Hedican meets The Boss

Tom Hedican and his wife Nancy Ann stand with Bruce Springsteen while holding up an autographed copy of a North Bay Nugget story on Coach4Food. The Hedican's met the Rock Icon prior to a concert last weekend in New Jersey. Photo submitted.

The Coach4Food campaign got some pretty special recognition on the weekend as Tom Hedican met the man who inspired him to start the unique food bank fundraiser.

On Sunday, Hedican got back stage passes to meet Bruce Springsteen prior to his July 27th concert at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The whole thing was set by Dr. Barry Swick, the father of one of his goaltender consulting clients.

“I coached Barry's son Michael with the Sudbury Wolves and helped get him a tryout with the Erie Otters and Barry wanted to repay me somehow and worked for months to try to get the stories to him (Springsteen),” said Hedican.

Initially Swick only told Tom and his wife Nancy Ann that they were just getting tickets to the concert but that afternoon Springsteen’s personal trainer called the Hedican’s and let them know that Bruce wanted them to come back stage.

“We were eventually brought to his dressing room and walked in and there was The Boss, alone. Bruce said, ‘I read your articles on the drive in to the show tonight and that is really something you are doing up there in North Bay.’ He was extremely generous with his time and loved the idea of Coach4Food, which we told him was inspired by his work with Food banks in Canada and the U.S.,” Hedican said about meeting his boyhood idol.

For three years during Hedican’s time off from his hockey consulting business in Europe, he has helped deliver thousands of pounds of food to the North Bay Food Bank during its busiest time of year as Hedican has run hockey practices for local teams with proceeds going to the local charity and “The Boss” told him to keep it going.

“He asked that we continue helping the less fortunate here when we left and we assured him we would. It was just a surreal moment. We then watched him perform for over three hours, in front of 60,000 screaming fans, without a break. There really aren't any words to describe walking into a dressing room and seeing The Boss standing there waiting for you. If I had a list of my top 10 people I would like to meet there would only be one name on it and that is Bruce.”