Brian McGrattan is two goals away from setting a new season high.
He’s playing upwards of 13 minutes a night, he wears an ‘A’ on his jersey and he’s living in a beach house in San Diego where his Gulls are one of the hottest teams in the AHL heading into the playoffs.
Suffice it to say, clawing his way back into the NHL is no longer his priority.
His one-year-old son is.
After all, it’s the love and perspective young Gabriel gives McGrattan that allowed all this to be possible.
A recovering alcoholic who celebrated seven years of sobriety before Christmas, McGrattan’s adult life has been a well-documented series of battles on and off the ice.