AW, SHUCKS BRIAN CAMPBELL

I'm going to be completely honest with you, friends. I love Brian Campbell. No lie. I've told you that before. And it's not just because he's a redhead, but I'm not going to go into the depths of my attachment to him, so just know it's there. Oh, and it's been there for a very, very long time.

What I am willing to divulge to you, though, is my behavior last year on February 26, 2008. (And I can almost guarantee that I will act in basically the same manner if another of my favorites gets sent packing on March 4th.) I woke up that morning just like any other morning and packed my bag for school, triple checking the battery level on my MacBook. I had TSN's TradeCenter set to my homepage on Safari, ensuring that I wouldn't miss a thing.

I drove the 15 minutes to UB's north campus, and was sitting in Chemistry (one of the few times I actually went before I just stopped going because I had already failed), not paying too much attention to Professor ("Winston") Churchill, only hitting refresh continuously on my browser. Oh, and all the while, IM-ing Kim, discussing the trades and how I wasn't too sure if I'd be able to deal if Brian left.

At 11:27 am, my heart dropped and shattered on the lecture hall floor. Literally, this is what I said to Kim: "HE'S GONE. KIMMY, HE'S GONE."

From then on, I'm not entirely too sure what I did. I know I almost felt like crying, and thankfully I was in one of the last rows of the biggest hall on campus, and it was dark, because Winston likes to use Powerpoint.

But then I discovered Steve Bernier, and I was willing to accept him with open arms, especially with his debut in blue and gold.

Really, though? I miss them both terribly.

The one story I will always remember about Brian Campbell is highly entertaining. Well, at least it was to the 15-year-old me, before I heard about his galavanting ways.

It was late March or early April 2003, and the Dairy Queen in Kenmore had just reopened for the season. My friend and I wanted to go get some ice cream, so we walked the, oh I don't know, maybe seven blocks down Elmwood to get some.

The topic on everyone's mind was the SARS pandemic. But it was hitting home for Sabres fans, with roommates Rhett Warrener and Brian Campbell under house arrest/quarantine, because Campbell's sister-in-law was showing symptoms after coming into contact with SARS patients at the Toronto hospital she worked at. They were shacked up in Warrener's Kenmore home, not all that far from my friend's house.

Anyways, while we were standing in line to get our ice cream, who should get in the line opposite ours? Brian Campbell and Rhett Warrener. I'm pretty sure Campbell got a twist in a dish with chocolate sprinkles.

Basically, they could have killed me. Except, neither one of them actually contracted SARS, so I guess that's alright.

(ETA: In retrospect, I guess I didn't really do the story justice. I just think it's funny that, when they might have had SARS, Brian and Rhett are sneaking out of the house, disregarding regulations from the World Health Organization, to go to Dairy Queen and get their ice cream fix. Hmm.)

Even so, Brian, I'll never boo you. Well, at least not baring unforeseen occurrences. I'm impressed at how you and your Blackhawks have done this season, and I'll always cheer for you, as long as you're not playing the Sabres. Hey, I drove my family nuts on New Years Day because all I wanted was for it to be 1 o'clock so that I could watch you in the Winter Classic (even though it was better when you were wearing blue and gold).

Now if we could get Steve Bernier back, I'd be a happy girl.


*****

There is a positively awesome article about Derek Roy in the TBN today, surprisingly written by Bucky Gleason. I knew there was a reason I loved Derek. I mean, for his hockey skills, not his ridiculous off-ice behavior.

*****

About tonight's game? Well, I'm not going to be watching. I know, I know, that's outrageous since it's my one legit change to really watch Brian Campbell and not want him to win this season. But Kim and I are going to see Rent tonight at Shea's. Totally worth it. So excited.

But I am taping the game, and I've already told all of my hockey-obsessed friends and my family not to breathe a word of a score or anything related to this game to me until I finish watching it. Yeah. We'll see if that actually happens. Not counting on it.