Hockey!!!

Three months and a whole lot of firsts…I know I haven’t written about my firsts in a while because there were other—more important—things for me to write about, but now that tatas have been saved, and you’re more informed about Diabetes, I can write about fun things again. (I’ll write November and December in a separate post, so this isn’t too long).

OCTOBER

I love sports—all of them, though I haven’t watched all of them my entire life. I no longer watch the NBA because I don’t think it’s as good as it used to be, though I will watch during the Playoffs. And up until three years ago, I didn’t watch hockey. I watched when Carolina made their Playoff and subsequent Stanley Cup win in 2006. I stayed up until 1 am that night. But didn’t really follow hockey after that, until a few years ago—hockey is a long season to follow, and if you don’t have a team, it makes it really long.

I know what most people are thinking: you were born in Minnesota, how are you not a hockey fan? Well, when I was nine or ten (it was the fall of the year I turned ten, but I can’t remember if I had turned ten yet), the Minnesota North Stars moved to Texas. One of my most vivid memories of my childhood is riding to school with my friend’s mom, listening to the radio, as the Met Center was torn down. (That’s where the Mall of America stands now.) She cried. I remember knowing it was a big deal, but not really understanding why it was a big deal. Hockey was a big part of my childhood, even though I didn’t watch it. Most of my friends played. One of my good childhood friends was an extra in Mighty Ducks. My dad had never really been a hockey fan, and my mom doesn’t really care about sports, so when we moved to North Carolina, hockey didn’t come back into our lives. Until 2006. When the Hurricanes went to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, my mom knew the majority owner of the team—the Karmanos. When the Canes won the Stanley Cup, my mom and dad got to go to the Stanley Cup party. That year, I learned a lot about hockey—especially the Hurricanes’ players. After the excitement of winning the Stanley Cup wore off, I casually followed the Hurricanes, but they weren’t very good, so it was hard to be a fan of a sport I didn’t fully understand.

Fast forward to four years ago…I became fascinated with Nashville. All things Nashville. I researched the city, and learned all I could about it. In the process, I learned about the sports teams. Nashville has more than Raleigh :0 For whatever reason, I started following the Predators. At the time, I think my thought process was that if I was going to live in the city someday, I could and should be a fan of their hockey team. (It was the one sport I really didn’t have a team for. Baseball I don’t really have a team because when Dalton starts playing with one, that will be the one! And NBA, I would say probably Milwaukee, but I am not an avid follower). After watching a few Predators’ games, I was hooked. The gold and navy became my calling card. And then, they made a Stanley Cup Finals run three years ago…I would like to think it was because I started cheering for them, but I know better, haha. After that Playoff run, I got Hockey for Dummies because I wanted to learn more about the sport. When I am passionate about something, I learn all I can about it. Learning about it meant watching games. I even made my dad watch a Playoff game with me last Playoff run. His stipulation: I had to go to Music Bingo to watch the game. So, I did. We were eliminated from the Playoffs that night, which I’ll blame on my dad…lol. I wasn’t a very god fan that night…I was distracted.

When I set my goal to do something different every month, I knew going to my first NHL game had to be on the list. But, who should I go with? My dad doesn’t like hockey. He’s gone to games, but it’s not his favorite. And my mom doesn’t watch sports. I was talking to my friend, Lori, who loves hockey, and we decided we’d go to a game together. It took us awhile to choose one. Her team is the Minnesota Wild, and my team is the Preds. We wanted to go to one of those games, but they weren’t until January and March, and we didn’t want to wait that long. So, we decided to go to the game against San Jose. Boy, oh boy, did we choose the right game!

The game had everything a hockey fan going to their first game could want: a come-from-behind-victory (the Canes were down by three at the first intermission), overtime, and a shootout. It was intense and loud, and I loved every minute of it, even though I am not a Canes fan. I screamed and shouted and cheered loudly. I had fun cheering them on. The only thing I wished the game had more of was fighting. The best thing about hockey is the fights. There were a few potential fights, but the refs stopped them every time. No fun.

After going to that game, I would love to go to another one. Hockey is even better in person. I would love to see the Preds play. I thought about going to a game while I was in Nashville, but tickets are generally pretty expensive. The Preds game here is on January 13^th. Maybe that’s what I will ask for for my birthday!

I am a hockey fan for life now. A Preds fan first…but I like to watch a good hockey matchup. I’ve included some pictures, so you can see the good time my first NHL game was!