The Hockey Life: Lightning Dream Kid III

Some day, a long way down the road, Colin will look back on his days playing hockey as a child and smile. From his first time in skates to hundreds of games of travel and rec hockey league play, he will have a mountain of memories to draw from. That alone, folks, will be worth every last penny.

I'm thinking, though, that certain experiences will stand out. Scoring his first-ever goal in a game that counted. Getting a game-winner with less than a minute to play. Making lifelong friends. And, more than likely, his three turns taking part in official National Hockey League games.

Last night, Colin got to serve as a Lightning Dream Kid before the Florida Panthers-Tampa Bay Lightning preseason game at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. It was his third time in as many seasons, and twice in about the past 10 months, that he has had that privilege.

Pretty heady stuff, isn't it, skating in front of more than 13,000 people? Not sure I could do that.

Basically, a Lightning Dream Kid gets to perform three tasks at the start of an NHL game. First, as shown above (in a subpar video effort by yours truly), he skates, in time, to a portion of AC/DC's Thunderstruck. After that, he gets to greet Lightning players as they make their way to the ice. The best part, I believe, is then joining Lightning players on the blue line for the national anthem.

Really, how cool is that?

So, yes, some day, God willing, he will be able to tell his kids about it. And, that in and of itself, will make for another wonderful memory. To us, that's what hockey, and our hockey life, is all about.