From the signs of advancing age department: Just before they dropped the puck for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup, I was riding the elevator down to the hotel lobby and who should be there but Dave Gagner, with his son Sam. FYI: Every year at the Stanley Cup final, the NHL brings in the top half-dozen prospects for June's entry draft for a media event - so everybody can get to know each other a little before the draft actually takes place.

Gagner played for the Calgary Flames in the days I covered the team and this isn't the first time that the son of a retired player was old enough to play in the NHL itself. For me, it began with the Sutter family, all of whom played their junior hockey in Alberta in the 1970s and early 1980s. When Shaun Sutter, Brian's son, was eligible for the 1998 entry draft, I mentioned to Brian how old that made me feel - that he was now old enough himself to have a son on the brink of a professional career. In hindsight, Brian's response was not surprising: You're not the first person who's told me that, he said.

Then, a couple of years ago, three players who were all born within a year of each other - sons of Calgary players - were chosen in the first round of the entry draft: Robert Nilsson, son of Kent; Jeff Tambellini, son of Steve, and Patrick Eaves, son of Mike, who now plays for the Senators and is in a position to do something that his father never did - win a Stanley Cup. In Dave Gagner's last NHL season, his linemates were a pair of NHL rookies - Jonas Hoglund and Jarome Iginla. Iginla often cites Gagner as an important role model in terms of adapting to the rhythms of NHL life. Gagner told me today that while playing junior this year, someone presented Sam with a photo of himself as a seven-year-old, getting an autograph from Iginla. Soon, he'll be playing with or against him in the NHL.

The prospects' press conference is always a little awkward - most of these young men want to say all the right things and thus don't reveal too much of themselves in interviews. Gagner, for example, talked about excited he was that the draft was almost upon him - "you try not to think about it too much about it and just focus on playing and having fun. Coming here to the Stanley Cup finals has been a great experience."

Usually, players of his background have an advantage over their peers because they grew up in a professional athlete's household and thus understand that the draft is just a beginning, not an end in itself. In fact, Gagner said as much: "I don't think you can put too much pressure on yourself to make it right out of the gates. But at the same time, you need to really push yourself to make it to that next level, and that's what I'm going to try to do." That's the sort of approach that will serve the younger Gagner well in the months and years to come.