50 Shades Of Bradley… I Mean Radio Show Continues

Dec 21, 2011; San Jose, CA, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Guy Boucher (center) walks across the ice to the locker room after the game against the San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion. San Jose defeated Tampa Bay 7-2. Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE

Need a Lightning fix? Despite the lockout, Lightning Radio continues tomorrow night, (Wednesday, September 19, 2012) in Brandon, Florida. Come to Cheddar’s at 11135 Causeway Blvd. The event is from 6-8, but as always, fans are encouraged to arrive early for parking and seating.

Lightning Hockey Night will feature assistant coaches Dan Lacroix and Martin Raymond. Starting at 6:15 pm they will be doing a “chalk talk” -which I am personally excited about. I LOVE chalk talks. One of the highlights of my life was having a chalk talk with Brian Bradley. *goes into dream state mode* It was a sunny morning in Tampa Bay. The Lightning organization put on a pancake breakfast for season ticket members. The food was great, and we got to eat inside the P  & C Bank Club. There were several lectures going on, including a tour of the arena and talks by Dave Andreychuk, Chris Dingman, and several others. We were able to go into the seating and watch both the Lightning and the Devils practice. A game day practice in the forum, that was amazing. Even more amazing was getting to meet Jaques Lamaire and having Martin Brodeur toss us a puck over the glass, even though we were clearly Lightning fans. Those weren’t part of the Pancake Breakfast deal, we just got lucky there. The highlight, for me, was the chalk talk with Brian Bradley. I believe that if you respect someone, you don’t talk about their work outside of work. Like if I were to meet Michael Jordan, I’d talk about cars or something, not basketball or underwear. In case you don’t know me well enough by now, Brian is my all time favorite NHLer. Gretzky who? Nope. Bradley. Now he’s come to be a friend and I couldn’t be happier. Being friendly with him was cool and all, and really a dream come true as at one time I would have died just to meet him. However, my real dream was to be able to talk hockey with him. As much as I love the sport, I wanted nothing more than to discuss it with my favorite player. But I respect him and just didn’t want to be rude to do so. This breakfast provided the chalk talk with Brian Bradley… and oh man… it was heaven to me. HEAVEN!! He explained a couple of things, I even got to ask him a question about something I didn’t understand. We were up on the club level with about 20 people in our group. When we started hearing the pucks being hit around from the Lightning practice, all but three of us left to go watch. I was honestly more interested in hockey talk with my hockey god. What the climax of the day was when the talk was done, I was standing on one of the club balconies looking down at the practice alone. I hear someone talk about the side that Garon was on, versus the side Roloson was on so that was how we could tell who would be starting in net that night. I turn, and he’s there. So not only did I get a chalk talk hockey lesson from the original #19, but now I was looking down at the Bolts practicing on a game day in the forum with Brian Bradley. We were alone and discussing goaltending and practice drills… I want to be clear. My love for him is strictly hockey. I don’t want to sound like a woman fan who’s ‘in love’ with players. Because I’m not. I’m very much in love with my husband. I just am so passionate about the sport that being able to talk about it with my favorite player was possibly the best day of my life. I mean sure, there was my wedding (at the forum on New Years Eve before the Carolina game were the Lightning smashed them into pieces), the days that I had my children… you know all of those landmark days. But seriously, come on. This would be like a 90’s NBA junkie talking basketball with Michael Jordan while watching a Bulls practice on a game day. (I know Brian’s not Michael Jordan, but he’s my Michael Jordan. Heck, even back in the Bulls dynasty days I played basketball and idolized John Paxson. Not Michael Jordan. I’m just strange that way.) This is supposed to be about Lightning Hockey Night tomorrow night, and it’s turning into 50 Shades Of Chalk Talk With Brian Bradley. Sorry about that, it was just truly a magical day for me. Even still I light up like a Hanukkah menorah just thinking about it. AADD moment. *back to the radio show*

The chalk walk with assistant coaches Lacroix and Raymond starts at  6:15, and there will be a Q & A session. It will be neat to have insight to the game through the coaches eyes. Rick Peckham and Dave Andreychuk will join them promptly at 7pm for the radio show to begin. All of Tampa Bay can listen on AM 1250 WHNZ. Fans who can’t make it can call in with their questions. Here’s the numbers:

990-4620 in Hillsborough County, 461-4620 in Pinellas County, or toll-free at 1-888-546-4620.

The merchandise tent will be on site, as well as the new Rolling Thunder. Rolling Thunder continues it’s 20-stop tour. Stop by to get your passport stamped.

Dolly Dolce
@HulaDolly