Early in my career, I was out for dinner with Pam in Chicago.

Boogie’s diner was in the Gold Coast district of the city. I was playing for the Blackhawks at the time, and we were in the middle of a playoff series against the Red Wings. It was an off day for us, so Pam and I were enjoying a moment of solitude between games. That is until I heard this voice booming from across the restaurant:

“Hey Stu!”

It came again when I didn’t find the source of the voice at first. By now, everyone in the restaurant was looking at the big man walking toward me, and many of them undoubtedly recognized him as Bob Probert.

As I turned to greet him, I really didn’t know what I was supposed to do. We had fought four times during the regular season. At that point in my career, I wasn’t yet clear on what kind of relationships NHL tough guys had with each other off the ice. I wondered if I was going to have to fight Probert in the restaurant in front of my wife.