I spent all of last season watching Darius play. I felt he was the best defenseman the Pens could ask for. His desire and passion for the game of hockey was always apparent and he played with such intensity that he instantly became my favorite player. When the rumors around the trade deadline were surfacing about the Pens trading Kaspar, I hoped with all my heart that the Pens would not let him go. And thank goodness they didn’t. Because if they had traded Kaspar, he never would have scored the overtime goal in game seven against the Sabres to go on to face the Devils in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That was a magical day right from the start. My mother had graciously bought me an official Kasparaitis game jersey and had it sent to my home. I didn’t know it was coming, so that was the first big surprise. But the day I got it was the day of game seven. I called my mother to thank her for the gift and she said that must mean that Kaspar is going to score the game-winning goal tonight. So with high hopes, we started watching the game. At the end of the third nail biting period, the game was tied up. We knew that whichever team came out in overtime with the fire in their eyes and speed in their skates was going to win. And the Pens were looking good at the start of the first overtime. Then the Sabres had the puck down in our end and got a shot or two off before the Pens got the puck back. I’ve watched the replay at least a million times. Robert Lang carried the puck up along the boards and entered the Sabres zone. Marty Straka went in with him but got tied up with one of the Sabres and was essentially out of the play when Kaspar came flying up the middle, took the pass from Lang and let go a beautiful wrist shot that got past Hasek. I couldn’t believe my eyes and I jumped up out of my seat on the couch screaming and shouting with joy. Instantly my phone rang and my mother was on the other end screaming and yelling too. And to see all the Pens flopping down around Kaspar to congratulate him was just the most awesome sight. My hockey hero was now a hero to all of the Pens and everyone in Pittsburgh.

So how could I pass up the opportunity to skate with Darius? Even if I wasn’t a good skater and my hockey skills were lacking, how could I not be there? So I made the 2-hour drive to Pittsburgh from my home to the north of the city to the ice arena that the Pens practice in, to meet my hockey hero. I was nervous. I had butterflies in my stomach all day, I couldn’t even eat. Not only was I going to meet Darius, but I was also going to meet a group of women hockey players that I had never met before and I had never played ice hockey in my life. But all the women on the hockey team were very nice to me and showed me the ropes for the hour that I was there. Once we were all dressed we went out to the ice to wait for Kaspar. They were still cleaning the ice so we couldn’t get on it right away. I was wearing the Kaspar jersey my mother had sent to me and the local TV station for the evening news quickly interviewed me. After I finished my interview I looked over and there was Darius, on the other side of the rink waiting to enter the ice. I could hardly wait!

Darius came onto the ice and we all welcomed him, then it began. Darius assumed the role of Coach Kasparaitis right off. He put us through a short warm up session and then taught some basic practice skills. He had us skating forward and backwards in a straight line, warming up our legs. Then he set up a line of cones on the blue line and demonstrated how he wanted us to skate through them, cutting as close to the cones as we could and as fast as we could. After we completed that drill, he had us do the same drill, only backwards! He showed us an exercise he would do when he was a boy to learn stick handling by placing our gloves on the ice and making a figure eight with the puck on our stick. Then he had us line up at one end of the rink and one by one he had us start skating forward and he would pass a puck up to us and we would have to skate with it and take a shot on goal. The next lesson had us skating in twos, passing the puck back and forth until we reached the other end of the ice and whoever had the puck would take a shot. Then he had the defensive players line up at mid ice and one by one the rest of us would take a puck, pass it to the defensive player, they would pass it back, then we would have to try to get around them without them taking our puck. When Darius demonstrated this lesson, he accidentally knocked down the girl he was playing with. Darius made sure she was ok and helped her up. A true gentleman! We even got to play a short game with Darius before the night was over. I came close to having a break away, but the puck skipped off my stick and went sliding down the ice and Coach Kaspar blew his whistle to signal the end of the game. The score was tied, but we were out of time on the ice.

We all skated around one last time and then everyone gathered around Darius and thanked him for taking time out to conduct the clinic. It was at that time that Darius asked if the team would like a picture with him to place on their website and of course we all wanted a picture with him! So after the team picture, one by one everyone got to have a picture with Darius. I almost missed my chance though and was the last one to get my picture with Darius. Everyone was gathering around him, asking for pictures and autographs and I, being shy and quiet natured anyway, just stood off to the side. But someone offered to take a picture for me and so I was lucky enough that Darius stuck around for one more second to have his picture taken with me. He was so nice, putting his arm around me and smiling after all of that. I thanked him as I skated away and he smiled and said your welcome warmly.

It was a great night and one that I won’t soon forget.

Darius Kasparaitis may be a tough as nails player on the ice, but he is a very kind and generous person off the ice. Prior to the clinic I attended, Kaspar had been conducting hockey clinics for the kids too. And earlier this year, he donated an autographed stick to be auctioned off for a local charity that helps under privileged children get warm clothing for the winter.