I've always been a bit of a hack, so when I looked up from tying my brand-new, stiff and spiffy Vapor 10's and saw NHL referee Paul Devorski tying his own skates, I got a little nervous.

The cast for Tuesday's pre-Avs practice skate included myself, Devorski, linesmen Dan Schachte and Mark Wheler, Avs ice doctor Dan Craig, my friend Sophie from Bloomberg News and Dave and Craig, both from NHL Images.

No one lugged full hockey equipment out to Denver, so this was strictly a mess-around session: just sticks and skates -- and gloves if you could find the room in your suitcase. We moved one net up to the blue line and played four-on-four, hit-the-post-for-a-goal hockey for about an hour.

While we were skating, Ville Niemenen, Shjon Podein, and Avs trainer Pat Kearns plopped onto the bench to chat with Devorski, leaving us down a man for a few minutes. Although, in his defense, Devorski did give us an outlet pass while leaning against the boards.

Thanks to Dan, the ice is great in the always-freezing Pepsi Center. The seamless end-boards whip the puck around much faster than regular dashers, which makes things interesting for the helmetless. On the opposite side of the boards, Pepsi Center workers armed with spray bottles and squeegies cleaned the glass while watching us play, undoubtedly wondering, "Who are these guys?"

Skating in NHL rinks is always great, even though I missed the pipe more times than I hit it and almost killed Craig from NHL Images. No call from Devorski, though -- he's got bigger fish to fry.

Lindsay Berra is covering the NHL playoffs for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail lindsay.berra@espnmag.com.