My First NHL Game

Me, Trevor, Flying Pucks... oh my!

The full Flickr set is here. They're all iPhone camera shots, but I thought they turned out well considering.

After a grueling session in class the last couple of days, I went to my very first NHL game thanks to my local buddy Trevor who is a season ticket holder for the Washington Capitals. His planned buddy backed out and I was happy to take his place. After dinner of brick oven pizza and beer, we ventured over to the arena, which was packed! There were fun sights along the way -- a black lady screaming "Are.. You... Ready!!!?" (I thought she was yelling for the game, but she was handing out religious pamphlets) and some cool chicks handing fliers out for the DC Rollergirls!

Trevor planned out his seats with great coordination. He's got a great view of the arena, sits at the end of the row, and is around the corner from both the restrooms and the Guinness beer station!

I admit that most sports bore me to watch, but ice hockey is fun -- the grace, the skill, the fighting, the burly players, and the bearded spectators! I found many things interesting:

• The crowd yelling "Henrick" in a taunting way to tease the NY Rangers' goalie (it's his name)! Instead, I hear Hedwig and sing "Wig in a Box" in my head!
  
• A guy was penalized for hooking and I smirked because I jokingly kept thinking it was this, which would be difficult to do on the ice.
  
• I was surprised how very dangerous it is on the ice for the referees. They literally were jumping and dodging those high-speed flying pucks. One got nailed in the neck by one, but was a real trooper and didn't leave the ice. I bet he's sore as heck today.
  
• Eye Candy! Everywhere. I tried to take pics when I could. There were some favorites, including a handsome police officer and one swarthy dark haired bear in red that caught my attention.

The Caps won 4-0! Go Caps!!! It was such a great time. I may have to become a fan of the NHL! And I definitely plan on seeing another Caps game when I visit here in the fall.