It all began with a sad, sad story...

My first memory of hockey was my face pressed against the cold glass as I watched my little brother in his snowpants pushing a chair around the ice learning to skate. After all, there were no little girls that played hockey. Girls danced and played piano. There I was - a sad victim of stereotypes. Sniff, sniff. Just think - I could have been rubbing elbows with Cassie Campbell today. Sniff.

My next memory is he same as Hockeygirl's - the Wayne Gretzky doll. And after that, my hockey interest exploded when my family moved to Calgary next door to Flames defenseman Rob Ramage the year they won the Cup. How could a kid not get into hockey after hangin' out with Lanny McDonald and Joe Nieuwendyk at the Ramage's Stanley Cup party?!

Speaking of Lanny, as a kid I wondered if he was a distant relative of the Looney Tunes' Yosemite Sam...