The idea of playing sports or watching it, whether live or on TV, is one of the biggest passions in America. And of all the sports, hockey is passionate, both for the players and their fans. The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league, which is made up of 30 teams in North America. The Stanley Cup trophy is awarded every year to the league Champion at the end of each season. So where am I going with all this?

Let’s take a trip to Columbus, Ohio…home of the Blue Jackets. There you’ll find 6-foot, 2-inch tall, centre player, Emmanuel Noveen Malhotra aka Manny! Now I’ve been a fan of Manny since I first saw him play in 1999. I was sitting right behind the penalty box at a NJ Devils home game versus the NY Rangers. I had a huge, bright pink poster that said, “Manny I <3 YOU! PUCK PLEASE!” (Oh come on! Every girl who was 14 at that time would’ve done the same!) Just my luck…Manny skates over, takes his hockey stick and uses it to throw a puck over the glass wall. And yes, till date, I still have the poster, and the puck on my dresser as a memorabilia of my favorite NHL player!

Okay, enough of the ‘fan moment.’ In the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, Manny was the 7^th overall pick during the first round and started off his professional career with the New York Rangers. It was during this time that he had the opportunity to play and sit next to people such as Wayne Gretzky. From there Manny played for the Dallas Starts and is now playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets. He’s a killer combination of skills and culture – his…