Aaron Johnson? Who? Yes, I did the same thing. Considering that the scheduled November Club guest was originally supposed to be someone else, I had the same reaction. Guess it’s a good thing I really don’t prepare well for these meetings, so it’s not like I wasted time reading up on Dubie with questions at the ready to be answered. No, no preparation is necessary for these great, informal question and answer sessions that just seem to flow effortlessly.

Aaron Johnson, a quiet signing by Garth Snow, had been making Ted Nolan smile with his effort and work effort in practice, so he was given a chance to play with the team in Uniondale, only to be sidelined by an unfortunate accidental knee injury in practice. As the young man hobbled to the dais to join Claire, you couldn’t help but notice a great smile, punctuated by adorable dimples hiding any discomfort he may have been experiencing as he limped along.

This was Aaron’s first experience with any fan organization as he said he didn’t know if they had one in Columbus, his first, and only other, NHL club. The Booster club did their best to make him feel welcome, even if they didn’t know too much about him.

The audience was also treated to a few comical stories by Mark Novicki, from the Sound Tigers Booster Club, another great fan organization that supports the Islander stars of tomorrow. He even told us a great little story about how he put Chris Campoli on the phone with his daughter when she was only 11, and there was dead silence on the end for when he introduced himself. For a few minutes as the child was dumbstruck. But he happily chatted until she was able to speak. Two years later, Campoli sent her a game work jersey for her birthday. That was one lucky 13-year-old!

Growing up he would watch Al McGinnis who lived only a half hour away and was famous in his small province. He had the chance to play against him his first year in the NHL. "The more you play, the more you get to see all the players you watched growing up."

When asked how the crowd at the Coliseum measured up to the crowds in Columbus the answer was: "Louder! A LOT louder. I don’t know if that is because Columbus is newer and more open, but everyone is a lot closer and tighter and it’s an awesome atmosphere."

"In the summer I was talking to a number of teams, and we told my agent that we would tell the teams once I made my decision where I was going to go, and we were calling the teams, and a lot of them couldn’t believe I was picking New York. And they would say, ‘Why do you want to go to a team with an older barn, and it seems dark when you play there, and it doesn’t seem like a fun atmosphere. I won’t tell you who…but after being here for two weeks I couldn’t understand why no one would want to come here. It’s such a good group of guys, obviously, but a great practice rink. Obviously, the Coliseum when you play in it has one of the best atmospheres, especially when the Rangers come in. So I just don’t understand it. I haven’t seen anything negative at all. There’s nothing I can say that is bad. It’s an awesome hockey atmosphere and it’s great to be a part of it."

When asked what he thought about the Islanders/Rangers rivalry, he had only one word: Awesome. "I think it’s the biggest in the NHL. Whenever you can hear the fans yelling, it gets the guys revved up. It definitely helps a lot."

Regarding Al Arbour night, Aaron said "For a young guy like myself, who didn’t know the history before I got there, I got to learn a lot. And you learn to respect a guy like that. 1500 games with the same team is outstanding. That’s unheard of. And to have the opportunity to play under him, and to get the big win, it was a great game against Pittsburgh. With all the stars that were coming in… you just wanted to go out and get the win for him. It was a special night." It seems that Al did most of his speaking to the players before the game, simple instructions he had used before. "Play hard. Keep it low, Play for your goalie, play physical. I’m sure he wanted to say more, but with the situation of jumping in and not knowing any of the guys, but he was pretty cool behind the bench. We were trying to get him to yell at the Ref because he couldn’t get thrown out of the game. But he stayed pretty quiet."

"There was definitely some panic (when Ricky was injured). Obviously when your top goalie goes down; you want to know what happened and make sure he’s okay. Luckily it wasn’t worse. But I think there was a little bit of respect for Crosby. I think if it wasn’t a guy with a name like Crosby, he would have been thrown against the ice pretty hard. But it was just a mishap play. But we had faith in Dubie."

Always eager for inside information on other players, Aaron was asked who his roommate on the road is and what he could tell us about them. "It’s pretty early, but it’s Andy Hilbert. I have no big scoops on him yet. But Rick DiPietro was my roommate at camp, in Moncton, which was pretty nerve wracking for me at first. My first opportunity to play for the Islanders, and I get to stay with the biggest name in the Islanders' organization. It was fun. We did the basic things and we also watched a lot of movies." Looking at the youngsters in the room, he had to add "a lot of PG movies."

Superstitions are also something we look to gain insight into, but Aaron doesn’t seem to have any. "I was a little superstitious in juniors, but they weren’t working for me, so…."

When asked what he thought about this team, he echoed what we have heard so often these past few weeks. "I think we have something special. As everyone has seen, we’re definitely a close group. I noticed that even more right from the injury. Once I was injured in practice, the first guy that came to check on me was Ted Nolan, and then the rest of the coaches came in. The players all were calling and texting and checking in on me. I think that just shows you how close we are, and how much we want to play for each other."

How does Ted Nolan compare to the other coaches you’ve had? "What can you say that hasn’t already been said? He’s an outstanding coach. He’s a player’s coach, the guys really want to play for him out on the ice and he’s a good motivator. Obviously, he’s been through a lot and guys just WANT to play for him. There’s not much more you can say. He puts everything out there for you; he gets you to the right spots. He gives you everything you need. He prepares you well for games, and the rest is up to us."

He is very impressed with the Islander organization and what they do for their players. He admits he hasn’t been around the league much, but it’s definitely different than Columbus. Long Island hasn’t been what he’s expected, but he hasn’t seen too much of it. He was in the hotel most of the time until the team got him a place of his own close to Bruno, Campoli and Hilbert who "seem like they are my room mates."

"I suppose that means you cook then." A voice came from the back of the room. Without missing a beat Aaron answered. "No, that means I usually PAY." The kid has a sense of humor too.

For my blogger buddies, Aaron is yet another one who says he doesn’t check out the net to see what is being said about him. But he does admit, as the others did too, his family checks things out and reports back to him.