When I was young, I had a team, the Habs, only because of The Rocket and later Belliveau. In the old Forum, I've never seen the intensity of The Rocket crossing the blue line. Then I met Yzerman in Montreal. And then Orr took my eye, and Gretzky who my family did a favour and he reciprocated most generously to a terminally ill boy, a neighbour. I liked the goofiness of Eddy Shack, so the attraction for me is in the characters. I no longer have a team. Now imagine the amazing amalgam of Marchand, MacKinnon and Crosby, covering the sublime to ridiculous, each 100-pointers from a Nova Scotia neighbourhood-- similar to my polyglot NHL characters. Call it provincialism, nationalism, chauvinism or screwball. You're in a lonely orbit, lonesome. You've a team; I have a wonderful world cast of characters 24/7.
