Tragic news

By KiPA

No one likes hearing of these stories, but there are reports that say Washington goalie Jose Theodore's two-month-old son has died. The cause is unknown at this time.

What makes the news even sadder is this is the latest tragedy for Theodore and Stephanie Cloutier. Their first child suffered respiratory problems but is doing well now, but in 2007, Cloutier suffered a miscarriage during another pregnancy.

Of course, my thoughts go out to the parents and other family members. Death has been somewhat prevalent for me lately (I've been to six funerals in two years), but fortunately for me, none of it has been to a child or parent of mine. So I can't imagine what Theodore is going through, but I'm willing to bet it's not a good time.

I can only hope he and Cloutier find a way to cope, but obviously they're going through some tough times right now.

From a hockey standpoint, there's no real telling what this will do to Theodore's season. Last year, Jean-Sebastien Giguere's father experienced severe health issues and died in December. Because of that or not, Giguere had a dreadful season, which included losing his starting job to Jonas Hiller. Maybe the same will happen with Theodore, who earlier in the summer was named the Capitals' top goalie by coach Bruce Boudreau.

But that's a discussion for later. Hockey absolutely takes a backseat to this much, much, much more important time in Theodore's life, and hopefully he'll come out of it as best he can.