Moose!

Well, we covered Major League Baseball and the NFL below, now it's the National Hockey League's turn. The Atlanta Thrashers practice about fifteen minutes from our house. One day, when Rachel had no school due to a Jewish holiday and I had a day off, we went to practice. Some of the players are gracious about signing autographs when they come off the ice, but we prefer pictures. And on this particular day, there were not many kids there.

The smile on defenseman Garnet Exelby's face when Rachel was jumping up and down shouting, "Exelby, Exelby!" put a big smile on my face as well. But Rachel and I both have a special place in our hearts for goaltender Johan "Moose" Hedberg. (He used to play for the Manitoba Moose and has a moose on his goalie mask.)

We took our first picture with "Moose" two years ago. He knelt down so he was less imposing to Rachel and I snapped a picture. A year later, he was signing for fans after practice and I had Rachel with me. I thanked him for being so good with her a year earlier. He saw her and said, "Well, she's a year older. Do you want to take another one?" I said, "Sure." He lifted her up behind the security ropes and we took another picture.

So when we saw him the other day, I said, "This is getting to be like an annual school picture; can we take another one?" He said it was fine, knelt down and engaged her in conversation, telling her "I remember when you were just this high" and putting his hand beneath her current height. He kidded with her about how old she was and how she had grown.

Rachel also got her picture taken with aforementioned Exelby, defenseman Zach Bogosian and goalie Kari Lehtonen. And whenever the Thrashers play, Rachel always asks where "Moose" is.

It seems goalies like Rachel. The Gwinnett (our county) Gladiators play down the road from us and we go when possible. Tickets are incredibly cheap and parking is free. One game, Rebecca and Rachel went down to the glass to watch the pre-game warmups up close. A goalie from the other team, Jeff Jakaitas, saw Rachel and tried to toss a puck to her. If you do it just right, you can flip it over the protective netting and it will fall harmlessly to the side where the fans are standing.

The first time he tried it, an older boy grabbed the puck. The second time he tossed one, I was able to get it and give it to Rachel. I gave him the nod of thanks and he nodded back, a big grin on his face.

Needless to say, when Jeff Jakaitas returns to the Arena at Gwinnett later this year, he will have three big fans in the stands, even if he does play for the other team!