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Red Wings' Zamboni legend Al Sobotka ready for his new octopus office

Where do you start with Al Sobotka?

With the octopus? Maybe.

The Zamboni? Yes, of course, the Zamboni.

Perhaps with the arena itself? After all, this, ultimately, is a story about a man and the building he has cared for over a lifetime of work. One man breathing life into a structure. The structure breathing back. A rhythmic relationship — symbiotic even — between two towering figures of Detroit, one made of concrete and steel, the other flesh and bone.

Al Sobotka: Zamboni driver, octopus twirler, subject of Brett Hull’s torments, barbecue chef nonpareil, bedeviller of Scotty Bowman’s practice, custodian of Hockeytown and too many other unofficial positions to mention.