The Good Old Hockey Game

Come on, everybody sing it with me... "The good old hockey game, is the best game you can name. And the best game you can name, is the good old hockey game." Ahh, you've got to love Stompin' Tom Conners. Anyway, onto the rest of my post.

Last night we took Elise to see the Vancouver Canucks (woo!) play the Stars (boo!). This was actually her third hockey game that she's been to (the other two were when she was 5 and 6 months old), but her first one where she was aware of her surroundings.

The game itself was not well played. Pretty sloppy, with a lot of miscues and errors by both teams, but it was so fun to watch Elise's face as she took it all in. I think her favourite part might have been the Zamboni. But she was well-behaved the entire time we were there, and had people gushing over how cute she was.

For me it was sad to see the Canucks without Trevor Linden. I guess most Canuck fans back home are used to not seeing #16 out there, but it was like there was a giant hole on the ice. For those who are unfamiliar with Trevor Linden, he was the heart and soul of the Canucks since he was drafted in '88 (not counting the three years that that jerk-off Mike Keenan traded him away). I can still remember how excited I was when I found out he was being traded back to the Canucks in 2001. He retired at the end of last season and was not only gifted player, but an amazing person who devoted a lot of time to charity work. Okay, hockey lesson over.

Unfortunately, the Canucks didn't win, mostly because the Stars goalie played decently for a change (usually he is pretty good, but he's had a rough season this year). Actually, since both teams kind of stunk it up, I think the refs deserved to win this one. Oh well, we'll get them next time when Luongo is in goal!