Although I knew Steve Pritchard from my childhood, I met him only recently. Steve drove the Zamboni at the Nelson Withington skating rink in Brattleboro, and I couldn't begin to number the wonderful memories I have playing hockey in that rink.
I was on the Brattleboro Colonels' first high school hockey team in 1993. The teams before that, as some of you might remember, were called the Brattleboro Nighthawks.
I was playing my first year of club hockey as an 8-year-old when the 1984 Nighthawks went 24-0 and retained the Khan Cup. I watched the Nighthawks with passion and idolized players like Rashad Kannan and later ones like the Bailey brothers and Miles Billings.
I also learned to ski riding the T-Bar just outside the door from the rink and, for a tiny little hill, it was awesome to ski Living Memorial Park at night.