March 11, 2000 changed the course of Bryan Berard's career.

The year of 1995 was the draft of defensemen. The hype centered on a quiet, steady, stay-at-home Saskatchewan farm boy and a flashy, highly self-confident, and offensively gifted American defenseman from Rhode Island. The Ottawa Senators eventually drafted the flashier rearguard only to learn he wasn't the least bit interested in playing for the 4th year franchise. Bryan Berard was supposed to be the next big building block for the Sens franchise but it became quickly apparent that Berard was disappointed in getting selected by the Senators and not the New York Islanders. The Islanders owned the second spot in the draft and also owned the lure of playing for a NHL club that was only a 3-hour drive removed from Berard's childhood upbringing in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. The Islanders by default choose the quiet and understated Wade Redden.

The loss of an iris which prevents the filtering of sunlight and brightness, a detached retina, a broken orbital bone, the loss of depth perception and the possibility of complete removal of the eye. That's the diagnosis that faced Berard after he was rushed to an Ottawa hospital. The incident occurred March 11, 2000 in the third period of a Leafs-Sens game. Sens winger Marian Hossa took a wild and erratic swing at the puck and his uncontrolled back swing changed the course of life for Berard. Berard immediately crumpled to the ice, with his legs kicking Leafs trainers rushed the ice and attempted to attend to Berard. To his credit, Hossa who previously didn't know Berard visited him in the hospital and the issue of injury haunted Hossa off the ice. "I think about it a lot, I know it was an accident, but I can't get it out of my head." Hossa had to seek help from the Senators team psychologist. It was unfair to pin blame on Hossa because the incident was purely accidental and Berard let Hossa know that's the way he felt. Berard had five surgeries but luckily avoided the removal of the eye, and after a few weeks he was able to distinguish light from dark. He was still very much challenged as to the new fate of his life and what it would mean without the possibility of hockey.

	Redden flourished with the Senators.

January 23, 1996, a little over six months after the Senators drafted Berard they traded him to the New York Islanders in a package that included Wade Redden coming to the Senators. The two hyped prospects crossed paths once again and with the trade they were both eager to show that they belonged and would make an impact with their new clubs. Berard fulfilled the hype that followed him by posting 48 points with the Isles in the 96-97 season enroute to capturing the Calder trophy as Top Rookie. Berard was then invited to play for the US hockey team in the 1998 Olympics. Redden meanwhile had a fitting start to his career posting modest offensive numbers while drawing rave reviews for his calmness and poise in his own zone. This was the scouting report on these two players coming to life. No false advertising here, they were playing just as was expected.

The minimum vision requirement for the NHL is 20/400. A person with perfect vision can see 20/20 which means that the smallest letter on an eye chart can be seen at 20 feet away. If a person has 20/400 vision it means that the smallest letter they can see at 20 feet can be seen at 400 feet by someone with normal vision. Twenty/four hundred was the minimum vision requirement Berard would need to meet and with the use of a special corrective lens he was determined to once again play in the NHL. Berard had received a $6.5 million dollar insurance policy from the league for his forced retirement. In order to attempt a comeback Berard would need to forfeit the insurance policy leaving him no safety net if he found out that after the first game that he could no longer play.

	A comeback complete as Berard plays on Corel Centre ice against Hossa once again.

Redden's offensive game finally caught up with his defensive game as he exploded with a 47 point effort and a plus 22 rating in the 2000-2001 season, his fifth in the league. Redden was 23 at the time and his career was on the uprise. His career blossomed from there; he received major consideration for the 2002 Canadian Olympic team and had developed into one of the game's elite defenseman, ranking near the top in ice-time among rearguards. Berard at age 23 was forcibly sitting out pondering whether or not he could ever meet the NHL's vision requirement. He failed his initial vision test early in 2001. Berard eventually was able to meet the vision requirement and signed a contract with the Rangers for the 2001-2002 season. Remarkably Berard played all 82 games that season but spent much of the year adjusting to his impaired vision and a game that suddenly seemed to be moving at a much quicker pace.

Devastated by falling short to the New Jersey Devils in the 7th game of the Eastern Conference, a heart broken, shocked and emotionally defeated Wade Redden showed leadership and accountability in defeat while addressing the media. This quiet Saskatchewan farm boy who as a 19-yr old was mistaken for an eager fan trying to seek entry into the Corel Centre had matured into a leader and elite defenseman and dispelled all…

the skepticism that followed

…was nothing new. Berard had just finished posting an impressive offensive season with the Boston Bruins while playing over 21 minutes a game. He found himself in a familiar state of uncertainty. The Bruins decided not to tender Berard a contract making him a free agent. Berard had to wait until November for the Blackhawks to finally come calling for a quarterback to run their powerplay. A humbleness now exists with Berard; accepting of the need to reprove himself with each organization.

Berard & Redden's story is one of parallel, contradiction and the different paths that we must all navigate in pursuit of our dreams. Bryan Berard's and Wade Redden's dreams were to make the NHL. Fate dictated the course of their dreams and differing degrees of resolve dictated their success.