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And it has nothing to do with the driving time to Vancouver where they used to travel to his games when he was a B.C. Lion, for example.

“That was 12 to 13 hours. It’s an eight and a half hour drive to Edmonton. Not bad really,” he said. “In the fall we don’t get out of Kalispell until close to 4 p.m. when I’m done teaching, so we get to Edmonton at about 1 a.m. When we come over the hill and see the city it is like I am home again. When we leave to go back, it is breakfast with Mike, Emily and their two girls and then back to Kalispell. We usually get home at 7 or 8.

“My relationship with Edmonton has grown pretty deep over the past years since Mike became an Eskimo. I love the city, the people, the players, coaches, management and the press.

“Making the trip to Edmonton for every game, every season was easy to do because I have such a good relationship with Len Rhodes, Brock Sunderland, Jason Mass and Dwayne Mandrusiak,” he said of the CEO, GM, head coach and equipment manager.

“I also have a great relationship with the players as well. They really are wonderful people who I have managed to get to know very well over the years. Those relationships will last a lifetime.”

As we did the interview, there was no sense that Pat Reilly was saying goodbye.

“When Mike turned pro, he and I talked a lot about the fans and his desire to remain humble and always make time for the fans, especially the kids. He’s always signs player cards for me to give to kids before every game and I always get to Commonwealth Stadium about two hours before games to just wander around giving out cards. The look on those kids faces is simply amazing. There are times it can make me emotional because I’m the luckiest dad on earth to be able to do what I am doing.