Hockey Fanatics

I am not a pushover. Really, I am not! But Sunday night the kids got the better of me. We're pretty careful about what they watch on TV, and when, and we're generally firm about bedtime. Sunday night it all got blown. You see, the Carolina Hurricanes were playing Game 6 in the first round of the Eastern Division playoffs. And Mama likes her some NHL hockey! Proudly, so do my girls. Thanks to this weakness of mine, and to a call from Grandma and Papa alerting me to the fact that the hometown team was on the TV, the Misses got to stay up VERY late watching grown men chase a puck on the ice.

I still remember my first hockey game. It was March of 1990 and I had gone to Michigan to visit Daddy at U of M. He and some of his friends had season tickets, and I got to go along. I won't say that I got hooked after the first game, but it was better than football. I liked the pace even if I didn't get all of the rules.

As time went on, and Daddy and I spent more time together, I got to watch more hockey. I still didn't get the rules (didn't try to hard as he was always willing to explain the game to me), but I got enough to enjoy the games. I knew I was hooked when I had the Chance to go to my first NHL game (despite the fact that I thought it was totally insane to have a pro hockey team in the South). It isn't just the action on the ice, but the vibe of the crowd too. WOW!

Then came the ultimate... the Carolina Hurricanes' first try for the Stanley Cup, the Holy Grail of Hockey. And we got to go to one of the games in the final series! It was the Carolina Hurricanes versus the Detroit Redwings, and the game went into triple overtime (I think). We didn't get out of the arena until after 1 AM. The Canes didn't win the cup that year, but they tried hard. They did win it a couple of years later, and my in-laws were there to see it!

I even got to use hockey in my job as a teacher. I had a student who had moved down from Detroit, and was missing it. Somehow we got talking hockey, specifically that game, and he was floored that I was such a fan, and had actually been there. I got to use hockey again with the same student when my FIL gave me a practice puck to give to him. This kid had been to games in Detroit, but hadn't ever had a chance to hold a puck that had been moved around the ice by a pro. That bond put me in a position to help this student over the next couple of years.

Now my girls are into hockey. They were each asking a zillion questions, and I could even answer some of them! It was amazing to watch Miss S's face as she came to understand that the penalty box is "time out" for the players. It was funny to hear them echo my cheers to "move that puck" and "get it outta there!" It was hilarious to listen to them chant "Come on, Come on, Let's Go Canes!" just like their Daddy taught them.

And it does this Southern Girl, Hockey Convert proud to exclaim that my Canes SHUT OUT the New Jersey Devils 4-0 Sunday night! GO CANES!!

(P.S. We also won game 7 on Tuesday night with a couple of end-of-game awesome scores. Here we come Boston!!)