"I love you, Pekka"

I surprised Dominick today and picked him up from school right after lunch & took him to a Nashville Predators practice. We have been to one practice (back in October), and he really liked it, so I thought we would go again. He was still awake when I arrived to pick him up, and he got a gigantic smile on his face when he saw me.....mommy doesn't normally show up at the beginning of nap time! As we walked hand-in-hand out to the van, I told him where we were heading.....and he burst into another gigantic smile. We met mommy's hockey-loving-Canadian-friend, Kristin (and her daughters, Selina & Kiera) at Centennial Sportsplex, and then headed into the rink that the Preds practice on. Alth0ugh the Preds website said that practice was at 2pm, it was well underway when we arrived a few minutes before 2. We watched for about 45 minutes, were completely awed by their skating skills.....you are so close to them at practice, it's really a completely different experience than a game. Then practice was over and the players began to clear the ice. I saw a small group of people congregating near the entrance of the locker room, so Dominick and I headed down there to see if we could catch a glimpse of any players. We got much more than a glimpse! I put Dominick on my shoulders so that he could see over all of the people in front of us, and a very nice girl standing next to us held up Dominick's canvas sign that we brought along for autographs (just in case), and asked a few players if they would sign it "for that little boy" (pointing up to Dominick). Before we knew it, he had autographs from Brian McGrattan (#23), Brandon Yip (#18), and Dominick's VERY favorite player, Pekka Rinne (#35). While Pekka was signing Dominick's sign, Dominick belted out, "Pekka, I love you! You're my favorite player and I have your jersey on!". Pekka was so nice to Dominick....he thanked him, asked him what his name was, and then told him what a nice name he has. To say the least, Dominick was thrilled! And then Dominick immediately yelled down from atop my shoulders and declared, "mommy, Pekka is really sweaty". ha!

Our new friend also asked Matt Halischuk "to sign", but when Matt stopped and looked at the sign, he saw that his autograph was already on it, and said as much. Dominick replied with, "I met you at Dollar General! And you already signed it!". Matt smiled at him. On the way out to the van, we saw our new friend again, and she told us that sometimes the players sign autographs on their way out to their cars "back by the green fence". So, of course we headed back to the green fence, and after a quick trip back inside for a potty break, the players started to emerge. Our new friend called out to the players by first name as they exited the building and asked them if they "would sign for this kid" (again pointing to Dominick), and they did! He quickly collected 8 more autographs (Mike Fisher #12, Patric Hornqvist #27, Jordin Tootoo #22, Colin Wilson #33, Frankie Bouillon #51, Jack Hillen #38, Roman Josi #59, Kevin Klein #8). Dominick also informed Kevin Klein that he met him at the zoo, and told each of the players that came over "thank-you" and "good luck". It was all so very sweet, and all of the players were so very kind to him.....I think this little boy fell a little deeper in love with hockey and the Preds today (and so did his mommy).