That One Time in the Locker Room…

Call me a little bit inspired by one of my favorite subjects, Erik Gudbranson. On Tuesday, Gudbranson wrote a lengthy and heartfelt personal testimonial for Sportsnet. Gudbranson was easily one of my favorite players to cover, despite being with the Pittsburgh Penguins for such a short time. I had a few benign conversations which veered away from the current games with the giant 6-4 defenseman with hands the size of an NFL quarterback and more ink than a newspaper.

I’ve also told the story on a few occasions, the player who launched my career was long-time Calgary Flames captain, and briefly misused Penguin, Jarome Iginla.

I bring those players up, not to name drop, but to draw context for a story I’ve never before publicly shared. For legal reasons, I must withhold a couple more details, but the story is perhaps more relevant today than it’s ever been.