Equipment manager in tears after seeing what NHL team left him on his last day of work

This is why we love sports.

The Anaheim Ducks equipment manager, Doug “Sluggo” Shearer, has worked for the team since 2007. At the end of the season, Shearer is retiring after more than three decades in the business, so the players wanted to let him know how much he meant to them.

They gave him a fishing boat. And the way they did it was especially cool.

“We’re here today at practice to surprise our equipment manager, who’s retiring at the end of the season,” Ducks defenseman Francois Beauchemin said in a video posted on Facebook.

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Shearer has been an equipment manager for 34 years. After 20 years of working for the Washington Capitals, he joined the Ducks in 2007.

Before practice Thursday, the team towed a brand new fishing boat onto center ice. The players were skating around it, practicing, waiting for Shearer to come out of the locker room. He came out of the tunnel and Beauchemin immediately greeted him with a task.

“Sluggo. Visor is loose,” said the Ducks defenseman.

Shearer took the helmet and went back into the tunnel to repair the visor. He came back out a few minutes later and Beauchemin had a surprise for him.

“Can you take your boat off the ice so we can have practice now?” he said.

Shearer saw the boat, but wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“What do you mean? That?” he said. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

This was not a belated April Fool’s joke.

“Go check it out,” said Beauchemin.

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“Are you serious?”

Beauchemin escorted him onto the ice to his new boat. Shearer was so overcome he teared up.

“I didn’t know what was going on, to be honest with you,” he said. “I had no idea. It was quite a surprise.”

After 34 @NHL seasons (2,848 NHL games), including the last 11 with the #NHLDucks, equipment manager Doug “Sluggo” Shearer will retire after the season.

This week at practice, the players presented a gift to Sluggo with an unforgettable moment @HondaCenter. pic.twitter.com/Df7fdLsqMk

— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) April 5, 2018

“These guys I’ll never forget,” said Shearer. “They’re a special group. But any and all hockey players I’ve ever had have been really special people. They are just good, down-to-earth, hard-working people, and these guys are a special group. …

“I wont forget this, that’s for sure.”

The Ducks hope to send him off with a Stanley Cup as they clinched a playoff spot this week. They’re on a roll — 8-1-1 in their last 10 games — as they get ready for the postseason.

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