Eklund Keeping Stanley Cup Diary

This was on echl.com and the articles will be in the Pensacola News Journal..I dont know how often he will write a new one, but i'll give a heads up when he does..this is pretty awesome though. this is a great experience for him..to be traveling and practicing with a team such as the Bolts and to get to experience the Stanley Cup finals..wow..

His first entry:

http://www.echl.com/cgi-bin/mpublic.cgi?action=show_news&cat=1&id=2534

entry #2

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/sports/html/61D63FD2-F104-4B66-A3BF-18347D93684F.shtml

That's a very good read, thanks for the heads up! :)

Wow. Thanks for point this out ot me I'll be sure to follow up on this.

As some of you know I'm a pretty big Ice Pilots fan and I got to meet Eklund at a team autograph signing and for some reason the line was stopped when I was in front of him and we had a little conversation, hes a really great guy and I wish him all the luck next year in the AHL (or whever he ends up next year).

entry #3! Enjoy

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/sports/html/E208AD7A-4BE6-463D-B13D-AE14EFBE9190.shtml

Oh, and if you havent seen the website made for him...

http://www.geocities.com/eksfiles30/

#4

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/sports/html/191423EC-EDBA-4289-96C7-DB2A769B921F.shtml

entry #3! Enjoy

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/sports/html/E208AD7A-4BE6-463D-B13D-AE14EFBE9190.shtml

Oh, and if you havent seen the website made for him...

http://www.geocities.com/eksfiles30/

Nice site.

"Eks Files" - I love it!

That may be one for the HF Glossary.

entry #5

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/sports/html/1ADF13F5-18E4-4977-A554-E79203C3C402.shtml

--i did find one mistake..when brian is talking about the plane..in one paragraph, it starts: "(the ice pilots)"..thats supposed to be (the lightning)..lol

I'm enjoying this series, he must be having a great time, and I love his attitude:

I might not be the third-best in the organization, but I'm the third-best they have here...Kiprusoff's situation just goes to show you, you never know what will happen tomorrow.

Over the past year Eklund has moved past Dmitri Kazionov as my favorite prospect. I loved what I saw at last years traning camp.

# 6..

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/sports/html/FDED53E5-3B90-4F77-979F-6D7E6E3455B9.shtml

# 7

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/sports/html/676D680A-B1AF-4453-AC0E-F2EBECEDB8A6.shtml

#8

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/sports/html/AE54AE4D-CAD9-40E1-AEAB-DC9BF6B3543B.shtml

Just so you don't get discouraged thanks for continuing to link us so I don't have to go searching for it each day. :)

no problem :)

Thanks a bunch, I'm still enjoying it.

Let me say I love the enthusiasm of the Pensacola fans, you guys probably have more fansites than the Bolts do. ;) It's great!

thanks! yea..we have a few fansites here and there :)..the best will always be vanessa's though..her eks site (http://www.geocities.com/eksfiles30/) and the regular ice pilots site (http://surf.to/pilotpride) is pretty awesome. i'll keep updating ek's articles.

#9

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/sports/html/0A800BFB-6F2B-4F61-AFE1-352E2B8B9579.shtml

--seems as though he is becoming a good friend of vinny's..in a past post, it was his birthday and he said he and a few other guys had gotten pretty close and that they too had b-days right around his in 1980..one of those was vinny..good person to be good friends with eh? :)

LOL, bonus movie reviews! Maybe Eks has another job lined up for him if this hockey thing doesn't work out. I never thought Nik would be the type to joke with the other guys. Good to see he's enjoying himself.

#10

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/sports/html/5BA5C7DC-67A2-4A17-95E5-8FAD166A4F47.shtml

--this is a good one..

well..brian hasnt had an article in the paper for the past 2 days..so i'm guessing his 10th one was his last :(. on another note, this little piece was in the latest edition of "just hockeys" draft preview thing..:

"IMMEDIATE NEED Goaltending. Brian Eklund, the team's No 3, could develop into a fine player. He had a tremendous season with Pensacola in the East Coast League. Evgeni Konstantinov was supposed to be the heir to Nikolai Khabibulin, but he has faltered badly the past two seasons. Khabibulin could be an unrestricted free agent if the team does no pick up his $6.5 million option. If John Grahame were elevated to No. 1, Eklund, without any NHL experiance, would be No. 2. If Khabibulin leaves, expect Tampa Bay to solidify its goaltending position either through trade or free agency.

Damn, thought they'd keep it up throughout the whole series. :(

Thanks again for posting the links, it was fun to read.

# 11

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/sports/html/F55B149D-B30F-4C98-864E-C5F73B110B3C.shtml

--he did another one! he must have just done one for a few days because they had 3 days or whatever inbetween games..but here is another! :)