at what Nowtizki has been doing for more than 15 years.

The email dropped in my box a few weeks ago. Almost lost it in the endless stream of playoff-related info (Rangers Availability, 5:00pm, JW Marriot) and reminders from Shutterfly about my daughters upcoming soccer practices. This note was from a friend made a few years ago, in the worst possible way you can make a friend. Paul Frustaglio just wanted to let me know they were having a golf tournament on June 26th for his son Evan. "Drop by, if you can make it," he wrote. I couldnt. Would be in Philadelphia for the NHL Draft. So I sent along my regrets and said that Id at least try to get a prize sent over from TSN. "I should have remembered that was draft week," Paul wrote back. "Evan was a 96." Thats the first way every hockey parent describes his/her kid; by their abbreviated birth year. When someone asks,"What is your boy?" We know instantly what they mean. "Oh, hes a 98." There will be a slew of 96s who have their names called Friday night and Saturday in Philadelphia who will remember Evan Frustaglio. He was part of an elite group of Toronto area hockey players growing up. From minor atom on, he battled against top prospects like Sam Bennett, Robby Fabbri, and Josh Ho-Sang. He played on summer teams with Bennett, Sunny Milano and Connor McDavid, next years draft prodigy. When the Grade 8 team from Vaughns Hill Academy, a sport-focused private school north of Toronto, played its opening game in 2008, Evan scored the games first three goals. His linemate Michael Dal Colle, a likely top-five pick Friday, scored the next six. "Evan had sick hands," Dal Colle says, waiting for his luggage at the Philadelphia airport. "He wasnt big but his skill level was off the charts. Great player, great guy. So sad." Evan Frustaglio was 13 when he started to feel sick at a hockey tournament in London. His Mom, Ann-Marie brought him home after the Saturday games, thinking there was no point staying over if he wasnt likely to be better for Sunday. Dont want the flu to spread around a dressing room. And it looked like, felt like, had to be, the flu. Thats what the doctor at the walk-in clinic said Sunday. "Probably just a mild virus... give him lots of fluids." But his parents were worried, and Paul stayed up all night watching him. The next morning, Evan told his Mom he was feeling OK, so she went off to work. Paul took the day off to stay home with Evan, and catch up on sleep. He gave his son a bath, and noticed an odd rash, but couldnt reach his family doctor to ask about it. Evan went back to bed, and Paul left the room briefly. When he called Evans name just a few minutes later, there was no answer. Paul found him sprawled on the bathroom floor, limp. The rest, four years later, is still a painful blur. A panicked 9-1-1 call, the operator giving Paul instructions on how to do CPR, the medics arriving and trying to revive him. Too late. Evan died October 26, 2009, the same day they started giving H1N1 shots to the public. That virus, the one supposed to prey on the vulnerable, the elderly and the very young, had killed a strong, healthy teenage athlete. "It attacked his heart," Paul says. "He was... too healthy. From what they told me, the best laymans way to put it is that his heart literally beat itself to death." Evans death triggered H1N1 hysteria across Canada. Instantly, there were line-ups that queued for hours at immunization clinics. Three thousand came to Evans wake. Hockey people, mostly. Entire teams that played with and against him. Some who did neither. Hockey is like that. I met Paul there. He was remarkable, thanking me and everyone else over and over for coming. The ultimate Canadian, overly polite even when his world was crumbling around him. He proudly showed me the flowers Sidney Crosby had sent. Evan had touched people. You hold on to that to keep you going, I guessed. Doctors would thank Paul for doing interviews, for talking about Evan, for encouraging people to get immunized. That helped him a little too, he supposes. But soon the H1N1 story faded, and the Frustaglios were left to figure out how to continue their lives without their first-born. Theyre still working on it. Evans younger brother Will, a 99, was too young to grasp the loss of his best friend. Its only started to really hit him hard in the last year or two. But hes done remarkably well. He is a top student and athlete at The Hill, his brothers old school, working out everyday in the same gym as Dal Colle. Will got the size gene Evan didnt, and enters his junior draft year as a solid prospect. Any parent who has lost a child tells you the grieving never really ends. But after four years, Paul and Anne-Marie finally felt ready to celebrate Evans memory. So as you read this, The Hill Academy is holding the first Evan Frustaglio Memorial Golf Tournament at The Glen Eagle Golf Club near Bolton, Ontario. The school is naming its gym after Evan. Money raised from the tourney will be used to set up a scholarship, and the plan is to designate a different charity every year to support. Would Evan have been in Philly Friday? Would he have gotten the chance to walk up on that stage and put on some teams sweater and ballcap, while Paul and Anne-Marie and Will and aunts and uncles and friends cheered and cried a little in the stands? Useless hypothetical, I suppose. His size was starting to be an issue by the time he was a teenager, so the odds were probably against him. But with those hands, that skill, and a fearlessness to boot, who knows? A couple of growth spurts... and... maybe. No. Was right the first time. Useless hypothetical. Paul Frustaglio would prefer to celebrate the life his son had, instead of the one that might have been. And so Friday night, he