One of my most embarrassing moments

(Or how to talk about cat poop)

I’m going to tell you about one of my most embarrassing moments. My friends have a joke that all of my stories start with either “one of my former students” or “this one time at the bar.” So this one time at the bar, one of the Blues players I knew introduced me to one of his friends with a, “Michele, Steve. Steve, Michele.”

I wish I remembered what we talked about, but it was long ago and there were multiple drinks involved, which he generously bought. Then the party broke up, and he went off to his hotel for an early flight and I was off to find my friends. When I did, they were like “Who was that?” and I was like “Some guy named Steve. He plays for Detroit.” And they looked at me like I was an idiot, because yeah, it was that Steve, Steve Yzerman, Stanley Cup champ and Hall of Famer. Maybe that’s why we had so much fun, because he was like, this girl is clueless as to who I am.

So when I was in the Hockey Hall of Fame, it was fun to see that Steve was next to Brett Hull.

One of my friends used to work for the Blues, so one night after a game, while sitting in the Better Halves Club, I gave Brett advice on how to get your cat to poop in a litter box. Seriously. Can you imagine that conversation over beers?

I’ve had the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time. So has my daughter. For Game Seven of the Stanley Cup final, she was at the now defunct Wood and Ales, as part of the St. Louis Blues Fans in New York City fan group she helped start. When they visited the bar after winning the Cup, she got to hang out with Patrick Maroon, Joel Edmundson and Colton Parayko. There’s pics to prove it. But she’d never forgive me if I shared, so here’s a pic of me with the Stanley Cup, pointing to the St. Louis Blues section.