Every night that his parents would let him, and even some nights when they wouldn’t, Thomas Di Pauli would wake up at 2 or 3 in the morning, go to the computer and watch hockey. Growing up in Italy, the time difference forced Di Pauli to wake up at this time to see his favorite NHL stars.

Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Mario Lemieux, he couldn’t wait to watch all of them. He had to put in a little extra effort and sacrifice some sleep to see them play, but every time he did, it was well worth setting the alarm.