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.