I grew up a Flames fan in Calgary. I remember in winter of 1980, after they moved to Calgary from Atlanta, I met two of the players (Brad Marsh, who was still a Flame at the time, and Bob MacMillan, who was ultimately traded to Colorado before they moved two New Jersey and became the Devils) at a shopping mall. The Flames played in the Stampede Corral at the time, a small venue that sat around 7,000 or 8,000 people. My dad had seasons tickets right behind the home bench. (side note: The Corral was also where Stampede Wrestling was held).

Anyway, I met those two players and ended up at the game the next day. During pre-game warm up Bob MacMillan broke his stick. He remembered me from the day before and gave me his stick. Shortly after that the goalie - Pat Riggin - broke his stick and gave it to me as well.

MacMillan was traded to Colorado in the exchange that sent Lanny McDonald to Calgary. I followed MacMilan to Colorado, and then to New Jersey, and for a long number of years was a Devil's fan as a result.

I'm in Delaware now. Interestingly, one of my neighbours is also a Flames fan, even though he's never been to the city. We have fun with that.