Sunday morning homily XVI

Well, I did it. I finally broke down and bought a pair of skates. Bauer Vapor XXII's, too. Just like Colin's. Only bigger. A lot bigger.

All kidding aside, they represent more than a return to skating. They'll represent, for as long as my back and hips are willing, another bond between Colin and myself. As he progresses in his skating lessons, and he's getting ready to graduate to his hockey skates, we'll soon be able to take to the ice.

Though I played organized street hockey for years, I didn't start skating until I was 15, learning to stride and glide on a frozen swamp. It wasn't until I moved to Florida for the first time, back in the late 1970s, that I improved my skating skills. As a father, I'm making sure Colin, at age 6, gets a much earlier start.

Where will it take him? I couldn't tell you. Sure, I'd love for him to someday play in the NHL. What hockey dad wouldn't, right? I'd settle, too, for some scholarship opportunities, even at a Division II school, when that time comes. Still, though, his lessons, and the exercise I'll get from making the ice cry, tender a greater reward.

In the years ahead, I know that Colin will find it less "cool" to hang out with his old man. I'm OK with that. It's all part of growing up (For both of us, probably). As I've said before, I'm hoping, though, that hockey is a common bond that'll keep us close.

Skating together is another step in that direction.

Just the right time

One would think that after attending six straight Saturday night Lightning games, I'd be suffering withdrawal symptoms over the past three weeks. Thankfully, that hasn't been the case.

The break, interrupted only by a couple of hounding trips (Montreal and Pittsburgh), has been nice. It allowed for some R&R, back-office work (basically, a puck order and card collating) and a recharging of the hockey batteries.

It'll be nice, too, that some Western Conference teams (Colorado, Edmonton and Vancouver) are coming our way. So are Buffalo and Ottawa, two hound-friendly teams.

5 Big Sigs

I've been looking forward to this week, when the Avalanche, my Western Conference favorite, visits Tampa. I'm a bit disappointed, though, that Joe Sakic, who had hernia surgery less than a month ago, is unlikely to be with the team.

Still, these could erase the sting:

~ winger Milan Hejduk on an Avalanche puck and a wallpaper;
~ center Paul Stastny, the team's top scorer, on an Avalanche puck and a wallpaper;
~ goalie Jose Theodore on a Quebec Citadelles puck and, if I'm lucky, the Team Canada goalie mask;
~ winger Wojtek Wolski on Avalanche and Brampton Battalion pucks; and
~ TV color guy Peter McNab, a former player, on a Sabres puck.

Now, should Joey, by the grace of God and his hockey-based counterparts, travel with the team (I'm not holding my breath, though), I'll have this assortment of pucks of which I'd be ecstatic, but forever humbled, if he'd sign any two of these:

~ Colorado Avalanche;
~ Quebec Nordiques;
~ 2004 NHL All Star Game (he was the MVP);
~ Swift Current Broncos; and
~ 2004 World Cup of Hockey-Team Canada