I work in the hotel industry and have had the wonderful opportunity to work where the new faces of the Avalanche stay until more permanent residence is found.

My story includes two well known, although short-lived Avalanche players Matthew Barnaby and Chris Gratton.

One day, while on the job, I was approached by Mr. Gratton (Which might I say is a very cool and down to earth guy!) about getting  a tee time at a local golf course for himself and Mr. Barnaby. Being in the hospitality business, I happened to have a pretty good connection for getting tee times at the awesome Arrowhead Country Club for free.

Mr. Gratton, upon asking about courses, told me "Maybe we can get you some tickets for a game or something for doing it."

Before getting the chance to speak to Mr. Gratton about this again, he checked out of my hotel after finding a more permanent residence.

After jumping through the "hook-up" hoops, I managed to get the tee time the two gentleman requested. I approached Mr. Barnaby with the good news and told him (regretfully) "I got you guys a tee time." He was just as excited as I was! I had also mentioned the fact that Mr. Gratton had mentioned something about tickets. (OOPS!) He said "Okay, we'll see what we can do."

Everything was great untill The next day. My General Manager approached me and informed me that I had been turned in for "soliciting tickets and autographs". Which , in the first place, we sort of had an agreement, and second  of all, I have been around way cooler Avalanche players than him and have never once asked for an autograph.

I had almost lost my job over this ordeal. Luckily, my supervisor was with me when the conversation with Mr. Gratton took place.

I don't know if maybe Mr. Barnaby had a bad day, or is just an arrogant and ungrateful person who thinks that everybody just loves him.

Anyway, that's another subject for another day.

I am glad to say though, that I have loved conversing with soon-to-be greats such as Cody McCormick, Steve Moore, and Jean-Michael Liles whom I look forward to seeing on the ice for  very long, and fruitful careers with our great hockey club.