When the final buzzer sounded on the NHL trade deadline on Monday, February 25, Detroit Red Wings forward Thomas Vanek had not been traded. For former Estevan Bruin Alan May, that meant his name still stood alone in the NHL record book.

The Barrhead, Alberta native is now a broadcaster for NBCSN covering the Washington Capitals following a professional career that spanned five NHL teams, 11 minor league squads, and a dozen seasons. During that career, he was traded on the NHL's deadline day four times, a record that Vanek, who has been traded on that day three times, threatened but did not break.

"I actually have a lot of fun with it," May said of his strange record. "The stories are great. I can do the half-hour to one hour version at the bar surrounded by people and get a lot of laughs out of it. Every trade deal was a different type of circumstance. I wish it was four Stanley Cup rings I was talking about but it's still fun because even as a kid I was always consumed with trade deadline day."

May does have one Stanley Cup ring, added to his trophy case last season when the Capitals climbed hockey's highest mountain for the first time in their history. May spent more time in his career with Washington than any other NHL franchise, playing most of five seasons there, including his longest at 83 games in 1992-93 (thanks to an expansion year).

"I loved being a pro hockey player," he said, "every minute of every level I ever played at. But I think my greatest hockey memory is being a broadcaster for NBCSN as we're the broadcast partner for the Washington Capitals. I'm on the board of directors of Capitals alumni, I'm pretty heavily involved here. To me, it (the Capitals Stanley Cup win) was the greatest experience of my hockey life. You kind of live and die by the team."       

It was far from May's first championship, as Bruins fans will recall he brought an SJHL title and an Anavet Cup to Estevan in 1984-85. Out of all the teams he's played for, the Bruins maintain a special place in May's mind as the team that formed him into the person he became. 

 "I just look at the life lessons that I had there and the quality of the people," he said. "And being able to play hockey every single day in a town that's just consumed with hockey. Whether it's at that level (Junior-A) or the youth hockey level, the National Hockey League, the support that people have, I just thought it was a really good place. You never got a big head there and there were great people. I've maintained relationships with people there. I've always been proud of it. It holds a really special place."

May has been back to Estevan since the building of Affinity Place and called it "phenomenal" that Estevan has an arena of that caliber. He also still follows along with the team's highs and lows, and was especially proud of their run to the SJHL finals last season.

"I know who all the scorers are," he said. "I keep track. They're one of my Twitter follows, that's the easiest way to collect information. I want them to win the league every year and I want the players to go on to bigger and better things in the hockey world, and for the ones that don't, I just hope they get a lot of life lessons from the people affiliated with that team and in that town."

May's Capitals are fighting for playoff positioning in the NHL's Eastern Conference, much like his former Bruins are in the SJHL. They sit second in the Metropolitan Division with 77 points, and will begin their defense of their Stanley Cup title in April.