Damn you, Cincinnati Cyclones. Just when I thought I’d make it through a day free of allergies, you had to go and surprise the Gallardo family before Saturday night’s game against the Evansville Icemen by bringing out their father and Army sergeant Phillip Gallardo. His 12-year old daughter and 11-year old son thought they had been randomly selected to drop the puck before the ECHL game in Covington, Kentucky, but they were surprised when their father joined them at center ice, as he had returned from Afghanistan.
Gallardo hadn’t seen his family in more than a year, so naturally the reaction was eye-watering. Good lord, I don’t ever get tired of turning into a pile of sentimental mush from watching these videos. I would watch just about any sport in the world if I was promised that I’d get to see a family surprised by a soldier coming home. The soldier doesn’t even have to be related to that family, he can just walk up and be like, “Hey, I’m back from hell, how’s it going?” and I’d have to cover my eyes and run out of the room.
Well done, Cyclones.
