You probably didn't even notice it. After all, it's just a bit of ridiculously small type below every photo we publish. Normally, for photos from major college and pro sporting events published in the Times-Standard, it says “The Associated Press.”

But if you still have Sunday's paper, look at the words under the photo of Nils Ekman's shootout-winning goal for the Sharks on Page C5. Notice something different? It says “Erik Fraser/The Times-Standard.”

It's a wonderful thing when a dream comes true, and even better when you get paid to do it. And as the newest face on the T-S sports desk and a Sharks fan since literally day one, I had that opportunity Saturday night.

I was going to the Bay Area for a concert, and I noticed the Sharks were playing Calgary on Saturday in a rematch of the 2004 Western Conference Finals. Then I thought, hey, I'm now part of the “media” now, so I fired off an e-mail to the Sharks' media relations department, inquiring about a press credential. To my surprise and delight, their answer was, “no problem.”

So before I knew it, I found myself sitting in the pressroom in the bowels of the Shark Tank, having dinner with two sportswriters and Sharks' communications director Roger Ross, comparing Owen Nolan to Barry Bonds and laughing at the Dodgers' misfortune.

At times during the conversation, voices would creep up in my mind: “You don't belong here ... these guys are bigwigs ... you're just a small-town peon.”

But I tried to silence the voices. They don't know me. Despite my own paranoia, they probably weren't looking down their noses at me.

As it turned out, they were quite friendly, especially Ross. When he found out who I was, he practically berated me for not telling him I was coming. He would have gotten me some players for interviews. Oh well, there's always next time.

Ross was also more than willing to show a clueless rookie journalist the ropes after dinner.

He showed me where I could shoot from and explained the dos and don'ts for photographers.

- Rule No. 1: Don't block the fans' view of the game.

- Rule No. 2: The fans are always right, no matter how wrong they may be.

I chose one of the on-ice spots in the corner to start the game. This may not have been a smart idea. As a fan first and a journalist second, I often forgot to use the camera. It's easy to be distracted when Patrick Marleau nearly sends a guy through the glass with a hip check six inches from my face, not to mention my rather expensive lens.

After the second period, I went to a handicapped seating area to get a different view. That turned out to be the perfect spot to capture the shootout and Ekman's game-ending shot.

But Erik the fan had no time to enjoy it. Erik the journalist had to rush back down to the pressroom to sort through 228 photos, of which a whopping ten were decent. (Hey, it's harder than it looks.) And with a couple of clicks of the mouse, off went the photos, and voila! I'm a real photojournalist with big-league experience. And this is only the beginning.