Hockey writer, Naples (Fla.) Daily News

And you have to remember where these snowbirds are coming from, places like Michigan, Illinois, New York and other hockey-centric areas. Sure, they want to get away from the cold, but they don't want to give up hockey. Plus, it's cheaper and less time consuming to stick around Southwest Florida rather than drive to Tampa or Sunrise and pay however much it costs to see a Panthers or Lightning game.

 

A lot of kids start skating before grade school. It's really not an uncommon thing in places where there's ice.

 

About five in most places in the upper midwest, probably younger in Canada.

Hell, wait until they're 10 and they'll never catch up.

 

Plenty of kids have bobskates by the time they're 3-4 out here. Any kids I might have will skate before they're 5.

 

It's difficult, but not impossible. Phoenix Coyotes teammates Owen Nolan and Ed Jovanovski didn't wear skates until ages nine and 11, respectively. When they each turned 18, they were the No. 1 overall picks in the NHL draft.

 

but likely uncommon in places where there's not any ice, right

 

Your own avatar puts to rest the lie that there is no ice in Florida.

 

I've met Everblades fans who traveled to Jersey for the Kelly Cup a few years ago.

As for the job, how do you find time to review 300 blog responses?

 

Probably not a whole lot different than sifting through 300 posts on SportsJournalists.com

 

Want a taste of just how crazy and intense this beat can be? Check out the day NDN's Blades beat writer had yesterday

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/sports/everblades/

 

A ton of work, true. But we can't say the Blades lack stories, can we?

 

No, definitely not.