The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan spoke with Red Wings forward Sam Gagner regarding the passing of long-time Edmonton Oilers and Edmonton Eskimos dressing room attendant Joey Moss, who died of Alzheimers’ disease at 57.
Moss had Down Syndrome and made sure that it was never an impediment to his passion for working with Edmonton’s pro sports teams, and Gagner, a long-time Oiler, shared his memories of Moss with Kulfan:
“My biggest memory after my eight points in a game was just sitting down with Joey, having a beer and chatting,” Gagner said. “There was a lot going on that night. I talked to Wayne Gretzky, Paul Coffey, my parents and my soon-to-be wife.
“I didn’t get out of the rink until a couple of hours later and the only guy left in the rink was Joey and a couple of the trainers. He said he was proud of me and that was such a special, special moment, something I’ll never forget.”
Gagner, who had four goals and four assists in the 8-4 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 2, 2012, and two more goals against the Red Wings six days later in a 4-2 loss at Joe Louis Arena, said Moss’ hard work, positive attitude and sense of humor was an inspiration to him, his teammates and his family.
“Right from when I first met him, we became instant friends,” Gagner said. “There was a group of us, a bunch of young guys coming in who lived together. We would always take Joey out for dinner, have him sleep over. We just had a blast getting to know him. There was never a bad day. He always had a smile on his face.
“When he slept over and we had to be at practice the next morning for 8:45-9 o’clock, he would be waiting by the door at 7 a.m. We would be kind of lingering and he would get antsy. He would say, ‘I got work. I got stuff to do.’ He took his job very seriously and at the end of the day, he was just one of the guys.”
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