I'm doing this essay because I want an opportunity to explain myself uninterrupted... and gather some press based on Lebron's announcement.  But it's not totally copying him because no one burned my jersey (that I know of). 

I left Ohio after graduating from Ohio State because I did not want to take any more college classes.  College is mad hard, yo!  And like many recent grads, I couldn't find a job.  So I went with my back up option and just turned pro instead.   

I was fortunate to spend 6 seasons playing in the Atlanta Thrashers, New Jersey Devils, and Carolina Hurricanes organizations.  My favorite part was the high caliber of competition I faced in games.  My least favorite part was sleeping sitting up in the overnight passenger buses and then hopping off to play a game. 

At the over-the-hockey-hill age of 30, I was offered a goaltender coaching position with the NJ Devils organization.  I don't know if you know, but their goalies are pretty darn good.  Like, Hall of Fame good. So it really was an offer that I couldn't refuse or I'd be skating on a non-frozen pond with concrete skates.  (Oh, it's fine to joke about the mob - my wife grew up in Jersey and I'm Italian. But seriously. If we don't answer our phones in the next 12 hours, please send help.) 

So the long and the short of it is that I've decided to take a year off and stay in Columbus.  I'll keep watching my Devils and hope that my goalies continue to develop to make it to The Show.  But my relationship with Central Ohio is bigger than hockey.   My wife and I have been married 4 years and still have never spent more than 4 months consecutively together.  That's ridiculous - something had to change.  

Now I'm making a full go at being a goalie coach in Columbus.  I'm looking forward to trying to help Central Ohio hockey players elevate their game and bring my professional experience to the table.

I'm ready to accept the challenge. Columbus, I'm coming home.

#TBT  The Palm Beach Post - Jan 28, 1940
"Hockey proprietors would like to see more amateur teams on the ice, but point out that not many individuals or clubs can afford the cost of equipment. The cost of equipping a professional goalie, for example, is in the neighborhood of $135.85, not including accessories such as long union suits and suspenders. An outfit for a forward or defense man sets the club purchasing it back nearly $100.  Variation in the cost of shin pads... the goalie's cost $45, the others $5... and other smaller items accounts for the difference. Some players wear helmets which add to the high cost of playing the glittering game. Skates at #35 a pair for the professional model is the major item in equipping any player, but the net-keeper. Lower-priced outfits can be purchased, of course, but even the cheapest runs into more money than the average small club or individual can afford."

I looked it up and found that $50 in 1940 is like $800 today.  So the equipment of the goalie in this picture be is the equivalent of $2,160 to today's money.   That holds pretty true to today's prices... and is one of the reasons your parents don't want you to play goalie. Ha!