Off the ice, Wolves' Kwiatkowski trades stick for an axe

Joel Kwiatkowski thought the guitar was a gift when it was placed in his hands on the stage before a Poison show last summer in Lansing, Mich.

He learned quickly it wasn't.

The man who gave him the guitar was conducting a sound check. Kwiatkowski's instructions were to turn on the guitar when he was pointed to, and then start playing.

He went numb.

Sure, he had played before packed crowds in the AHL and NHL over his 10-year professional hockey career. This was different.

"I was in the middle of the stage; I was panicking," said 29-year-old Kwiatkowski, a Wolves all-star and the AHL's leading goal scorer among defensemen. "When the eyes are just on you and you have to play … I was so nervous. I had some friends and my wife on the side of the stage just laughing at me."

The man pointed, and Kwiatkowski turned on the guitar. He started stringing it to one of his favorites -- Metallica's "Enter Sandman."

Fans started cheering.

And like that, Kwiatkowski lived his dream of being a rock star.

"Once I got going, it was a pretty amazing feeling," he said. "It was a good experience, but it was almost like you blacked out. When you hit those notes, it buzzes right through you. You can see how those guys get pretty excited to play."

This is what Kwiatkowski does away from the ice in the off-season -- he tours with rockers.

Over the past few summers, Kwiatkowski has taken full advantage of having a friend in the music industry. Anytime his buddy is bringing a band through the Michigan or Ohio area during the summer, Kwiatkowski jumps in his car and makes his way to meet them from his home in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Two summers ago, Kwiatkowski followed the Cinderella and Poison tour, both bands he listening to in his youth. This summer of 2007 he made at least 10 more shows of another Poison tour.

It was during these tours that Kwiatkowski and Cinderella drummer Fred Coury kicked it off and became good friends.

"The first time I met him was over the phone," Coury said. "Our tour manager said he had a friend named Kwia who played for Philadelphia. I said, 'Kwia? Who picks a name like Kwia?' I took the phone, called him and left a message. I just went off on him. Kwia, that's the wimpiest of the fruits. That's like saying, 'Hey, little girl, what's going on?'æ"

That's basically how the relationship began and has continued. The two insult each other to no end. They're constantly texting insults to each other.

Behind the jokes and insults, though, there is plenty of admiration.

It's what Kwiatkowski has found in most of his friendships with the bands. The conversations between him and musicians usually start off slow. He's intimidated by them being in a band, as they are knowing he's hockey player. Eventually, talk loosens and everyone's asking questions about music and sports.

"It's kind of funny -- we (athletes) want to be rock stars, and they want to be sports stars," Kwiatkowski said. "They're pretty down to earth. It's pretty parallel to our life. They're on the road a lot. And you get out there and spend all your energy on the fans and then you relax. It's pretty low key. They do only have four guys to get along with. We have 20."

Said Coury: "It's the same thing. They have a crew in hockey that sharpens their skates; we have a crew that makes our life easier so we just walk on stage. Our uniforms are leather and clothes like that; Kwia puts on his helmet. We get on stage with thousands of people, do a little bit of showing off and the little hard work we've put in; they do the same. He started on a pond; we started in our parents' basements.

"The parallels are unbelievable," Coury said. "It's really fascinating. All the sports players I know, there is that connection that you guys do the same.

"Of course, I'd love to be a pro hockey player. Of course, he'd love to be a rock star."

Kwiatkowski has even brought the rockers into his world. He has laced up his skates to scrimmage with members from Nickelback, a Canadian rock band.

Last year, he asked Coury to participate in a 24-hour hockey fundraiser in Denver. It was there he got some revenge for all of Coury's insults.

"He told me he was going to check me," Coury said. "I didn't think he was serious. I was like Gretzky. It was an unwritten law. I have no muscle. … I kid you not, I was 5 feet in the air and horizontal. It was like I was levitating. It knocked the wind out of me. Once the dizziness went away, I was like, 'That was insane. I wish I had a picture of that.' … What a jerk."

Said Kwiatkowski: "It's funny when I'm in my element playing hockey, and they're not in theirs, it's a different story."

Kwiatkowski doesn't count out having some tie to the music industry once hockey is over. He doubts, though, it would be front and center again.

It's the one subject he and Coury seem to agree on.

"I would need a pretty good band behind me to become a rock star," Kwiatkowski said.

Said Coury: "He's as good of a guitar player as I am a hockey player."