I’m sending this one up: Alex Tanguay.  Please, please do well.

Alex Tanguay, as Phoebe from Friends would say, is my lobster.  He was my favorite player for a long time – back before I had to preface it with “totally random” because he fell off the radar, the map and just about every roster in the League.  But now, he’s back.  I’m feeling it.

Sitting, waiting, wishing.

Alex was drafted 12th overall in ’98 and played6 effing awesome seasons in Colorado, scoring as many as 79 points and winning the Cup in 2001.  He went to Calgary in ’06, rocked out one 85-point season and then dropped to (a totally respectable) 62 points the next year.  Alex waived his no-trade clause in ’08 – in hindsight a TERRIBLE idea – and was dealt to Montreal.  A shoulder injury and unimpressive season later, he went to Tampa Bay where last season was plagued by dismal production and lingering injuries.

"I miss Foppa."

So what was Calgary thinking taking Alex back?  They gave him a 1-year, $1.7 million deal and everyone flipped their toque about it.  The pressure is on.  If Alex can get back into the swing alongisde Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinien, they’ll be calling this the steal of the century.  In the Flames first intrasquad game, Alex got a goal and two assists – that’s a point for every goal of that game.  Alex is a passer.  He can score (career high 33 goals in ’01, all the way to the Cup), but he been the setup man for some ridiculous goal scorers, like Peter Forsberg and Milan Hejduk.  Just typing their names in the same sentence gives me goosebumps!  Not to mention Iginla, a 50-goal scorer who definitely has it in him to repeat.

I feel like I grew up with Alex, who is now married with a daughter.  I once had a custom-made shirt that just said TANGUAY on the front and a battle royale with my mom when she lost it in the laundry.  My old Jetta had an Avs sticker on the bumper and my dad and I drove from LA to Colorado so we could go to a game, then Alex was injured and the Avs lost like 25-2.  That same car broke down on the way to see the Flames @ Sharks in ’07,  I’m really trying here, people!

So I’m going to reach out there and lay it down:  Alex Tanguay is back.  Alex Tanguay can produce.  He can stop breaking my heart by looking so sad in a Lightning uniform and start being happy enough to get caught on camera singing to David Cassidy: