Alaskan local here. If the weather is good making the drive from Anchorage to Kenai is spectacular in the winter in and of itself. Take a camera. If you’ve got money to blow hit the Double Musky in Girdwood on the way down or back. There will be a line but the food and completely random stuff hanging on the wall is worth it. Get an AWD car with studs if possible. Road conditions can get really bad if the snow flies. Delete this one too if it’s too off topic. (OK it’s in another zip code)

I am flying into Anchorage in December and driving to kenai to ref some hockey (NAHL Kenai Brown Bears). What are some must-dos while I am up there?? I tired to find an email for you too keep this off the board. If you can give me some must do-s I can try and grab your placement. Feel free to send an email if and when you have time and delete this comment.

I love your blog. It’s nice to get another insiders perspective on living the dream. I don’t play anymore but I did play through high school in Wisconsin and a former teammate and classmate, Jake Dowell, is now fighting to earn a regular spot with the Blackhawks. Anyway, I have worked at Mariucci Arena for the last 5 years while going to school so I have probably watched you play many times without knowing it until now. I was wondering, if you wouldn’t mind sharing, what are some of the things you remember about each road arena in the WCHA? I love the distinguishing factors each building has and I was hoping you could give a player’s perspective on them. No rush necessary, I’ll read whatever you throw out there.

Thanks for all the time and effort you put into this. You clearly have a good thing going with your writing.

Best of luck and take care.

- Pat from behind the zam doors at the Mooch

You’ve written elsewhere that you didn’t drink in juniors. But when you got to college, rookies were apparently required to get drunk as part of the team bonding experience. Yes, I’ll say “required” — the weekend involved duct tape and peer pressure!

Weren’t there ever guys who had real objections to drinking? If so, how were they treated during the rookie party? In general?

You made the transition from non-drinker to someone who mentions alcohol regularly. (I’m not accusing you of alcohol abuse! Just pointing out the references.) Maybe lots of students, athletes or not, make a similar transition. But do you think that the hockey culture encourages more than the “typical” amount of college drinking? And if so, why? Why risk dulling your talent? I’m an idealist — if I were an elite athlete, I doubt I’d drink at all, just because of health/competition reasons.

(And I’m a mom, too — so of course I’m horrified by the thought of you guys passing out in an icy, isolated field!) Hey, be careful out there.

Also Manchild is one of the better nicknames you can ever assign someone. Was he a big unfortunate looking chubby dude with a baby face?

No doubt that story wouldn’t be as good an entry as the one above since Lee was actually arrested and faced felony charges for a while.

I had a couple of buddies up here around the same time who also thought it was great fun to exchange serious punches in the name of drunken fun … thank god they were always basically forehead shots … I remember more than a few knots on my forehead.