It was like the greatest fantasy camp ever. The Carolina Hurricanes were storming through the playoffs, and David Gove, Keith Aucoin and Craig Kowalski were along for the ride. Called up from the minor leagues as playoff reinforcements, they had no responsibilities whatsoever, except to show up for practice and watch the games from the press box.
They drank champagne from the Stanley Cup and were on the ice with it, and although they didn’t get their names on the Stanley Cup, the three young Black Aces, in hockey parlance – a pair of undersized forwards and Kowalski, a goalie – received the same rings as the other players, mementos of two months spent living the hockey life to its fullest.