Among the highlights

So, if getting to serve as a Lightning Dream Kid before the Florida Panthers-Tampa Bay Lightning game wasn't enough Saturday night, Colin and his buddy Max also got to meet Annilie and Jordana, the Fox Sports Florida girls, and quite possibly end up in one of their promos for Lightning games.

We don't know for sure if and when it'll happen, but the two young ladies were kind enough to take a picture with them and post it on their Twitter feed:

@flahockeydad Thanks for filming the @TBLightning promos with us last night boys!!! #gobolts -Jordana pic.twitter.com/A6MljAvlMX
— Annilie and Jordana (@FSFloridaGirls) September 22, 2013

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.

A dream hat trick

Photo by DIRK SHADD   |   Tampa Bay Times

For the third time in as many seasons, Colin has been chosen to serve as the Lightning Dream Kid before a Tampa Bay Lightning game. Earlier today, he was invited to skate before this Saturday's game against the Florida Panthers.

Here are links to the past two times he served:

Feb. 1, 2013: Winnipeg Jets vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
Jan. 17, 2012: Boston Bruins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

Now, all I have to do is get the night off. I watched the first two, so I don't want to miss this one.

Being the Thunder

For the second time in as many NHL seasons, Colin got to skate as the Lightning Dream Kid before the Tampa Bay Lightning's game against the Winnipeg Jets last Friday at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

Like I've said before, if he does nothing else in hockey, the memories from these adventures will last a lifetime. For an 11-year-old kid, this is an amazing opportunity that very few get to experience.

He was able to skate serving as a emergency fill-in when another youth hockey player couldn't skate because of an illness. Of course, we were more than happy to help out the Lightning. Thank you, too, for the shout-out to the Pinellas PAL Stars team, as Colin represented that team rather than the Brandon Jr. Bulls.

Major stick taps, a tip of my old Cooper SK600 helmet and heartfelt thanks to a family friend for providing the video shown above of his entire skate. Thank you, Miss Eliza.

Here's a link to the shorter video I managed to capture after overcoming my nervousness and remembering to press the shutter

Here's another link, too, to a work-in-progress photo album from the night. I'm expecting a few more photos over the next week or so.

Fulfilling a dream

If nothing else ever happens in Colin's hockey career, he'll always be able to tell the story of how one night, when he was 10 years old, he took part in an NHL game between his two favorite teams -- the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Beyond his game-opening skate, to the thumping beat of AC/DC's Thunderstruck, at a sold-out Tampa Bay Times Forum, the Lightning Dream Kid experience also featured:

~ greeting the Lightning players as they made their way onto the ice; and

~  hanging out with Tampa Bay's Nate Thompson on the blueline during the national anthem.

There's also a behind-the scenes photo gallery of the night's events.

Special thanks to Kelli Yeloushan of the Tampa Bay Lightning for making a kid's dream come true.