Last night, DJC and I slogged our way down to San Jose to meet up with BL and a few of his coworkers for what can only be described as the awesomest Sharks game I've ever had the pleasure of attending. Here are the highlights:
After sitting in traffic for nearly an hour and forty-five minutes, we pulled a quick switcheroo on a busy street and I jumped into the driver's seat while DJC ducked into the Hotel DeAnza to make a pit stop. My job was to park the car in a nearby lot. I realized about 30 seconds too late that DJC had the cash for parking. So, I circled around the block and snagged a street spot, fee-free! Bonus!
Next stop was back to the Hotel DeAnza for our customary Jaeger shot at the bar before the game. We've done this religiously for a while now, and we weren't about to let the large bar crowd in Red Wings sweaters stand in our way. In hindsight, we should have skipped this part of the evening, because the bartender grabbed a used shaker glass off of the bar (sans rinsing), poured the Jaeger into it, LOADED it up with ice, covered it, and shook vigorously. He then proceeded to pour the frothy, watered down liquid into two glasses. It tasted faintly of raspberries. In all my years of drinking, I've never had a shot of Jaeger prepared in that fashion. It was naaaaaasty. But things improved dramatically when BL and his workforce entourage showed up. Entertaining, one of them was. Oh, so very entertaining, if not a little tragic...(OK, she was super tragic!)
Anyways, BL bought a total of eight tickets. We only had six people. He managed to sell the remaining two tickets on the street to two older guys named Greg and Nick. I've decided that I MUST sit next to these two guys at every Sharks game I attend from here on out. They were an absolute hoot. I love sitting next to fans who know the game and who like to get into it, but aren't too obnoxious. BL has a way of finding the cool people of the world, and Nick and Greg definitely fall into that group. The three of us were high-fiving, talking smack to nearby Red Wings fans and cheering at the top of our lungs. It was awesome. So much fun.
And the game itself was unreal. All NHL teams award something called the Three Stars of the game after it's over. Traditionally, the "stars" are the goal scorers, or the serious game changing play-makers. But, as we were driving home last night listening to Sharks Radio, color commentator Jamie Baker said that they had to pick three, but really, everyone could have been a star. And he was right. Every guy out there gave it his all. And with a 4-2 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champs, it showed. Special congrats go out to Jamie McGinn, who, in just his second NHL game, scored his first ever NHL goal and also tallied his first assist. The arena big screen showed a tight shot of him sitting on the bench after the goal smiling from ear to ear as Sharks fans cheered loudly in recognition of a great accomplishment. He was chosen as the very well-deserved first star of the night. Great job, kid! =)
Ok, that's it for my hockey ramblings for now. I just want to say a big thanks to BL for getting the tickets! I've never had so much fun at a Sharks game before!
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