Funny story -- it was a blind date. I had just signed a deal with Phoenix (in September 2003) and had been there about a week and mutual friends set us up. We went for coffee, hit it off and here we are.

There's a lot of people picking this team to go really far in the playoffs. The fact it's my hometown, the fact that I've been here, the fact that I know and played with a lot of the guys, you couldn't put me in a better scenario.

It was one of those days. The icing on the cake was not having our luggage make it. We got my sticks and my hockey equipment and that was it.

What is research but a blind date with knowledge?

Hey, I just found it out it was already September. I don't know what the date is, just that it's Day 9 or 10 or 11, something like that.

Somehow it seems wrong to photograph a blind person. It’s like stealing something valuable they don’t even know they own.