Saturday Night Chills
On an otherwise lazy Saturday, I got a call from one of my buddies and fellow hockey players (YMCA league here in Albany) asking what my plans were for the evening. "Well," I started, "basically Jack Shit. Why?"
"Hockey tonight. Rats are playing. I got extra tickets for a luxury suite."
And without even a nanosecond of forethought, I answered, "I'm in."
Sure, New York has its fair share of NHL teams. Three to be exact (remember folks, Buffalo still counts as NY). So it's not exactly like we're hurting for pro sports in that department. But on the other hand, it necessitates at least a 3 hour drive to get to those places (5 for the Sabres), so suffice to say it's nice to have something closer.
That's where the River Rats come in. Minor league hockey, baby. Minor League.
The Rats are the AHL affiliate of the New Jersey Devils (the AHL is roughly the AAA of hockey, one step away from the bigs). Jerseys are very similar. In fact, you'll even catch a dozen Devils jerseys among the 86 fans who happen to show up to these games.
The AHL, by the way, is a beatiful league in that it has teams called the River Rats. Not to mention the Lock Monsters, the Marlies (must be a Canadian thing), the Rampage and not one but two teams named the Admirals. I can't wait until the Rats announce their last year in Albany, just so I can buy a few jerseys to show my future grandkids, "Yes, we actually had a team called 'the River Rats.' And no, this isn't another one of grandpa's Alzheimers episodes." Where else can you find this stuff?
Anyway, there were eight of us there; four gals, four guys. Clearly, the game itself is secondary to the game experience when you're at an AHL game-- especially in the luxury boxes-- so the conversation tends to stray from the on-ice action every now and then. One of the girls in our group used to play hockey at some level -- yes, ice hockey-- which led to a slew of sexist, offensive and inevitably hysterical comments regarding women's ice hockey such as these:
- Is there such thing as 'shooting like a girl'?
- I didn't know they made a high-heeled skate.
- Do they ever stop the game because of cramps?
And, my personal favorite, which unfortunately I can't take credit for:
- Do you ever have to go back in the locker room to change because you're all wearing the same thing?
Yep, it's minor league hockey at its best. Always a good time. And the seats were free, too.
You know, speaking of that game, I never did catch the final score. I wonder if they have that online.
Some NHL Notes, While We're on the Topic
- Bad couple of days to be a Fedorov. The family once famous for dating Anna Kournikova (back before this whole MoleMan marriage thing) had a two-fold run of bad luck. Fedor, the younger brother who plays for the Rangers, was reportedly punched at a Tampa Bay night club and had to miss the most recent game against the Leafs.
Sergei, the good brother, was recently traded from Anaheim to the NHL's version of purgatory otherwise known as Columbus. Ouch, man. My sympathies.
I use the term purgatory because it's not really 'hell' in so many words. See, you still get to play hockey in Columbus, you just never win. It's not unlike Sisyphus in that sort of warped tragic Greek humor. I guess technically that is hell for the Greeks, but I'm trying to be fair to the people of Columbus, who clearly love their hockey... kind of.
posted by BJC @ 10:20 PM
Your thoughts (2 so far)
2 Comments:
There was a minor league team in Macon Georgia called the "Whoopie."
Think about it.
Wait.
Now, laugh. Laugh hard.
(This is where Alison puts a comment saying she still doesn't quite get it, then posts again 15 minutes later saying, "oh yeah...")
Funny you mention that, I had a good friend out of college who left early to go play for that team.
I almost wrote a post on it, but since I couldn't add anything to the inherent humor of simply having a team by that name, I ditched the idea.
Too bad they folded.
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