No one has the same friends for life. I was reminded of this when Bob Gainey didn’t invite all of my best friends back for another season with the Montreal Canadiens. No Komisarek. No Higgins. No Kovalev. Not even the captain, Koivu. That is the entire captaincy of my team. And that is not even nearly a complete list. My best friends. The guys I’ve spent hundreds of games with, wrenching my gut and shouting. Gone, because Bob didn’t send the invites. Last week I had a dream that Price got traded. That seems like nothing in comparison. I trust Bob more than I trust myself, so I’m planning on this working out next year. But I do hate Hal Gill.

Last week I lost my iPod, whom I recently named Louis (pronounced Lew-iss, but Lew-ee is cool too). I had a bonfire in my brother’s backyard, with Louis on my lap. He was swallowed by the couch without me noticing. Yeah, a couch by the fire. It is the only way to do it. I have looked at some of my old blogs. I often update the status of my past iPod’s whereabouts and health. Louis has been my other best friend for the past year. I ripped apart the backyard at 10pm for over an hour, grooming the dirt piles, pulling out the four foot grass, and manhandling the couch. Dan 2e helped me search for a while. We talked, but all I could think about is the loss of my friend Louis, and how I might have to replace him with younger, sexier iPhone. Luckily for me, I found Louis in the sunlit morning, hugging closely to the cleavage of the couch. I still have him.

I always think about old friends. Daily. I often have dreams about my friends from elementary school; us meeting up and hanging out like we still know each other. I sometimes think about old friends from highschool, ones I haven’t seen in a while, and wonder where they are, what they’re doing and wishing we could share in some time together. Then I realize that my groups of friends change every 5 years or so. Not by choice, but by growth or life changes. I will obviously hold on to all old friends, especially those friends that have always been there, but the group I am with now has even changed considerably from two years ago, and I understand that it might not last much longer. They will always be friends, but the way we hang out now, won’t be the same way we hang out in years to come.

Nic: Cherish it. Love it. Your team of friends won’t get re-signed forever. But at least keep them on the alumni, and invite them back for memories of the Hall of Fame.