I remember when I was in my early teens and I really started to follow hockey much more closely then when I was younger. My father was a Habs fan and any teen will rebel against his parents,so of course I became a Calgary Flames fan. To prove my point my brother was a Detroit fan. He was a big Steve Yzerman fan while my favourite Flames player was Joe Nieuwendyk. Not sure what Christmas it was but my parents deciding to indulge our misguided fandom and bought him a Wings Yzerman jersey and of course a Joe Nieuwendyk jersey for me. Apparently it was quite a generous gift when you consider that they charge by the letter to put the name on the back. And Nieuwendyk was at last count 10 letters. I still remember how they had to curve the letters just to fit it on the back of my jersey. I wore my jersey proudly for years and wore it with great pride when they won the cup in 1989. As I got older the Flames got worse then the did the unthinkable,they traded Joe to Dallas. And that is how I became a Habs fan like my dad all those years later. Father knows best they say. I saw a post on twitter about the National Junior team would be playing two games here in Montreal at the Laloya rink against the Czech national team. I bought tickets to both games and me and my father went to watch some damm good hockey. Only when we got there did I realize that the game was not the only draw at the rink. As I looked at the last row of seats I could see all the pro scouts that were sitting there with the team jackets and others dressed in suits. As anyone that follows hockey knows that most scouts are ex players. I recognized a few faces but not all the names. There sat Pat Verbeek,and two seats from him Ron Hextall, we even met Graig Mactavish before the game. Walking down the hallway was Tie Domi with his hat down low to watch his son Max play. As the game was about to start I turned and said the following words to my dad.I think that is Joe Nieuwendyk. Or was it? He walk by us and joined the other scouts in the last row. As the game started I would take a look back to where the gentleman sat and tried to decided if it was him or not. Ive met some famous people,but there are always times when your 98%sure it is who you think it is,but that two percent will stop you so you dont look like an idiot when you are completely wrong. After the game was over,that two percent won out as he walked by without a word from me. I just couldnt decide if I was right or not. Todays game is at noon and we get there early to watch the warm up and in the back of my head I am wondering if I was right or wrong about if it was Joe or not. Hopefully I will get a second chance to see. Sure enough just as the game starts in walks the same guy. As he passes I mumble Joe to see if there is any response. He walks by and goes to his seat. I hope he just didnt hear me. The game was great and finally it ends and people start to make their way out of the rink. We stand up and I see him coming down the stairs,and at that moment I decide,looking stupid or not I have to find out if it is him or not. If I find out later it was I will regret never speaking up when I had the chance. As people file down the stairs I rush to get to the aisle to get there in time. I get there just as he passes me and starts to walk down the second set of steps to head to the dressing rooms. I rush past a few people and as he starts down the stairs I tap him on the shoulder and sayJoe. Thankfully he turns and says yes. I just wanted to tell you that when I was a kid that you were my favorite player, and I just wanted to meet you Really When I was younger I had your Flames jersey with your name on the back while everyone else had Montreal jerseys. I said as I turned into that 12 year old boy. I really appreciate that. It was nice to meet you. He answered then shook my hand. All I could think was, boy am I glad I spoke up. I got to watch two great games with my Dad, and got meet my childhood hero. Not a bad way to end my week.......
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 22:03:29 +0000
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