Sven Svenson, who is one of my teammates and has been a good friend of mine since we were drafted to the Raptors in the same draft class, was recently promoted by the Colorado Front Office to Assistant captain on the ice as well as a "player coach" assistant role to the coaching staff. Svenson is always cool as a cucumber on the ice, but sometimes if something unexpected gets thrown at him off the ice, you can see the panic start to set in. Before our game I walked up to Svenson and told him: "Bad News. Coach came down with the flu last night and gave it to the other coaches while they were having a strategy meeting. They are all stuck in bed for a few days. You are the head coach today." At that point a few other guys I had already filled in on the joke started bombarding Sven with requests for more ice time. Sven's reaction was like a deer in headlights as he stumbled around his words trying to answer all the requests without offending anyone. Then coach walked out of his office and strolled across the locker room looking 100% healthy. As the dawn of realization crept up on Sven's face we all broke out laughing in which i was barely able to get out an "april fools!" since i was laughing so hard. Sven did not think it was nearly as funny as he threw a roll of stick tape at us as we scrambled away. It all worked out for the better as we went out on the ice that night feeling loose and came away with a win. Although I have a feeling I may have to watch my back for next years April fools day.