Saturday, September 8, 2007

The hockey bug bites


Among my many faults, a lack of patience is among the worst. It comes, I’m sure, from my deadline-oriented life. It’s at its worst, though, about this time of year. I know hockey is coming. It's just not soon enough.

I had full intentions of waiting for the Lightning’s training camp to open next week. Once I read that most of the team was skating at the team’s practice facility, I couldn’t resist the temptation. So, on Friday, I drove to Brandon.

After adding 26 autographs to the collection, including 11 pucks, my only complaint was I waited as long as I did to make the trip. Besides snagging one each from The Big Three, I concentrated on catching up with the Lightning’s new players – Chris Gratton, Jan Hlavac, Brad Lukowich, Michel Ouellet – and last season’s acquisition, Shane O’Brien.

Pucks, shown above, are:
Top row: Portland Pirates game-used, Kingston Frontenacs and Toronto St. Michael's Majors: Shane O'Brien
Bottom row: Florida Panthers: Filip Kuba; Tampa Bay Lightning: Brad Lukowich; and Quebec Citadelles: Jason Ward

Cards, shown below, are: Chris Gratton, from left, Jan Hlavac and Michel Ouellet.

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