Stanley Cup Playoffs -- Round 1 Game 1 -- BEAT LA!

Hellooooooooooooooooo PLAYOFFS!! My new favorite time of year :)

So much awesome hockey to be watching! When they first announced the dates for Round 1 and I realized that our Sharkpak tickets were game 5 (when I'll be in Seattle) I was really sad. Like devastated. Like I was so sad that it would probably be sickening to other people -- yeah, THAT sad. But eventually I got over it, well I tried to anyway. As it turned out, Alan ended up with tickets to spare and he sold them to me with an offer that Alex and I couldn't refuse. ROW 2!! So on Thursday I left work early, and sat through almost two hours of traffic to get to the Street Rally just in time to look around. Made a fool of myself at the beanbag toss, and got a picture with SHARK TRUCK!!

I was awestruck when we first sat down. I've never been so close to the glass, I think the closest I've been before was around row 10 behind the goalie. We were right across from the Sharks entrance gate too -- PERFECT VIEW!

Nemo was in net, as he should be. Making saves and shutting shit down.

I was in row 2 with Alex, EXCITED AS EVER. I could barely contain myself, although by the time we took this picture I had calmed down quite a bit. We were SO CLOSE that we could see the expressions on the players faces. It, was, awesomeness.

Ah my fave -- Dany Heatley!! He scored the first goal less then 20 seconds into the game, my hero. I didn't even see it though because we were on the opposite end and I was still getting used to looking up at the Jumbotron. I was telling Alex that I was having the BEST birthday ever, and it wasn't even mine. I meant every bit of that.

I always knew that Murray was big. From stats, in comparison with other players on tv, and photographs. But I never quite comprehended the pure MASS of hockey players until I saw them up close. They simply are huge majestic beings.

I had a blast. There was drama in our section because there were Kings fans nearby but it didn't bother me, I rather enjoyed it actually! Alex had fun too, just not as much as I did LOL. I'm STILL excited about the game. Geez, I love hockey. And I am so so so so thankful that Alex introduced me to it. Happy birthday Alex! GO SHARKS!