While it may seem unusual to read a story about the ECHL Florida Everblades that doesn't focus on outlandish jersey designs, Drew Larman's is an exceptional story.
According to Woody Wommack of the Naples Daily News, Larman was shopping at a Sweetbay Supermarket in Fort Myers on March 3 (his butler must have been under the weather) when he heard a scream.
The purse of Beverly Whaley had been snatched, and the 59-year-old did a face-plant in chasing the assailant.
So the 6-3, 195-pound Everblades center went into action mode, running after the perp in a full sprint and finally catching him at his car.
That's where the confrontation between Larman and the thief took place.
Worried that the man could have a weapon, or perhaps an accomplice, Larman surveyed the situation for a brief second before realizing the man was acting alone. As the thief jumped into his car, Larman continued his pursuit, and proceeded to use his 6-foot-3 195-pound frame to stop the man from escaping with Whaley's purse.
"We he got to the car I realized he was just trying to get away," Larman said. "I knew if he got the door to his car closed that would be the end of it. As he was closing the door I literally lunged in front of the door, stopped it with my arm and my leg from closing and pushed the door wide open."
Wommack wrote that once the door opened, Larman was able to take the purse back from the stunned assailant, who fled the scene and is still at large.
As we said, it's an unusual story: Larman didn't give his contact information to the woman, the store or the police. He only volunteered the story later in the month to share a positive message with the community and because the Good Samaritan act was "like a spiritual high for me."
We need to get this guy together with Ken Hitchcock a.k.a. the Shoplifting Avenger and Brooks Laich a.k.a. Tire Iron to form some kind of League of Extraordinarily Selfless Hockey Gentlemen ...
Larman had cups of coffee with the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins, and was a solid contributor to the London Knights' Memorial Cup run in 2005. When he isn't playing hockey or stopping crime, he's also … an amateur filmmaker?
In the summer of 2008, Larman took a one-week workshop with the New York Film Academy in New York City. He went with an idea already in mind, a 10-minute creation called "We Are One."
In it, several people of different backgrounds, including Larman himself, are walking around New York, strung together through circumstance instead of verbal communication. With the help of eye contact or even physical contact, each person's story is told. As each story changes, so does the music's type and tone.
Click here or the image below to watch the short film Larman created:
Money quote from Larman, last March: "In this world, we may be faced with difficulties, and people may push war upon us, but ultimately, we all want peace. It's nice to be able to be in a position where I can maybe affect people in a positive manner. I'm just one guy doing his job."
Stick tap to reader Sarah Connors for the story.