Adios, Mellon Arena. I knew you when you were just a kid. When we first met, you were the plain old Civic Center. Then, as we grew a little older, I remember calling you by your nickname, "The Igloo." Ah, those were the days.
My friend, I must say you deserved a much better send-off. Your friends were downright brutal Wednesday night. Didn't they know what was at stake? Maybe they thought the start time had changed. Sadly, it was the other Eastern Conference semifinal that started at 8 p.m. on the East Coast.
Pretty sweet, semisentimental stuff after the jump. Not quite Insider as you totally recognize it, but it's a brand-name hockey writer voice, so give it a whirl -- and become an Insider in the process.
E.J. Hradek
Senior Writer, ESPN The MagazineABOUT THIS BLOG
E.J. Hradek
E.J. Hradek is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine, joining the staff prior to its launch in 1998. He began covering hockey as a writer/editor for Hockey Illustrated in 1989. The following year, he beat the Stars to Dallas (by three years), taking over as the editor of Beckett Hockey Monthly. When the Stars finally did arrive in Big D, he hosted a weekly hockey radio show and tried (unsuccessfully) to convert ESPN's Skip Bayless to the greatest game on ice.
In 1996, Hradek left Dallas, but not the Stars. Relocating back to the New York area, he became a part-time pro scout for the club, seeing more than 100 NHL/AHL games for each of the next two seasons. The scouting gig was a great learning experience, offering a different view of the game.
Hradek grew up in Tuckahoe, N.Y., about a 40-minute train ride from New York City. Despite the proximity to the Rangers, Hradek embraced the Islanders when the expansion franchise debuted in 1972. Eight years later, he was part of the sellout crowd at the Nassau Coliseum that witnessed the Islanders' first Stanley Cup championship.
