Today I met a legend

For those of you who don't know, that is Bernard Marcel Parent -- Hockey Hall-of-Famer, Flyers icon and helluva nice guy!!! You probably remember him better like this:



Growing up in Philly in the seventies, Bernie was one of my all-time childhood idols. I remember being devastated when his career was cut short by an eye injury. He has always had a reputation of being friendly and approachable and I had in fact met him once before -- for all of two seconds and a handshake.

But today I ran into Bernie at a local Cherry Hill WaWa while we were both getting coffee. Recognizing him, I simply said "Hi Bernie". He then asked me if I was watching the Olympic hockey tourney and we then launched into a lengthy conversation about it. I got to talk hockey with Bernie Parent. In truth, I would pay money for this opportunity but I guess the hockey gods were smiling on me.

Anyway, Bernie's take on the Olympics:

* Like me, he thinks Russia is the team to beat.

* Unlike me, he is rooting for Team Canada, not Team USA - he gets a pass because he's Canadian and, well... he's Bernie Parent.

* He thinks the gold is up for grabs because you only have to beat a team in one game, not a series and Bernie should know better than anybody what a hot goaltender can mean for a team.

* He also thinks there is a very great disparity in talent between the top tier teams and teams like Norway.