Today, I got to write a story I’ve wanted to write since I started working at the magazine. And meet someone I’ve wanted to meet since I was 12 years old.

At 2:30 today (Saturday), between the early and late hockey games, I had sushi and a beer with Jeremy Roenick, the guy who doomed me to a lifetime of misspelled bylines. We met at the Pan Pacific Hotel here in Vancouver and talked about hockey and retirement and the Olympics and our last names. And I think we might be related, because we both love to talk.

I wrote about our meeting for ESPN.com and you can read it here. I’ve always wanted to write a story on Jeremy Roenick by Alyssa Roenigk. And now I can check that one off the list.

While we were chatting, Jeremy kept grabbing my credential and saying, “Man, that’s just so weird.” After exchanging a few stories — most of them told by me — he said, “I guess I have been a big part of your life, haven’t I?” Bigger than you know, I told him. So it is so nice to finally meet you. And it was well worth the wait.

DOESN’T HIS NAME LOOK FUNNY ALL MISSPELLED LIKE THAT? (EDITOR’S NOTE: WE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO SMILE IN OUR CREDENTIAL PHOTOS.)