Hockey Puck

Winter 1979.

A friend’s family had season tickets to the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League. This dates back to the era of the Kings’ purple and gold uniforms. It was game day and they had a spare ticket. This friend, we’ll call him McNeil, invited me to join. I’d never been to a hockey game before nor followed the sport closely. But heck, I was a sports fan, and a game on ice? Cool. Accepted.

During the course of the game a hockey puck was whacked from the ice out of play over the protective perimeter glass and was caught by a man sitting behind me! So close! Exciting! Apparently in 5th grade I was still an adorable kid. He looked at me and handed me the puck. Neat, “Thank you.”


Spring 1987. Santa Barbara, CA.

I was in college, UC Santa Barbara, living in one of the dormitories, Anacapa.

I took that puck to college with me. Everyone’s handled baseballs and footballs, so I enjoyed the novelty of the hockey puck. Hockey is a game played on ice, so I thought it be appropriate for the puck to live in the freezer. I figured it’d be accustomed to, and preferred, a very cold habitat.

Had a party in my room one night. Bunch of folks, didn’t know them all, beers consumed, loud music, some chaos. A day or so later I realized the puck no longer resided in my freezer. Missing? Stolen!


I can safely conclude that the novelty of a hockey puck is enjoyed by more than just me.
-klem