Hello all and it’s time for another installment of the “Meet the IHBers” series. A few days later than normal but the Kovalchuk news was more important. So let’s meet the next member here at the Islanders Hockey Blog, myself:

My name is Eric Ritter, IHB NHL Analyst, I’m 22 years old and I have lived in Deltona, Florida but all of the first 15 months of my life. I was born in Baltimore, Maryland before being moved to Florida. When my parents were growing up, Baltimore had an AHL franchise and they frequently went to games. Even after moving to Florida, they remained hockey fans, and many nights of my first years on Earth were spent on my dad’s lap as he watched hockey. I guess interest in the game was burned into my mind that way. In the mid-90s when Sergei Fedorov was taking the NHL by storm, there was a commercial of him racing an Olympic sprinter on a sheet of ice, and obviously Fedorov on skates was doing laps around the sprinter running on ice in his track shoes. Being young that commercial entertained me more than it probably should have, so he became my favorite player and the Red Wings, whom he played for, my favorite team. I’ve continued to root for Detroit and imagine spending the rest of my life as a Red Wings fan. As far as my relationship with the Islanders goes, my ex-girlfriend’s family was from New York, and her dad a big Rangers fan. So while we dated I found enjoyment out of wearing my Islanders jersey to her house to get under his skin. Since breaking up I get extra satisfaction when the Islanders beat the Broadway Blueshirts, so I guess I’m more anti-Rangers than I am pro-Islanders, but for fans on Long Island, that’s probably enough to satisfy them. I started doing video blogs on Youtube at the start of the 2008-2009 NHL season. During last summer, IHB operator Christian messaged me on Youtube and asked if I’d be interested in contributing to the blog, which I gladly accepted. I have continued doing hockey videos and will do so again this year, will keep writing for the IHB and this season will be starting a weekly radio show on blogtalkradio.com covering the NHL. Outside of hockey I work at UPS as a package handler, meaning I’m up well before 5am each day working to ensure the popular brown trucks make their deliveries on time that day. September will be two years there and I love my job. I’m looking for a second job and until I find one I’ll be volunteering at a local high school with my former journalism teacher to help fill my time. I love music, Kings of Leon is my favorite band and I enjoy writing lyrics and playing drums. That’s pretty much the outline of who I am. I thank all the readers that took the time to read my stories last year and look forward to contributing even more to the IHB this coming season. Should there be anything further you’d like to know, or ever have story ideas or suggestions, feel free to e-mail me by clicking my name at the top left of this page.

-Eric Ritter