will do what he does every year. "I will watch the draft for sure," he says. "Im sure it will be bittersweet and a little sad this time because it is Evans class. But these kids are great kids. Some of them I watched since they played minor novice in the North York Hockey League. Ill be incredibly happy for all of them." Click here for more information on the golf tournament. Jayson Tatum Jersey . "We were left with the overall impression that the team wasnt trending toward being able to compete for a Stanley Cup," Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said in a news conference at the clubs arena. "And that was just a clear signal and why it was time to make those changes. Greg Monroe Jersey . Now he has a complete game. Scherzer tossed a three-hitter in his 179th career start for his first complete game and Victor Martinez hit his 16th homer to lead the Detroit Tigers a 4-0 win over the Chicago White Sox. http://www.celticssale.com/kids-al-horford-celtics-jersey/ . Kuper, a fifth-round pick in Denvers 2006 draft, started 79 games at guard over eight seasons. He dislocated his left ankle in the last game of the 2011 regular season, and though he started another seven games after that, he never returned to his previous level. Dennis Johnson Jersey . Paul, MN (SportsNetwork. Reggie Lewis Jersey .com) - Maria Sharapova rallied for a three- set win over Ana Ivanovic on Saturday to capture the season-opening Brisbane International tennis tournament.SALT LAKE CITY -- Before he even got the ball on the first play of the game, Dirk Nowitzki decided he was going to shoot. When that went in, he just kept on shooting. "I didnt even wait to see if theyd double team. I was going to get a shot up regardless. That got things jumpstarted," Nowitzki said. Nowitzki scored 31 points and moved into sole possession of the No. 12 spot on the all-time NBA scoring list in the Dallas Mavericks 108-101 win over the Utah Jazz Wednesday. He made 12 of 14 from the field and all four of his 3-point attempts to help the Mavs snap a three-game road losing skid. "I was determined to set a more aggressive tone tonight," he said. "The way weve been playing offensively, something needed to change." Trey Burke scored 20 points and Enes Kanter had 18 points and 11 rebounds, but the Jazz struggled down the stretch against Dallas long-range shooting. The Mavericks converted 13 of 21 3-point attempts -- their best percentage of the season topping the last time they played Utah with a 10-of-18 performance on Feb. 7. Meanwhile, the Jazz went 5 of 26. On the first possession of the game, Nowitzki drained his trademark one-legged fade-away jumper, which moved him past John Havlicek for 12th place on the NBAs all-time scoring list. "He really led our team tonight," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "Dirk was great from start to finish. I mean, shooting 12-of-14 is ridiculous and 4-for-4 from 3, its hard to do much better than that." Havlicek scored 26,395 points and Dominique Wilkins is No. 11 in the record books with 26,668. With more games like this one, Nowitzki could possibly reach the top 10 this season by passing Oscar Robertson (26,710). "I havent been quite on fire lately, but I got out early and was really looking to get my groove," he said. Monta Ellis, on the other hand, started slow but finished strong -- scoring 13 of his 16 points in the second half and tallying 11 assists and seven rebounds for Dallas. "After a frustrating first half, Monta stayed patient, disciplined and aggressive. He took what the defence gave him and got the jumper going.dddddddddddd Then he made a bunch of plays," Carlisle said. Nowitzki agreed and gave plenty of praise to Ellis. "Monta was spectacular in the fourth. I dont always need to grind and go to the post and try and make some stuff happen. He knows how to nick his guy and a bit and next thing you know hes at the rim," he said. Devin Harris, who was a game-time decision with a strained Achilles, scored 12 and kept Dallas in the eighth Western Conference playoff slot. Derrick Favours scored 15 points and Alec Burks had 13 points and a career-high eight assists, but the Jazz have lost seven of their past eight games in this rebuilding season. Neither team led by more than seven points until Ellis and Jose Calderon made back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead to 101-93 with 3:04 to play. Burke made a 3-pointer for the Jazz, but then Ellis made a jumper and then assisted Nowitzki for another shot beyond the arc to put the game out of reach. Nowitzki said he appreciates how easy Ellis can make it for him. "He is just so explosive off the pick-and-roll. Hes fun to play with ... and he just exploits any mistake the defenders make in their coverage," Nowitzki said. The back-and-forth game featured 17 ties and 18 lead changes before the Mavericks made all the key shots down the stretch. "Dirk, in my opinion, was spectacular. I tried a lot of different coverages on him and he still made tough shots. Thats what great players do in this league," Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said. Burke had his second consecutive 20-point game after struggling with his shot most of his rookie season. But he marveled at what Nowtizki has been doing for more than 15 years. "We tried to contain Dirk but you just have to take your hat off to him, when a guy has a night like that," Burke said. Notes: Dallas forward Jae Crowder sat out his second game with a strained abdominal muscle suffered Sunday against Indiana. . Dallas coach Rick Carlisle got a technical for complaining about Burke kicking out his feet on his jump shots. . The Jazz outscored the Mavericks 56-32 in the paint. 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