Well, I'll make this short and sweet.

My older brother was the first one in my family to get hooked on the great game. Because of him, my dad and I became fans of the Kings (I was young and idealistic at the time, I know. Besides, Gretzky was there then). Needless to say we got enthralled in the world of hockey. In 93, my dad got season tickets for the Ducks, and we jumped ship. My brother stayed a Kings fan, which made it all the more fun. At age 8, I started playing roller hockey; my dad ran the inaugural season at Irvine Hockey Club. At 10, I joined my first club team at Gretzky's, and got to choose my number.

Does anyone besides me remember the Ducks first real offensive star? I don't remember why I liked Anatoli Semenov, but I used to love to watch him play. Around that time, the Bullfrogs started playing at the Pond as well, and I loved watching another European play; Victor Gervais. Since someone had Anaoli's number, I found a happy medium in Gervais' number 61, being the flip of Anatoli's 19. The Ducks unlucky number. Including Anatoli, no one numbered 19 has stuck for more than a few seasons. Even when he came back for a season in 95-96, he wore 93.

Now I've switched to ice, still proudly wearing 61. Still playing like a european forward.