Snow and hockey and more snow, oh my!

Yesterday was quite eventful here at Chez E. Nowhere. We got another dang snowstorm.

Note to the entity that controls the weather…STOP WITH THE SNOW ALREADY!!! It’s March, and this is getting WICKED old with the shoveling and the broken snow blower…SO QUIT IT.

ok. cathartic moment over with.

So, I get my butt in gear and get ready to do the shovel out, and decided that Isaac would enjoy playing outside in the snow. We got him dressed in the snow gear..and let him have some fun while I worked on shoveling us out.

After all the fun in the snow, We came in for hot chocolate. Little Monkey’s latest game is “you forgot…” (and then fill in the blank). Yesterday, he told me I forgot the marshmellows. We didn’t have any of those in the house. I shared my Grandma Stroh’s hot chocolate (which incidentally is the BEST STUFF!) and then he had the nerve to tell me that I forgot marshmallows? WTH! 

So, let’s fast forward to after dinner.

Doug and I got some free hockey tickets through rbkhockey. Can’t go wrong there. So, we mosied on down to the Knickerbocker Arena  Pepsi Arena Times Union Center to see the River Rats play the Worchester Sharks. This is AHL hockey…just below the Big Gun NHL.

We dropped the Monkey off at the ‘rents. We were orignally going to take him, but since TheAngelForever  (she’s got a giveaway going! Go enter!) and JL weren’t bringing NHL, we decided not to bring the Monkey. It was an adult night out…wow.

Before I go any further with this…I’ve been going to Rats games for years. First, my sister and I would go, and then we slowly added in friends, and then when Doug showed up on the scene, he joined us. We’d always park in the same spot (because we didn’t ever want to pay) and walk the 1/2 block up to the arena.

So, Doug and I parked in the same spot as always, and started the walk up to the arena. We were both looking at each other…and we knew something was missing…it was really odd walking that walk without my sister, and threatening to sell her ticket, or without one of our other friends and threatening to sell her ticket.  We walked up, took the escalator over to the proper door, and then wandered to our seats in time to see the end of warm ups, and for me to scope out the team. Last year or so, the Rats changed major league affiliates. Since the beginning of the franchise, they were affiliated with the New Jersey Devils. (I’ve got tons of drunken hockey player stories…but we’re not even going to go there..) The Devils moved out to Lowell (good riddance after the past few years…and now Lowell is having the same success as they had here the past few years…NONE!! But I digress..) and the Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanache moved in. Colorado left at the end of last year, and the Hurricanes supplied a full roster.  Wow…the team has now gotten good…

Warm ups…

Then the game started…

and I pulled a Robyn and did some knitting at the game

I wanted to pay attention, so it’s just a stockinette sock. Tofutsies…mmm…nice and obnoxious! Stockinette is awesome to knit at a game. you can just go mindlessly along…

but I digress again..

So, we won in shoot out. Took 8 shooters to get a game ender! What a game! I was a smidge irritated that the Rats didn’t wake up until the 3rd period. The Sharks were stomping all over them! Argh!

 Doug and I were both thrilled to be out for an adult night..and to see the assistant coach for the River Rats. This guy is an original Rat. He had to retire from playing due to a medical issue. If I remember correctly, in his C2 and C3 vertebrae. NOT the ones you want to mess with. We were bummed not to see him in uniform, but man…we’re just glad to have his presence here! We heard “The assitant coach for the River Rats is Geordie Kinnear.” We about fainted. We wanted him to throttle the defensemen for allowing the goalie to get peppered with shots…but again, I digress.

ok..and now the rant part…

Since WHEN did the NHL allow dance teams to be a part of their game? For cripes sake, the Rats have “Ice Mice” No, not kidding.

see?

This is them dancing with some of the kids from the crowd and one drunk college student during the first intermission. The drunk college student was hilarious.

Now, my big question is WHY do we need a dance team? It’s just kind of ODD at a hockey game. I can see football games, basketball games…but a hockey game?  It’s really no place for a dance team. Especially when they switch to tank tops with “Ice Mice” in rhinestones for the 3rd period. This is NOT family friendly. Not in the slightest.

But overall, it was a fun night. It was great to have an adult night out and to really have a good time when you are in the middle of medical drama all of the time like we are here.

Today, I have to play nice with the family, and not bitch slap cousins and their kids…because it’s gram’s birthday. I’ll have pictures from that later.

So, I’m off to get ready to go for that. eat a snack and work on my sock.