Getting To Know Your NPH Rival: NICK LOUCKS

This is the first of ten installments in NPH's "Getting To Know You" series.  A no-holds-barred, hard-hitting Q&A with one of the owners in the league.

We'll start with myself... In the weeks and months ahead, I'll send each one of you a survey in which I'll use the answers here on the blog, introducing yourself to everyone else in the league, since a lot of us don't know each other well.

Name: Nick Loucks
NPH Team: Syracuse Bulldogs
Vitals: Just turned 29; born in Syracuse, NY in 1980; graduated from SUNY Geneseo in 2002.  Emplyed at ESPN since 2002.

Where'd Your Team Name Come From?: I love all things Syracuse, the Syracuse Bulldogs were in a hockey movie (SlapShot) albeit an overrated one, and our family has had two pet bulldogs before.

Best Sporting Event You've Ever Been To In Person: 2003 ALCS Game 7 - The Aaron Boone game. The biggest travesty of the 2004 ALCS is that the awesomeness of the entire 2003 ALCS gets lost in the mix.

Favorite NHL Team: Don't really have one.  My wife is on her 3rd different favorite team since I've known her (Caps after Avs and Senators).  I guess I find myself pulling for the Penguins lately because I've got a few guys on their team, they have sweet jerseys and I think Sid the Kid is pretty clutch.

Favorite Non-NHL Sports/Teams/Players: I'm a Syracuse hoops fan first and foremost.  Love the Yanks.  The 4 sports figures on my Mount Rushmore of Sports ar Donovan McNabb, Derek Jeter (classy all the way), Larry Bird (childhood hero) and Jim Boeheim. 

Favorite NHL Player: Don't really have one, but I'll have to say Malkin as an investment in my future, since he's the cornerstone of my franchise for the rest of his career.

Favorite NHL Player To Hate: Don't really have one yet... Listen, I HATED the sport of hockey until about 2 years ago, and now it's at "I can stand it" status, mainly because of fantasy.  I haven't gotten burned by anyone in that endeavor yet so no one has reached "hate" status yet.

Favorite Hockey-Related Memory: A bunch of us Geneseo grads went back to campus a couple years after graduating, drank all day (including the parking lot in bootleg homeade 2-liter Pepsi bottles) and just marched around the Ira S. Wilson hockey arena taunting the opponents, fans and friends alike.

Favorite Piece of NHL Clothing That I Own: I got a sweet Retro Sport Toronto Maple Leafs t-shirt from the NHL Store via the mother-in-law a couple years ago which is sweet.  Some of my buddies are big fans of an old-school Sabres thermal number too.

Favorite Draft Pick: Gotta go with backing into Malkin with the No. 2 overall pick.  I was REAL tempted to take Crosby there though.  I think Erik Johnson in the 14th and Paul Stastny in the 18th were steals.  They'll be Bulldogs for years to come.

Draft-Day Regret: I took Pavelski instead of Jonathan Toews at the beginning of the 5th round because I had just read something about him before the draft.  I think Toews may haunt me for years to come.  I could have had John Tavares in the 9th round instead of Michael Frolik, but a part of me felt like my future brother-in-law SHOULD have him instead so I let him slide.

Key To Your Season: Malkin and my 2-headed goalie monster of Roberto Luongo and Ryan Miller.  If they stay healthy all season, I think I'll make the playoffs.  Yeah, you heard me.