People of Winnipeg: Made Happy

Today a guy I work with SHOCKED me by telling me he loves hockey. I live in Los Angeles, and, here's a 60 Minutes Exclusive, that doesn't happen very often. Toronto came up and he asked me if I was a Leafs fan, and as I began to show him the things I had on me embossed, emblazed, and em-bettered by the Leafs logo, he whipped out his phone to show me the Sharks' shark on the screen saver. Well quel surprise.

Trying to connect with other hockey fans L.A. is like fishing off the end of a pier; you know there are things out there, but you have to get the clumps of seaweed (Dodgers fans), and old rubber boots (Lakers fans), before you catch something. And even then, you might get a used diaper (Moose).

He started talking about the Sharks and he was using the word "us" a lot, which I liked. It shows a lot about your level fandom when you take it that personally; I just know where you're coming from when you say that. It's also especially poignant if your team hasn't just come off an orgy of bandwagon jumping success. You just have to earn your "us" I guess.

I asked him about Vesa Toskala, and he said he likes him a lot. He told me that of the two Sharks goalies, he wished they'd kept him and traded Nabokov. He said Nabokov always freaked him out because he was always wandering around, and would go super cold after super hot. He said that Toskala would play great for us and that we'd like him, so you know, there's that.

We won in Winnipeg tonight, 3-2. I'm really happy for Alex Steen, who was born and raised in Winnipeg as his father played there for 14 years and was the Captain of the Jets. Credit to Paul Maurice to sit him in Edmonton and play him tonight. Steen scored on the power play, and it must have just felt amazing. My Dad was visiting me a few weeks ago, and I scored in a game he was at, where I was instantly reduced to pre-pubescent levels of "hey Dad, watch me!" excitement. It was so awesome, when we got home I got out my bike and made him watch me do pop-o-wheelies.