Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 12, 1995 TAG: 9503130004
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
She has exchanged pleasantries with Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Gordie Howe on a regular basis. Members of her hometown team, the Detroit Red Wings, have been known to stop by and give their regards to the 10-year-old fan. In fact, Pefley considers Red Wings star Steve Yzerman a close, personal friend.
She has met these players through the most terrible of circumstances. Elysia Pefley's 10-year-old body is wracked with cancer. The hockey players she has met have tried to cheer her up and help ease her pain.
Craig Herr's name doesn't usually appear alongside those other players. But to Pefley, the Roanoke Express forward tops her list. In the hall of fame of Elysia Pefley's heart, Craig Herr is the most significant member.
``Yeah, I'm probably her favorite,'' said Herr, grinning. ``It's not based on skill, though.''
Pefley is in Roanoke this weekend to watch Herr play. Before Saturday's game against Hampton Roads, she made an appearance on the ice, where Herr autographed her hockey jersey. It was an Express jersey with Herr's name emblazoned on the back. The Roanoke Hockey Booster Club paid for Pefley and her escort, Lori Clarke, to fly to Roanoke from Detroit.
She met Herr two years ago when Herr, then a member of the Colonial League's Detroit Falcons, and some of his teammates were visiting children in the hospital where she was undergoing treatment.
Pefley and Herr became fast friends. She was not a hockey fan at the time, but she quickly became Herr's biggest fan.
``He's nice,'' said Pefley, a quiet, shy child who becomes quite a talker when she gets to know a person.
Clarke, who worked in the hospital where Pefley was diagnosed with cancer, said it was surprising that Pefley and Herr became close so quickly.
``He sat right on her bed and started talking,'' said Clarke, a family friend of the Pefleys. ``Elysia is usually very shy. When he left the room, she told her mother, `Mom, he's gorgeous.'''
Elysia's mother, Anita, could not make the trip to Roanoke because she is eight months pregnant. The Pefleys know the baby will be a boy, and they know its name - Craig Stephen Pefley, named for Herr and Yzerman.
It hasn't been easy for Pefley to keep up with Herr, who has played in Detroit, Huntsville, Ala., and Tallahassee, Fla., the past two years.
The Pefleys made a trip to Johnstown earlier this season to watch the Express play. It was there that some booster club members found out about the relationship between Pefley and Herr and decided to bring her to Roanoke. A local hotel gave her a free room.
Today, a tour of Roanoke, a trip to the Mill Mountain Star and a hockey booster club banquet are on the agenda. Herr will be the tour guide.
``She's like my little sister,'' Herr said. ``She's one of my best friends. I love the kid.''
by CNB