The Maven's recent column about "My First Hockey Stick" has prompted some interesting stories. This one is from Rangers Fan Bernie Rohde of Long Island:
"We lived in Queens Village – 227th Street and 107th Avenue but my Dad took me all the way to Rockville Center to a store called Wolf's. My cousin Vinny came along and I wound up buying a Northland Pro stick for five bucks.
"I was a seven-year-old Ranger fan and my favorite player was Number 7, Rod Gilbert. I loved doing street hockey impersonations of Gilbert breaking down the wing. We played street hockey in front of my house. My Dad made us pucks out of wood and my cousin Vinny played goal wearing discarded sofa cushions for goalie pads.
"We used sewer caps for goals until my Dad built us a regulation-sized goal. He collected onion bags from the local grocery store and used the bags for netting on the goal. I played until I wore down the Northland Pro stick until it looked like a toothpick.
The Good, The Bad And The Great Outdoors: RANGERS-PANTHERS
<b>THE GOOD:</b>
"Seeing how much I loved the game, Dad took us out to Wolf's again for another Northland Pro. Looking backward today, those street hockey games seem as if they happened yesterday!"