Chasing Stars: The Game and Friend That Never Left Me

March 26, 1996, was an overcast day, light sprinkles fell on the outskirts of Reunion Arena.  The Stars weren’t going to make the playoffs, but me and Nema had planned to see them play the Jets for our spring break. Each year since the Stars moved to Dallas, we would plan to attend a couple games during March break. I’ll always remember that day the most when it comes to hanging out with Nema because I knew something was ending, but excited about what was next.

I met Nema in 1992 at a party.  It was one of those gatherings whereas a kid you want to escape the adults and just get away.  Nema had brought a binder full of baseball cards that we flipped through.  I didn’t know much about baseball, but those cards looked so cool.  Over the next several months we connected with our shared interest in football and basketball.  And when school started back up, we always tried to hang out on weekends. 

When news broke that the North Stars were relocating to Dallas in 1993, I was in shop class in junior high so I couldn’t really call Nema to get his thoughts.  But falling in love with hockey and the Stars was undeniable.  The practice facility was in Valley Ranch, and our parents would always drop us off to watch the Stars skate.  One time, we had brought all our hockey cards to the rink, and it so happened that the Capitals were skating there too.  We met Dale Hunter and Steve Konowalachuk even helped us pick out a few of the players.  I might have attended three games in that inaugural year, and two of them were with Nema. 

Over the next thirty or so years, our friendship grew and remained because of the Stars. From the early days of seeing Andy Moog reach 300 wins to the Stars rallying against the Bruins down three with two minutes to go. We started playing hockey that summer.  Joined a league out in Carrollton, TX and I remember I could hardly wait until Thursdays at 4:30pm.  There were also autograph signings with certain Dallas Stars, and we attended all of those throughout DFW. Looking back, still feels like we spent countless hours in those lines. 

College called and the real-world turned weekend hangouts to catching up at our rec league games or Stars events. The team that gave us something to do in the summer of ’94 kept our friendship intact throughout adulthood.  Nema has been more than a friend. He’s always been around to listen when life has handed me a struggle. He helped me get my 50^th signed Modano puck, but several before that one too.  If there was a time that I couldn’t get Mike’s autograph, he would give me his.  He’s helped in finding some of the game-used items I have today.  His selflessness knows no bounds, and he never hesitates to help others out.

Thanks for hanging out with me, Nema.  Thanks for braving those cold mornings waiting outside of the Stars tent sales in the early 90s and hanging outside of Reunion Arena until 1AM after games to meet the players. Playing NHL 94 while listening to the Edge, I always secretly hoped the summers would never end, school would never start again. But when it did, I took comfort in knowing that we would hang out again soon at the next Stars practice or game.  Driving by some of those areas today, it gives me hope that we still have time to hang out a few more times.