Monday morning I received a phone call from my contact at the hotel where we hold our quarterly board meetings. She invited me to last night's Vancouver Canucks game as a thank you for doing business with them. (You may remember back in October when the same group treated me to dinner and a show:
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Hockey has always been a part of my life. I have fond memories of listening to the game on dark wet winter evenings. We didn't get cable tv until I was 17 so the games were always experienced through the radio. I remember laying on my stomach on the living room floor with my handful of hockey cards and hoping to hear a name I recognized. I admit I didn't really "get" the game but I cheered when they scored, groaned when they missed and got excited over fights.
Over the years my interest has waxed and waned. I had a crush on Pavel Bure like every other female, teenage hockey fan. I cried when they lost game 7 of the Stanley Cup play offs in 1994. I still prefer hockey on the radio over the tv because I can multi-task, scrapbook or do other crafts while listening to the game. Lately I admit I haven't been paying much attention but it still holds a special place in my heart.
Prior to last night I had only attended one game live. I don't even remember what year it was. Before I started scrapbooking so 98 or 99. We were in the end zone on the upper deck. Not great seats as far as seeing goals being scored but Canucks won and that's what counts.
Last night we (the hotel contact and two other clients) were in club seats.
Section 107, Row 20. I can't find the info on the features of the seats but it's a special section of GM Place. The best part is, you can order a meal while sitting in your seat! They just swipe your credit card and bring your food and drinks right to you. It's wonderful :)
The view was great. Close enough to see faces (we were facing the bench) but far enough away that you still could see the whole ice and the screen wasn't too far away for watching instant replays (unlike when I was at the Sonics game where I had to strain my neck to see the screen...I didn't even bother then).
Canucks won 5-1. The new kid, Jeff Cowan scored two goals and "my guys" Henrik and Daniel Sedin combined for four points. I call them "my guys" because the twins are about 10 months older then me so we've "grown up together". As a kid, all the rookies were eighteen. When you're ten, they're eighteen. When you're fifteen, they're eighteen. When you're twenty five, the rookies are STILL eighteen! When I was eighteen the Canucks signed Daniel and Henrik Sedin. Because we're roughly the same age, I've paid attention to their careers more then anyone. Of course they've each gotten married and now have kids but it's fun to compare their lives to mine.
Anyways, they combined for some pretty goals (along with line mate Kevin Bieksa) and I made a point of cheering very loudly :)
I didn't take any pictures. I thought about it but I was too busy eating and then cheering so I didn't bother. It was a great evening though. Gotta love the corporate perks :)
~Heidi
My hometown is the proud host to a brand new AHL (Amercian Hockey League) team. Okay, the team isn't new. It's actually the relocated Quad City Flames but under this name, the Abbotsford Heat, they're new. The AHL is predominately an East Coast league and the next closest to us geographically are the Manitoba Moose.
Mere was most excited about the fights and there were three "good ones" so she was happy :) Final score was 6-4 for the Heat. Lots of scoring made the game really fun. Although it's great high-level hockey so it was non-stop action anyways.
The Heat are the farm team to the Calgary Flames and the Moose are the farm team to the Vancouver Canucks. Every time a goal was scored, at least half the crowd would cheer. There was as many Moose fans as Heat so it made it interesting.
late in the third was another highlight. 
late in the third was another highlight. 
