By Dan Plouffe
Losing a grandparent – especially a close one who would come out to watch your hockey games – is a tough moment for an 11-year-old.“Liam was pretty upset when he passed away. He was young, 65,” notes Gloucester Cougars Peewee house league coach Tim Tierney, who lost his father a day before his team took part in a Future Sens game at Scotiabank Place.The Cougars saw one of their own was hurting, so that’s when Nick Persaud stepped up to lift his teammate’s spirits a little by making labels with the initials AJT (for Allan John Tierney) that each player now wears on their helmets.“It was really nice of him to do that,” says Liam, who plays ball hockey with his teammates in the summer when they’re not on the ice together. “It’s fun. Everyone works together. We’re sort of like brothers now.”That a young player would think of such a gesture without prompting from parents really impressed the coach of the first-place club.“This team is unbelievable,” adds Tim, the city councillor for Beacon Hill ward. “A lot of people say, ‘You know, kids today…’ I have to disagree. Kids today are still very compassionate and they care a lot about their teammates. This was a real great show of support.”