It’s really just a coincidence that I’m in the midst of three consecutive Conversations episodes that take me back, literally, a few decades.

Last week, I caught up with a high school classmate, Australian baseball player Gary White, and this week it’s hockey aficionado, Paul Shaheen. As for next week, well, I’ll just say it’s one of my former students, which means I am now, officially, old.

I first got to know Paul while I was on the Michigan Ice Hockey beat for The Ann Arbor News.

Himself a University of Michigan graduate, Paul did a lot of freelance radio work during hockey season. And as the early 1990s were not exactly overflowing with dedicated media members covering college hockey, it was a small professional circle, and we all got to know each other pretty well.

After I’d left the UM beat, Paul and I even road-tripped to Cincinnati, OH, in the spring of 1996, where we witnessed the Wolverines win their first NCAA Championship in 32 years. Beyond the occasional note or Facebook message, that road trip in 1996 was the last time we had any discussion of substance.

Paul continues to ply the audio trade as a side gig and hobby with his Research on Ice (ROI) Podcast and frequent X/Twitter posts (@PaulShaheen), as well as his contributions to NHL Network Radio on Sirius/XM; as a correspondent on “The Drive with Jack Ebling” show from Lansing, MI; CHQR 770 AM in Calgary, Alberta; and TSN Radio 690 AM in Montreal, Quebec.