Jason Jaffray is getting his first NHL game tonight at the not-so-tender age of 26—and his ex-boss took notice. From Iain MacIntyre at the Vancouver Sun:

The centre who spent his first five seasons in professional hockey exclusively on minor-league contracts, without a hope of playing in the NHL, will skate for the Canucks on a line with fellow Manitoba Moose callup Mason Raymond and veteran Taylor Pyatt.

Trying to absorb every minute of a day he’s been waiting a lifetime for, Jaffray went to the bench to watch the Ducks skate when he was spotted by Niedermayer, the four-time Stanley Cup winner and future Hall of Famer.

Six years ago, Jaffray was the captain of the Kootenay Ice, the junior team that is partly owned by Scott and Rob Niedermayer, who also plays for the Ducks.

“He knows the situation, knows it’s my first game,” Jaffray said. “He stops what he’s doing, comes over and shakes my hand and says ‘congratulations on the callup.’ That means everything to a guy like me - a young guy playing his first game - to have a Stanley Cup winner over and over stop what he’s doing to come and say hi to me.”