Hockey
time!!! As most of you know, I’m a big hockey fan and I just love the NHL, so I
had to go see a game or two.
The first
one took me to Madison Square Garden, where the New York Rangers played against
Tampa Bay Lightning. Now, that’s a pretty special game to me. I saw the Rangers
play against my time in Switzerland a few years ago, when we opened our new
stadium. And the Bolts?! Well, I love Florida, they are a great team and I saw
an NHL game oft hem last year against Detroit.
I walked to
the stadium pretty early to have enough time. I went inside the stadium and
first explore the big fan shop, so many great things!!! I bought a cap for my
brother. Then it was time to properly go into the stadium and find my seats. I
got some food and a beer and sat down. My seat was great, it was on the second
level and just behind the goal. After a while the teams came out for warm up
and then it was time for the game. Tampa had an awesome start and scored twice
pretty fast. It took the Rangers some time to get into the game, but then they
were on fire, especially Derek Stepan. They scored 3 goals and won in the end.
Yes, I wanted Tampa to win, but I’m fine with it, I like the Rangers. The game
was very exciting and never boring, so that’s a huge plus.
I had some
nice guys sitting next to me, we started talking and I showed them my Tampa
shirt. Of course they wanted to know why I’m in New York, why I support Tampa
etc. They also told some things about them, we had fun. One oft hem was
actually really cute ;). I always seem to meet guys like that in another
country and far away from Switzerland! Why, oh why?! ;)
Madison
Square Garden is a fabulous arena, I loved every minute in there!
My Dallas
hockey adventure started a day after I arrived. My second momma Wendy took me
to the Stars practice at the Dr Pepper Center in Frisco. OMG, this was
absolutely awesome! We were able to stand right next to the ice rink and watch
the players train. This was so awesome on several levels. First of all, I was
able to see al the players up front and really close, that was just insane. I
took lots of pictures and filmed for my vlog, I felt weird first, because the
players were so close. I also really enjoyed seeing what they actually do
during a practice session. We never get to see them in Switzerland, so it was
pretty special to me. Of course the one player I constantly watched was Jamie
Benn, the captain, he’s just great. I have to say, I was sad that Tyler Seguin
was not there, but I know that before. All the other fab players were there
though: Jonny Oduya, Jason Spezza, Jason Demeres, Patrick Sharp (hottie), John
Klingberg, Antoine Roussel and many more. I was also able to see coach Ruff and
I discovered a new cute player: Stephen Johns ;). I can’t say it enough times,
this was just awesome. During practice I got to meet Julie, who is a reporter
and does interviews with players and other stuff for the Stars TV. It was great
talking to her and hearing a bit of behind the scenes facts.
After the
practice we went to the RallyHouse store, which is located right next to the
rink, I bought a few Stars goodies: 2 shirts, key rings and gold balls (for my
dad).
The second
game led me to the American Airlines Center in Dallas, where the Dallas Stars
played against the Nashville Predators. Two of my faves!!! Well, Dallas is my
favourite team and I’m a big fan of Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn, they also have
some other great players. And Nashville?! Roman Josi plays for Nashville, he is
Swiss and he is awesome! I think now you can understand my excitement for this
game!!!
Unfortunately,
Tyler Seguin didn’t play, because he got injured a few weeks ago and sadly
Roman and some other big players were not there as well. It was the last game
of the regular season, so they didn’t play full force.
So, let me
start at the beginning: We got to the stadium and were able to park right by
stadium. I saw the stadium from the outside already during lunch time, when we
explored the city a bit. We git in really fast, received a program and then
went down to the “club”, I got a VIP bracelet and then we had dinner at the
club. That was great, food galore, free beer and more. Just for the puck drop
we went to our seats, right by the glass!!!!! The best seats ever, I would say
awesome seats with a great view of the game. I loved being so close by the
game, right by the actions. Again I got the players really close, which was awesome!
The game started slow with Nashville scoring twice. I still had enough time to
get some good footage ;). After the first period we went down to the club again
and had dessert, all for free. I might have to add her that only glass seat
people get in the club and the WAGS (wives and girlfriends) lounge is just next
to it. The second period was so much better, the Stars scored twice, or should
I rather say Jason Spezza scored twice!? ;) in the second intermission we went
to the Hangar to get more Dallas Stars goodies, they had 25% on all items,
which is fab. I got another shirt and a Dallas Stars bag, perfect for carrying
my school books. The third period was pretty intense, with both teams trying to
score the winning goal. And only a few minutes before the 60 minutes were over
Jason Spezza scored again. The whole arena exploded, I even got it on film. So
amazing!!! A huge party. We won and the are Central Division Champions, which
is AMAZING!!!! After the game Jamie Benn gave a little speech, which was very
cute and the players handed out shirts. And now OMG, Jamie Benn handed one to
Wendy’s daughter!!!! We couldn’t believe it, best night ever! I got a glimpse
of Tyler, who was on the Stars bench in a suit! I’m still a bit sad that I
didn’t get to see him play, but you can’t have everything I guess ;).
The AAC
arena is a beautiful arena, inside and out, nothing compared to what I have
seen before! The atmosphere during the game was electric and I loved every
second of that evening. Of course I was wearing my Stars shirt! So the Dallas
Stars made it to the playoffs now and I can’t wait to see how they will do,
Stanley Cup here we come!!!
I actually
thought that after Dallas I will not talk about hockey, but here we go! Chicago
is of course home of the Chicago Blackhawks. I didn’t look for the Blackhawks
store, but there it suddenly was on Michigan Avenue, so of course I went in, I
can’t resist anything hockey related. So the first thing I did was browse
through the store, then there was a section, where you could take a picture
with your favourite player. There was a big camera, like one on a computer and
a white wall. All I had to do, was standing in front of it and smiling. I
pocked Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane as the players and their locker room as
a background. They then sent me the pic via email and also posted it on their
Twitter account. I then looked for a nice shirt and was ton between two, one
was a bit sparkly, had their logo on it and in black their name, the other one
had a big logo on the front and a players name with his number on the back. I
then picked Toews and decided the leave the other one behind. Toews’ shirt is a
bit special, because it also has a C in front, because he is the captain. Well,
I also picked up two Stanley Cup Playoffs pucks, one for me and one for my
brother. Only then I realised that there was a table with a guy sitting there
and signing pictures. It was Denis Savard, former Blackhawks player, so
awesome!!! I of course got two pictures and also got the pucks signed. I hoped
my brother will be happy with me ;). In the evening I of course watched their
first playoff game against the St. Louis Blues. Unfortunately, they lost in
overtime. I can’t wait for Dallas to start the playoffs. Their first game is
exactly when I fly back to Switzerland. Guess what I’ll be doing when I land
;).
So, here is
the end of my rambling about hockey, sorry if you’re not into the sport, but I
guess the ones who don’t like it, haven’t even started reading this post in the first place ;).
I will put
up a separate hockey vlog on YouTube (tomorrow or Sunday probably), so make sure you check that one out as
well :).
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