The night started normal enough. Two teenage hockey players in a billet house. Old wood. Creaky stairs. Single mom downstairs. Then at 3 AM, something woke me up. The steps were slow. Too slow. One creak at a time coming up the stairs. I'm going to tell you what it felt like when that bedroom door opened — and what I found hiding in the back seat of a car in the back alley afterward.

This is what billeting in junior hockey looked like in 1986. It's a different world now. But the stories stay with you. — Second year in Kelowna. Sixteen years old. Kelowna Packers, BCHL. This is just one of the billet stories.