While walking around the Nassau Coliseum before last night's game against Ottawa, I caught sight of this gorgeous woman in the distance. She was walking toward me, and the whole time I couldn't keep my eyes off her. Legs ... a body to die for ... legs ... and these crystal-clear blue eyes. This was unbelievable beauty.

As she got closer, I realized something. This wasn't just a babe checking out some hockey. This was supermodel Carol Alt. Wow. I knew then I had no shot, so I kept walking, head down, mind flying with wonderful thoughts. I couldn't walk by without checking her out again, so I turned around to get another peek. And there she was, high-fiving fans as she strolled around the Coliseum to get her seat.

Not bad, huh? Guy goes to the game for a little work and gets to see one of the prettiest women on earth. Nice gig. But I still had work to do. So after the game (a 2-2 tie) I headed down to the locker room to talk to Senators goalie Patrick Lalime about a story I'm working on. After I left the locker room, who was standing and waiting around for her man, Alexei Yashin, but the goddess again.

I couldn't help it. I had to go and chat with her.

"Um, Carol? What did you think of the big game? Alexei's first game against his old mates?"

"It was weird, I was so used to rooting for those guys, Hossa, McEachern, and Bonk, but I knew how important this game was for Alex, I'm just so glad he played well tonight."

Surprisingly, I was pretty calm. I knew that Carol and I shared the same roots as Long Island natives, but something was bugging me. I knew she was a hockey fan. She used to be married to New York Ranger Ron Greschner. But I wanted to know if she was a serious fan. So I asked her if she was an Islanders fan as a kid.

"Well, I was here before they were."

"Really?" I was shocked.

"Yeah, the team has only been around for about 30 years, in fact when I went to Hofstra they were winning all their Cups."

"Well, that must've been cool?"

"It was. In fact I stole the Cup once, have you heard that story?"

"Nope." Before she begins the supermodel-steals-the-Stanley Cup story, she reaches over and grabs a piece of lint off my face.

"Sorry that was bothering me, it wasn't bothering you," she said with a grin.

Feeling a little dumb, I was ready to crack a smile. How often does a supermodel fix my appearance? But I had to stay cool. Back to the Cup story.

"I stole the Cup from Bryan Trottier when he was with the Islanders. At the time I was with Ron, and the big joke was that this was the only way the Rangers were ever going to get the Cup. At the time I had no idea it was such a Holy Grail. Bryan had the Cup at a restaurant on Third Avenue in Manhattan and I took it around to all the surrounding restaurants."

"That must have been cool," was my lame reply.

With nothing else on my mind but her good looks and the feel of the palm of her right hand on my goatee, I couldn't think of anything else to ask. But I didn't want to leave. I really didn't want her to leave. So I asked her what it was like to be back home watching Alex turn the Islanders from joke to contender.

"I'm really happy and I'm happy for Alex," Alt said. "I've known him for 2 1/2 years now, and to see him finally happy it's really great."

Not only are Alex and Carol happy -- so are Islanders fans. And, come to think of it, so am I.

Kruk's Zamboni Ride: Carol will be in the booth for ESPN's Wednesday Night Hockey this week, Isles vs. Devils ... During the game the Isles' DJ cranked a rocking version of Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel … In honor of the holiday … Only in New York, folks … The Islanders also have a new mascot, Sparky the Dragon, who has his own web site, Sparkythedragon.com … He replaces Niles, the team's old mascot, who pretty much sucked.

E-mail John Broder at john.broder@espnmag.com.