Zoom has become the thing during these crazy times. I did a zoom meet up with about 10 guys from high school last night. It started at 8:30....I got off the call around midnight! Another thing that took a pandemic to get us to do. Some of these guys I see once a year, some it's been years. Great to catch up!
The Wings won the Stanley Cup last night! Well, the 2002 Cup. Today's blog is about #24, Chris Chelios. I got the chance to play hockey with him during the lock out of 04/05. He was always on the dark squad so I never got to know him very well until I played for the Motor City Mechanics. In October of 2004, the public relations people came to the station to ask if I'd like to play in a game for the newly formed hockey team. I picked Saturday, February 5th. The Super Bowl was on the 6th, so I just thought it would be a great weekend. 
At the time, I was playing hockey with the NHL guys three days a week. I got a call on a Tuesday, about 2 weeks before I was scheduled to play, the coach wanted me to come to the rink and skate with the team. The next time I skated with the NHL guys, Derian Hatcher asked me how it was. I told him it was ok, not as good as playing the him and the guys. Next thing I know, him, Cheli, Sean Avery and my friend Bryan Smolinski are joining the team. I was scheduled to practice with the team the day the NHL guys joined. The media was there and the coach, Steve Shannon, was skating us hard. I've never felt like throwing up on the ice before that day.
Like I said, I didn't know Cheli very well. He had a small circle and I wasn't in it, which was fine, I was just happy the guys let me play. Things changed the day I played that game. I think Chris talked to me more during the national anthem (being sung by Karen Newman) then at any other time before that. "Don't let any of these mother &%%*%'s hit you". "If you get in trouble, dump it in" and so on. 
I became friends with Cheli after that. He's always been great, wether I saw him at his bar or anything. It took that game to crack his circle.
I only played the first shift, but I stayed on the bench the whole game. I wanted to be a part of it. As the game wore on I heard someone yell me name from a hallway behind me. I turned around to see Kid Rock and some members of his band with the devil horns in the air.
Throughout the game I could hear someone chirping Chelios from the stands. Afterwards, the party took place at Hatcher's bar in Utica. As I was talking with Kid Rock he said "Did you hear me yelling at Chelios from the owners box?" LOL
-Meltdown-
