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MINNESOTAHOCKEYJOURNAL.COM // FEBRUARY.2017 28 RUSSO'S RANTS PRESENTED BY PHOTOS: SUBMITTED BY MICHAEL RUSSO "I still remember my stepfather having to drive with me to games because I was so young, I wasn't allowed to drive at night without an adult. He'd come back with me to the newspaper and wait in the lobby reading a book while I wrote my articles." —Michael Russo He basically took me under his wing, telling me countless stories and talking to me about the game. It was Hockey 101 for a wannabe writer, and Nyrop was the professor. So, in 1995, as my career began to advance at the Sun-Sentinel, I felt comfortable walking into the Panthers' room as a young sportswriter. I was only a backup, filling in for the beat writer on some practice days, but the Panthers—in only their third year as a franchise—made a Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final and it was an incredible learning experience. Doug MacLean was the coach, and he's still a friend to this day. Bryan Murray was the GM, and he really, really taught me the sport. And some of my old Islanders heroes worked for the team—President Bill Torrey, Potvin, the Hall of Fame defenseman who was a TV color analyst, Sutter, who was an assistant coach, and Billy Smith, who was goalie coach. It was truly a dream come true. I remember shaking the first time I shook Potvin's hand. Now the guy gives me a bear hug when he sees me. Minnesota Man In 1997, I became the full-time beat writer, and in 2005, I moved to Minnesota because I knew I wanted to cover this incredible sport in a market that lives and breathes hockey. I've covered every sport, but nothing beats the thrill of covering a sport like hockey and dealing with, for the most part, the most down to earth, coolest athletes imaginable. I mean, I've gotten to cover Pavel Bure, Marian Gaborik, Brian Rolston and Zach Parise. Heck, I've gotten to cover Mark Parrish and Matt Cullen … twice! How lucky am I? Growing up in Florida, I sadly didn't play hockey growing up, so my knowledge comes from 20-plus years of being around it. I've covered thou- sands of games, covered hundreds of players and tons of coaches and GMs. Every time I covered a new coach, from Terry Murray and Mike Keenan to Jacques Lemaire, Todd Richards, Mike Yeo and Bruce Boudreau, my expertise of the sport grew. Industry Insight So here's the advice: Life is short, and your eventual job takes up such a large portion of your life, be sure to find a job you absolutely love. I love being a hockey writer. And best of all, remember how when I was a kid I wanted to get into TV and radio? Well, I'm lucky enough now to get the best of all media worlds by going on KFAN, Fox Sports North and other outlets all the time. How did I get here? Passion, work ethic, and yes, a lot of luck. A lot of very significant people took chances on me, and I happened to make some right decisions along the way. I also think these influential people recognized my personality, my desire to work hard and the fact I simply love this sport and job. Trust me, I'm no wordsmith. There are many more talented writers and commentators. But I work hard and love what I do. So if you really want to become a sportswriter, read a lot of different articles in a lot of different newspapers, learn the style of sportswriting (it's way easier but very different than writing an essay or book report), practice writing game stories (give yourself a deadline, get postgame quotes by watching FSN or listening to KFAN) and when you're old enough, network with people in the business and find a way to get your foot inside a newspaper's door. That's how I got started. I got inside, learned on the fly and volun- teered to cover anything and everything. I wouldn't recommend stalking any old Islanders like I did, though. That was kind of creepy. Michael Russo covers the Wild and National Hockey League for the Star Tribune. He co-hosts a podcast on malepatternpodcasts.com, can be heard weekly on KFAN (100.3-FM) and seen on Fox Sports North. Follow him on Twitter at @russostrib.