I'll be a backup goalie

LAST NIGHT IN Chicago, a backup to the backup goalie/accountant actually played significant minutes in an NHL game. It's a way cool story and the guy will never forget playing goalie for the Blackhawks for the rest of his life.

Apparently it's a rule that the home team has to provide a backup to the backup goalie for every game. That's in case the main goalie gets injured and the backup goalie gets cramps, like last night.

My hero growing up, No. 29, Ken Dryden.

I wonder if the St. Louis Blues could use a backup to the backup. I was a goalie once, a billion years ago. It was in Montreal, and my hero was Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden, and I was pretty good. We played in outdoor rinks and some games I spent more time shoveling snow out of the net than stopping pucks. I used to take the empty plastic milk bags and put them on my feet before shoving them into my skates so my feet wouldn't freeze.

I'm not sure what happened, but I suspect when we moved to London, Ontario in 1974, hockey coaches found out I could skate. Back then the kids who couldn't move that well were the ones put in goal. I wasn't a super fast skater but I was tall and could negotiate the ice pretty well. My hero was Larry "Big Bird" Robinson of the Canadiens.

Then the summer before ninth grade I grew four inches and got a lot more clumsy and less mobile.

I played defense in high school and wasn't too bad. For a few years in Alpena, Michigan, I played in the men's recreational hockey league and had a blast, but moving to Quincy pretty much torpedoed my hockey and ice skating days.

People say I look a lot younger than my 52 years, so I will lie to the Blues and tell them I'm 28, and see if they fall for it. Can I borrow their goalie equipment?

I could just show up and backup the backup and pray two goalies don't get hurt on the same night. Apparently they put you in a nice suite to watch the game and feed you. Geesh, a couple of cold ones and I wouldn't even think twice about putting on the pads and filling in for a few minutes.

Whatya say, Blues? Dare to dream, just to backup the backup.