The New Guy on TRT

April 26, 2012; Sunrise, FL, USA; Florida Panthers center Stephen Weiss (9) is congratulated by teammates after scoring in the third period of game seven of the 2012 Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the New Jersey Devils at BankAtlantic Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-US PRESSWIRE

As we proceed in waiting for the NHL and NHLPA to see eye to eye, I am glad to join The Rat Trick as a new staff writer. I hope that the readers of this site will find my post either insightful, interesting, or strange. I can live with those.

I am making this short and will describe a bit of myself and my background. I am a huge hockey fan born in Florida. True, one may not think Florida when they think hockey, but its here. As a child I use to watch hockey in Tallahassee in the form of the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks, a member of the ECHL. I followed the team for years until I fell away from the sport. I wouldn’t know anything of hockey until my uncle took a business trip to Tampa and handed me a puck as a souvenir. It was the first time, oddly, that I had even heard of the NHL, much less the Tampa Bay Lightning. I would still not follow the sport until I moved to South Florida and met my wife.

No, she wasn’t a fan then either, but when we married I automatically had two children, or step-kids. The boy, named Ivan, has skin problems, and the outdoors aggravate his allergies and skin conditions. We wanted for him to play a sport, but we could not think of what. Then, a local rink had a try hockey day. I remembered what hockey was, and described what I remembered to her and the children. We decided to go, and both children loved it. They gave us a ticket for a 4 pack of tickets to see the Florida Panthers that night, and we said, eh, why not. We went to the game, and became hooked on hockey ever since.

I can appreciate all realms of hockey, either pro or rec. I was an assistant coach for my children’s team with a local mite league. I am a big fan of the Panthers, Lightning, Kings, and Sharks. I want the ECHL to bring the Tiger Sharks back. But, most of all, I will Try to provide the best articles on Panthers and Rampage hockey as possible. It what the readers deserve.

Stay tuned for my actual first news/opinion  post. Soon.