A Visit from "The Great One"
By Sean Patt, age 13, from Hummelstown, Penn.
'Twas the night before the game, and all through the rink
Not a Zamboni was driving, nowhere I think;
Our skates were waiting by the door for some fun,
In hopes that this game would surely be won;
The players were hoping for a victory,
While visions of trophies and medals we see;
With them in their sweat suits
and I suited up, too,
Had just come inside from our warm-up run through;
When out on the ice I head such a crowd roaring,
I ran to the glass to see what team was scoring;
No team was there, just a man on the ice;
Please let it be him, I had to look twice;
The crowd screamed his name and I knew it was true,
It's "The Great One" they shouted and I did too;
Wayne Gretzky was here in the same rink I see,
Could I get him to sign a paper for me;
He came off the ice and I called out his name,
When Gretzky came over, I basked in his fame;
I told him of my team and how we were doing,
He gave me some tips to keep our fans from booing;
"Have some fun on the ice and always play hard,
Skate from blue line to blue line; your goalie must guard;
Keep your head on a swivel and feet in motion,
You have to skate hard, there is no magic potion;"
I thanked him for his help as he skated away,
He turned once again and said have a good day;
As he skated away, I heard for my sake,
"You miss all the shots that you never take."