Today was a whirlwind of hockey, and while we’re too busy being (in Dallas) to give it the full-on travelogue treatment (you’ll just have to wait a few days for our report about Sonic ice [hint: our conclusion? It rhymes with "blabulous"]), it’s definitely hockey- and blog-pertinent to do a quick write-up of our hockey adventures. Today was the centerpiece of our visit, the big day of meeting Caitlin, Myra, Hub and The Kid and seeing the Stars take on the Avalanche.
It should surprise absolutely no one to learn that the whole gang was awesome and not at all ax murderer-y (see kids? Meeting people on the interwebs is fun!), nor should it surprise any hockey fan who’s seen a game on TV from Dallas that the Stars arena is well worth the trip here. It was the 17th NHL arena that we’ve been to, and is easily the nicest of all the ones that don’t have Devils logos on the urinals.
We were feeling pretty confident that we were bringing “good game” mojo into the house with us, and we weren’t disappointed from a purely entertainment standpoint. From start to finish, the Stars and Avs gave us a taste of everything hockey has to offer: fights, chippiness, speed, good passing, good shooting, fights, crappy goaltending, fights, crappier goaltending, bad penalties, catastrophic goaltending, fights, overturned goals, moronic penalties, and lots of goals. The only problem was that the wrong team won. And while we were truly sorry for our despondent hosts, and felt our bile rising at having seen an Avalanche win in person that included a goal by Darcy Tucker, the thrill of a great game was enough for us to consider it an afternoon well-spent.
Caitlin steered us all after the game to a colossally good Tex-Mex place, Matito’s, where we gorged on crazy-good food and spent many, many hours enjoying fantastic company. And we have TiVo to thank for the easy, breezy nature of the get-together, because while we were being sociable in person, Patty’s massive TV set-up was humming away recording the Devils/Caps game for us. (Seriously, people, Patty’s TV is huge. It’s like having hockey games happen in your lap.) So after getting our fill of enchiladas de mole, stuffed jalapenos, and the like, we moseyed back to Patty’s, hunkered down, and soaked up the Devils offensive explosion (relatively speaking).
Our take on the game was that if it had ended the way the Hockey Gods intended, in a tie, it would be one of those where both teams have reason to be happy and both teams have reason to be pissy. We’re thrilled that they managed to score more than two goals for a change (and got an entire two in one period! Madness!). We loved the confidence the Devils generally had on the puck, and their assertiveness on the forecheck. We giggled with glee for Patty becoming the Devils all-time assists leader, and Vrana (Vrana Vrana) getting his first goal, and Zach scoring in the shootout on that sick move. We were less thrilled with all the penalties and the not winning in regulation. But you know what? So what! We’re on vacation, the Devils aren’t starting this season with only three wins in their first ten games, and life is grand.
Read Full Post »
