland’s goal in overtime. Rather than take a chartered flight back to Chicago, the team decided to stay in Toronto, practice the next day and then make the 110-mile trip north to Gravenhurst for [Tallon's father's] wake. That’s how it came to be that two busloads of Hawks personnel walked through the doors of a funeral home in the middle of Ontario on a cold night.

“No acclaim. No hubbub. Just a nice thing, the right thing.”

Read full article here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/hockey/blackhawks/chi-15-morrisseydec15,0,5328342.column