Saturday Night

The night was all about hockey. We got to the ice arena with plenty of time to spare, making sure to get 'our' seats. I really didn't need to worry, as the university had men's and women's basketball games going at the same time--against a local rival. Attendance at the hockey game was down by about 150, but a decent crowd, nevertheless. Announced attendance was 724.

I was a bit concerned with how the Rangers would play. This was the third game in as many days for them. I know the guys are very young, but that many games will take their toll, no matter how young/old a person is. And they didn't play up to their abilities. While they lost by only one, they only scored once on eight powerplay opportunities--NOT good. And they didn't get their first goal until the third period! I was beginning to worry that they WOULDN'T score. And the first goal was the reason for it being a special night.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this was the 2nd annual teddy bear toss. As I hadn't been to one before, I had no idea how the whole thing worked. I knew the teddy bears were to be tossed on the ice after the Rangers' first goal, but that was all. As I said, I was getting concerned that there would be no goals and the stuffed toys would have to be tossed at the end of the game, but the guys came through at the beginning of the third and scored. Almost before the horn sounded, to signal the goal, people started throwing the toys through the air. (I thought there might be an announcement, but it didn't come.) It was quite neat watching the ice get littered with toys--and as far as I can tell, no one got hit. I KNEW my throwing arm wasn't as good as it used to be, so I had K toss our contributions--and even HE didn't get them very far onto the ice. I now know that I never would gotten them over the boards. Once the rain of toys was done, the Ranger players themselves went around and gathered them up. They picked up at least two large garbage cans full of toys. Not a bad showing for only the second year. (I will post final numbers when /if they are announced.) I REALLY wish I could have taken a video, or at least a picture--but everything happened much too fast for me to get it done.

Even with the final score, the night was fun. We got to see good hockey, I didn't freeze my ass off--I had to wear TWO sets of Cuddle Duds to pull THAT off--and we got to contribute to a child's happiness in a roundabout way. And then we came home and watched the Wings win THEIR game, so I was a pretty happy camper.