Giving Thanks

Its been a long week over here at Trap-Central. As most people do, I've had lots of family obligations this past week but that doesn't mean that I haven't been paying attention to the hockey world. In fact on Monday night I managed to squeeze in a hockey game at Madison Square Garden with my father, my brother and a very good friend of mine from law school.

I don't know how many of you have the privilege of listening to Don LaGreca and EJ Hradek's show NHL Live on Sirius XM and the NHL Network (ok now you guys plug me) but its probably the best two hours of hockey coverage you'll get on any average day. LaGreca and Hradek really truly love the game and its the only place you'll get a solid block of believable rumors, interesting commentary, and enlightening interviews from people who actually live and breathe the game.

Regardless, listening to the show throughout the week I noticed that Mr. LaGreca (I don't pretend to be on a first name basis with Donny Pucks) has consistently referred to today's holiday as "American Thanksgiving" because (and Dear Reader forgive me if this sounds like I'm talking down to you) this is not the only Thanksgiving holiday that is celebrated around the world, with the most relevant for our sport being Canadian Thanksgiving. It occurred to me that Hockey is in fact the only one of the four major sports, five now if you acknowledge driving in circles as a sport, where the broadcasters would need to do this. As far as sports followed in North America go, hockey is the ONLY one that is international in scope.

Doubt me? I've got a story for you then.

Like I said its been a long week. So, I was running a little late on Monday and had to take a cab to the Rangers game. This of course was suicide as I found myself locked in commuter holiday traffic all the way down Park Avenue. My one saving grace was that the vibe in the cab was very comfortable. It was neither too hot nor too cold and the cab driver was listening to classical music, which I've found is my favorite of the four New York Cab Options:

1. The aforementioned classical. If its been a long day, as most are in the Big Apple, there is nothing more relaxing.

2. Politics. Its lessened some since the election. I both love and hate this. Generally I like to talk to my cab drivers, they almost always have an interesting and different opinion then your average Joe on the street, and politics is an interesting topic of conversation. I just don't like to have that conversation with someone who is directly responsible for how much I'm going to be spending in the next few moments. I've had cab drivers drive an extra two blocks to tell me why I'm wrong about a political POV. No thanks. I'll pass.

3. Sports-Talk Radio. Its... ok. I mean, I used to kind of love this one too, that was until I pretty much started to listen to it for a living between the hours of 9 and 5. Now... well... lets just say it feels too much like work. Do carpenters like looking for cabinets? I mean... I really doubt it...

4. Music, or what I think is music. Its never classic rock and it more often then not contains a sitar. Not my cup of tea. Not that I have anything against sitars... just not in my cab.

So, there I was grooving to the vibe when my phone rings. It was my friend telling me not to go down broadway because they had it shut down in front of Macy's in Herald Square so that they could practice for the parade. I thank him, groan and tell my cabby the news. He laughs and with an accent that, I'm embarrassed to say I can only identify as being of or from some part of the continent of Africa, asks me what I'm doing heading into midtown at this time of year. I tell him I'm going to the Rangers game... and then something magical happens. He says:

"Tonight! Yes. They play the Phoenix Coyotes. Gretzky's Team!"

If I had dog ears they would have perked up. I said "Yea... Gomez is supposed to be back tonight."

"This is good. They should put Zherdev and Naslund with Gomez. He is their best center, he should have the best wingers."

"Renney is trying to spread out the scoring I think, but I agree with you. I think its better to spread the defense out for your scoring line so they have more room to move out there. Gomez can't do anything with Callahan. Put together a skill unit and let the rest of your team be role players like those old Devils teams."

"Yes! Role Players..." and then he turned and smiled at me as if he knew that he was about to rock my world, "Like Claude Lemiuex."

Suddenly the traffic was welcome and I didn't care if I missed the first period of the game. I just wanted to talk to my new friend about our sport. We talked about Andy Bathgate and Dave Maloney. We talked about Doug Gilmour and you could always tell how deep his team was in the playoffs by how much of his face had turned into a bruise. I agreed that Brian Leetch was a once in a generation talent and when pressed as to who was a better goalie then Lundqvist he said "Maybe Luongo ... and Brodeur when he is healthy."

We talked about a million things, sharing our favorite memories and least favorite players and teams (Lindross and the Flyers for the both of us). He proudly recounted the time that he met Peter Forsberg and saw that his legs were like tree trunks and excitedly detailed how he went to a game last season and shouted "Trade him!" every time Malik touched the puck. "When they first got him I thought he was going to kill people... like Chara in Boston... but instead of killing people he make love to them!"

By the time I got to the game a half hour had gone by and my new friend and I had only begun to scratch the surface of the game. We didn't get into the fundamentals, though he did say that he likes the way the game plays under the new rules. We didn't talk about Gary Bettman, or Ovechkin v. Crosby v. Malkin OR even Lemieux v. Gretzky v. Orr. There were so many things I still wanted to ask him. What had gotten him into the game in the first place, a game that he had apparently been either attending or watching on television since at least the late 70's.

I tipped my kindred spirit everything I had in my pocket, wished him a happy holiday and sprinted towards the Garden at full clip, realizing halfway there that I hadn't gotten my new friend's name or badge number or even bothered to plug my blog to him (which is why I need YOUR help Don LaGreca). That's the beauty of this game. If you meet someone that loves the sport as much as you do it doesn't matter where they are from, where they've been, or what they are doing they want to stop and tell you everything about it. We hockey fans give thanks, not only for the sport but for other fans. You never know where or who you will be able to talk to thanks to this great game of ours.

Thats all for now. Adds and drops and injury updates in the morning.

Til' then:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM ALL OF US HERE AT THE TRAP TO ALL OF YOU AND YOURS.