They say that people have always come to the States to fulfil their dreams and that the Walt Disney's World in Florida has always been the place to be to have your dreams come true. Well, this saying is probably outdated and not true anymore. Plus, I can imagine the Florida natives and residents being already fed up with the equation being put between the Sunshine State and Disney. Yes, Florida is so much more than that and I have learned that myself. What is true though is that the dreams do come true in Florida, even though not always thanks to Disney.

As some of you might know I made a trip to Florida last month, spending there two wonderful weeks. For a girl from the Czech Republic it was special and unforgettable in so many ways. But why am I writing about it on here? The answer is pretty simple. People know me as a huge hockey fan, mostly a Tampa Bay Lightning fan. So it was a given that I would try to get to see some games, to see Tampa, the Forum and my favorite team with my own two eyes. It did happen, I went to two games and everything went beyond my expectations.

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My dear fellow Lightning fans. I know this is probably not the right way to ask for help, this should be about the Lightning after all, but I hope our great and amazing admins won't mind this little Fan Post. I am writing this in order to ask for your help and advice. This is mostly addressed to Tampa locals or to those who have experience with going to the Lightning games at the Forum and/or to the team's practices or morning skates.

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I can imagine what you must be thinking right now. "Oh, God no. Kat is writing another Gagne article again?" It can get old, I know. I also realize that you have a team to worry about, no time to care about a player who's not on the team anymore. But throughout the season, there has been something that bothered me a lot and as we're getting near to the end of the regular season it angers me that much more.

It's people, Flyers fans, who constantly talk about how relieved they are Simon Gagne is not a Flyer anymore. How genuinely happy they are the Flyers don't need to deal with his injuries and a huge cap hit anymore. How they claim he obviously would have been a liability had he stayed on the team. How clear it is that Holmgren "won this trade". And so long, and so on. I think you get the idea.

Look, I am not writing this to whine and complain about how the Flyers need Gagne, how he is missed or how he was a vital piece that can not be replaced. No. First, it would be incorrect. Second, it would be pointless. Third, I do enough of that in plenty of other discussion threads. I am writing this as an attempt at explaining why I think it's unfair to claim and express things I stated above.

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Things started off rosy. Simon Gagne, the most noticeable aquisition made by Steve Yzerman in the off season, came to Tampa in the best shape he‘s ever been in, according to his own words. All seemed so idyllic back in September. Gagne was healthy, motivated, excited. In the four pre-season games he notched 3 goals and 3 assists for the total of 6 points. That was Gagne everyone wanted to see. But then the regular season started and everything went down the hill since then… for Gagne at least.

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Here it is. It's done. It's over. Simon Gagne has been traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning. If you know me, at least a little, you probably came to an easy conclusion - that this trade must make me extremely happy. My all time favorite player was sent to my all time favorite team. But never believe the first impression. Nothing is just black or white. Nothing is simple. Everything has flaws and drawbacks. And the drawbacks of this brought me in tears at the end of the night. Once the hype vanished, once the veil of excitement dissolved, I was forced to face the inevitable and painful fact. Simon Gagne is not a Flyer anymore.

Being well-known for loving the Lightning more than any team and loving Simon more than any player, I received many messages and comments, even phone calls from all different kinds of people, asking me how I feel about the trade, most of them assuming I'm probably excited about it. Frankly, I couldn't find the right words to answer their questions. I didn't know whether I should cry tears of joy or sorrow. I was very confused with myself and that's why I have decided to put it all 'on paper'. Yes, this post will be a meaningless chatter so feel free to ignore it. Though, if there are still some people wondering "how does Katchis feel about this trade?", I hope you'll find the answer here.

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If it happens I want it to happen fast. As the patch is ripped off the wound so it won't hurt that much. Since last night when the infamous tweets about "Gagne playing his last game as a Flyer" appeared I was a nervous wreck. It's been taking too long and this anticipation of the big trade, the Flyers are most likely to make soon, is becoming unbearable. I barely slept, I'm beyond nervous and I'm on the verge of tears while writing this post. You might smirk and think that I'm overreacting.

I probably am, but you need to know one thing. Simon is the reason why I became a Flyers fan. Why I have two teams that I genuinely love, instead of just one. I always loved Gags and he literally brought some of the orange into my veins. All the Flyers gear that I possess have #12 attached and he is pretty much one of the main themes in my bedroom (with all the pictures, posters and hockey cards around). I'm not going to pretend anything though, I haven't called myself a Philly fan until the mid of the 08-09 season. Which makes me look really bad, among such fans like most of you are, following this team for decades. You might also call me a bandwagoner if you feel the need to. I wouldn't mind. I'm used to that.

With all what I said above I just wanted to outline why this most likely will be the saddest day of my life as a hockey fan. Not even losing the Cup in Game 6 this June was that heartbreaking as this probably will be. Everybody (from what I've read and heard so far) is focusing on why Simon should be traded, why this would be a good move by the team. I would like to look at it from my own (without a doubt biased one) perspective. So after the jump, I would like to try to bring some reasons why he should stay.

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First home game lost in regulation this season. Vinny scored last night. He gained 20 points in 22 games so far. Yet there are still some "fans" who call for a trade saying he's not the right captain and blah blah blah. I'm asking you once more - SHUT THE FU*K UP! Go ask the players first, if they think he's really that useless as a captain! Being a captain is not only about scoring goals. And if it is, why is Luongo wearing a "C" then? Yeah, I know, goalies score on regular basis, right? And there was this fan regreting he attended the game - WTF?! What a loyal fan you are! FU*K YOU!