"Dwayne Roloson didn't go No. 1. Doesn't even wear it (30 being his number of choice).

He never graced the cover of The Hockey News as a teen phenom. No pulpy, silver-tongued sportswriter ever referred to him as prodigious or precocious or audacious.

But, at 40, he can still relate to the bug-under-a-glass lifestyle usually reserved for matinee-idol moppets.

"We'd go to the mall in Edmonton as a family to play mini-golf and people would be coming up, asking for autographs and things like that,'' Rollie the Goalie is recalling after Thursday's morning skate at Nassau Coliseum.

"Everybody knew you. Which is nice. Which is great. But . . .

"It's just different in Canada. John's gotten a lot of attention, especially early in the year. He's handled it all very well. He listens. He's respectful to the older players. He gets it. You can see his upbringing. He isn't a cocky guy.

"But here, he can go out to dinner or a movie and be a normal person.

"That's been good for him.''"