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Spina Writing His Own Success Story

April 24, 2008

By Lindsay Kramer
NHL.com Correspondent

In an otherwise unpredictable AHL postseason, perhaps the surest bet of all is that not many players will choose to wind down the afternoon before a game by reading the book American Shaolin.

Yet that’s precisely what calmed the nerves of San Antonio left wing David Spina, who played in the ECHL with South Carolina and Johnstown, as he sat in his Toronto hotel room hours before Game 2 against the Toronto Marlies on April 18. A man’s quest to turn his life around by visiting China’s Shaolin Temple, the ancient home of the fighting monks, was Spina’s latest gulp aimed at his never-ending thirst for expanding horizons.

"I heard it was a good read,” Spina said. “I like to read before a game to calm myself down. Every book I read has a mental-edge approach, a good message or work ethic, or hard dedication pays off. Sometimes I’ll bring three or four books with me on the road.’’ Few feature more compelling storylines than the one he’s writing for himself.


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