His is a love affair on ice

Not everyone can agree on the best time of the year.
For some, it's mid-December with the holiday season rapidly closing in.
For grade-school students, it's the first week of June when school is about to let out and lazy summer days by the pool are near.
Spring and fall: For this sportswriter, the months of October and April are as good as they get.
In October, football is in full swing, the National Hockey League regular season gets under way and baseball's postseason finally arrives.
April is even better. College basketball crowns its champion with the entire nation watching.
Major League Baseball opens its regular season with plenty of pomp and circumstance. No matter how talented your favorite team is (or isn't), hope springs eternal.
The NFL draft arrives in the middle of the month, again generating dreams of new contenders created with the addition of the right college stars.
Golf takes the spotlight with its most prestigious event, The Masters. Best of all, the NHL's Stanley Cup Playoffs begin their two-month endurance run to crown their champion.
Minor treasure: Admittedly, I'm in the minority opinion on the treasure of ice hockey. Most sports fans prefer basketball.
My love affair with Lord Stanley's Cup began in the spring of 1971. Back then, NHL playoffs telecasts were limited to Sunday afternoon telecasts until the Finals, when an occasional game would air in prime-time.
My earliest prime-time hockey memory was Tony Esposito giving up a long-range goal in Game 7 of the 1971 Stanley Cup Finals, a game his Blackhawks lost by one goal.
Instead of television, hockey fans then depended on a strong AM radio to keep up with the skaters.
Dan Kelly, the voice of the St. Louis Blues, won me over. Kelly was a master painter using a canvas of airwaves.
Because KMOX had a powerful AM signal, the longer the Blues stayed in the playoffs, the more games this Ohio teen could tune in late on school nights.
There was something special about coming home from Maundy Thursday church service with a Dairy Queen milkshake in hand and the North Stars and Blues facing off. The listener supplied the pictures.
Penguins: The Pittsburgh Penguins enter this year's playoffs trying to do something that's only been done twice in the past 30 years: Win the Stanley Cup with a rookie goalie.
Johan Hedberg, the 27-year-old netminder the Pens traded for 31/2 weeks ago, has emerged as the No. 1 backstop for Coach Ivan Hlinka's team.
Of the Pens' three goalies, only Garth Snow has playoff experience. But Snow has been bothered with a leg injury since February and his rustiness showed Monday in the Pens' disappointing loss to the lowly New York Islanders.
Jean-Sebastien Aubin was supposed to the Pens' No. 1 goalie in last spring's playoffs, but he injured his leg 10 days before the regular season ended, opening the door for Ron Tugnutt.
A free agent-in-waiting, Tugnutt came to the Pens in a late-season trade from Ottawa.
Tugnutt was brilliant, backstopping the Pens to a five-game win over the Washington Capitals and a 2-0 lead over the Philadelphia Flyers. His performance in the five-overtime Game 4 last May 4 was unforgettable.
Search: The Columbus Blue Jackets wisely pounced on Tugnutt when he became free last July, sparking the Pens' current search for a top-flight goalie.
It's supposed to be Aubin, but he's been inconsistent all season long. Thus, the Pens' hopes ride on Hedberg's shoulders.
Since 1971, only two teams have won the Stanley Cup with a rookie goaltender: The 1971 Montreal Canadiens with Ken Dryden and the 1986 Canadiens with Patrick Roy.
Wouldn't it be something if Hedberg joined such elite company?
XTom Williams is a sportswriter for The Vindicator.