from Tim Ghianni of the Daily News,

“Mostly when they order they want the original six,” he says: “New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs.”

If no specific teams are picked, the Red Wings and Toronto are put on the board. And, he’s found over the years, that if someone is buying another team “the Chicago Blackhawks are by far, and have always been, the most popular team.”

For a moment, he leaves the game alone and talks again about the lifelong love of hockey that even had him put one of those massive 10-foot-in-diameter satellite dishes in his yard 30 years ago so he could pick up games from Canadian TV.

“Nashville always had good Eastern League hockey games,” he says. “Minor league hockey and the NHL are two different breeds. The minor league hockey I like the best. There’s a different feeling when you go to the games. It’s more personable, almost like our friends are out there playing instead of these NHL superstars.”

It should be noted that he has a fondness for the big-timers as well, particularly admiring the near-magical stick-work of Wayne Gretzky, whose poster helps decorate the walls of the 12-by-28-foot workshop building in the backyard where games are imported, assembled, packaged and shipped around North America. “I have a lot of customers up in the Northeast,” he notes.

more