In exactly one hour, the doors to the Meadowlands (sorry, the
Continental Airlines Arena) open for the first NHL game of
the Devils' season. It's the first night of "real" hockey after
nearly sixteen months of hiatus. Game on. It's about time.
I am celebrating by donning one of my "formal" Devils t-shirts.
What makes a t-shirt formal? No, not one of those silly
tuxedo t-shirts. This is one I
can wear to the rink. I can wear it to Dunkies. It
doesn't have holes or stains, and it hasn't shrunk from
too many washings to become an unintentional
belly shirt. The only thing formal about it is that
it sports the tail and horns of our home town hockey heads.
On the left coast, sporting #57 in a purple, black and
white LA Kings uniform, will be
George Parros, making his NHL debut tonight. Parros
is a Jersey boy, having played in the Morris
County rec league, with the NJ Devils Youth Hockey
Club (where yours truly is the head manager) and
four years at Princeton University. He was drafted
222nd overall by the Kings, and wasn't given much
of a chance of playing in the bigs. But he works
hard -- the same school of hard work (literally)
that helped fellow ex-Tiger
Jeff Halpern land a spot with the Caps.
For the 17 boys
on my team, and the 900 or so who play Morris County
rec hockey, it's a chance to be proud as one of
their own makes the big time. I'll be watching,
because for every Sidney Crosby story, there are hundreds
of George Parros stories waiting to be told. Everyone
may want to be the next Crosby, but it's more likely
you'll be the next George Parros if you want to play
in the NHL. Either way, it's nice to dream on.