Saluting myself on The Maven's 93d birthday is worthy of a Game Misconduct. Understand, that's not what this missive is all about.

Rather it's a dirigible-sized THANK YOU  to some of the folks who've helped me continue my life passion – writing about hockey.

Best to start with the National Hockey League which – when you think about it – is our bread and butter.

Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly happen to be real people who have orchestrated our favorite game as  splendidly and devotedly as any leaders in any industry. In plain Brooklynese, they are "Da Best!"  Many thanks, guys, and that's no joke!

My gig essentially has been writing hockey in print and talking hockey on tv. Rangers publicists Stan Saplin and Herb Goren got me started. I wound up working for the Blueshirts in 1954-55, my first paying job. Without them=0.  

Then, New York Journal-American sports editor Max Kase hired me in 1955 and I was off and running as a sportswriter in the big time. Ken McKenzie then added me to his Hockey News staff and – one by one – ice-related jobs fell into place. 

In 1973, New England Whalers major domo Howard Baldwin took a large gamble, hiring my wife Shirley and The Maven to become the first husband-and-wife hockey tv analysts. We were record-breakers and didn't know it. Thanks, Howard.

"How would you like to do NHL hockey?" New York broadcasting legend Marty Glickman wondered on the telephone, knowing the reply. That was in March 1975 when play-by-play guy

Spencer Ross and myself helped launch what was to become Chuck Dolan's SportsChannel empire.

Of course none of this would have been possible without Shirley's insightful editing and writing while raIsing sons, Ben and Simon, and telling and retelling the legendary Guadalcanal gag, 

When MSG Networks absorbed SportsChannel, the high command on Seventh Avenue could have deleted the SC gang on the spot. But MSG's Joe Cohen and Mike McCarthy believed in me as well as my buddies Jiggs McDonald and Ed Westfall as we seamlessly became the "mensches" of MSG. From the get-go, 

I got tons of help, here, there and everywhere from pal David Kolb. In between, Long Island's humor prince Zach Weinstock  and I combined on the definitive Rangers-Isles rivalry book – his idea not mine and mostly his writing – not to mention the Isles 50th anniversary bible.

Perhaps the most astonishing – at least to me – aspect of this personal saga is that I've never tired of talking or writing hockey.

For that I gleefully thank editors such as Bill Price and Jon Lane at NHL.com, Graeme Roustan and Michael Traikos at The Hockey News as well as Cory Wright who oversees my "Maven's Memories" on the Islanders website. And that's just to name a few.

Of course there are legions more to thank but if I ever want to reach age 94, I'd better stop now. You other wonderful people know who you are, so don't get angry with The Maven.

And as you all know, I have to close with a laugh. Since we're talking about books and writing, I leave you with one of my favorite Groucho Marx canine lines:

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."

Love and Thanks to All.