November 5, 2006

Road Trip!

Road trips are great, but there is nothing like that random road trip! You know the one when you have no intention of going anywhere and then something suddenly comes up and you say, "what the heck" and jump in the car! November 4th became one of those days! There had been talk of driving to Albany to see the Providence Bruins take on the Albany River Rats, as Heather has a list of a few arenas she would like to check out this season and I am up for hockey no matter where it is, but no plans ever got made. In the end, as a former New Yorker with friends in the area and two customers from work based in Albany giving me flak for not visiting them, it suddenly became a perfect opportunity to kill several birds with one stone. So extremely last minute we threw some stuff in a bag and New York, here we come!

Albany's Pepsi Arena scored an A+ in my book! It is not the fanciest of arenas, the hot dogs were not fabulous and it was not packed full of fans, but they had delicious hot chocolate, played excellent music (long enough clips and loud enough to be enjoyed), it was very comfortable and the fans were outstanding. Last year I went to Portland and fans there were just plain mean! But at the Pepsi Arena everyone seemed to be able to co-exist and enjoy the game! We made friends with an awesome couple there for their first hockey game together. They were so much fun and had us laughing throughout the game. The girl was even cheering for our own Kris Versteeg by the second period. Yes, we were trying to make a Providence fan out of her! ha ha! We also had a nice family in front of us with two little boys..more on them in a little bit!

As the game began, we were visited by a very large rat...but before I continue I must throw in a random comment...the Albany River Rats have cheerleaders..ok, back to the rat! He came over to our section and took pictures with the little boys in front of us and tried to rally the fans. But of course, as I was sporting my Andrew Raycroft Bruins jersey, I knew he was going to poke a little fun with me! Little did he know what he was getting himself into! Within a matter of seconds, we made peace, were shaking hands, hugging and he sat on my lap. This made some people laugh and others call their beloved mascot a traitor ;)

The game continued without incident until the puck came flying over the glass (I thought for sure it was going to be a Fever Pitch moment and I was going to be Drew Barrymore getting smacked in the head) and landed next to me! Of course I swooped it up. What normal person wouldn't. Then I continued to look at the puck, get excited over the fact that it was so cold and still wet and then handed it to the little boy sitting in front of me! This made the River Rats fans very happy and I am sure this endeared us to them a little more. There was really only one rowdy fan that was picking on one of our players. I almost had to throw down with him, but in between the second and third period he and I had a little chat and then we too came to an understanding and became friends. By the end of the evening we had pretty much become friendly with everyone in our section and unlike Portland, I did not feel that we were going to need body bags on hand to get us out of the arena!

We were also super thrilled to see forner Providence Bruin Ben Guite in action! In honor of the Guite Boys who were not in attendance, we felt it necessary to carry on the Guite legacy. We did the Guite cheer several times throughout the game and passed it along to some of the River Rats fans. The little boys in front of us were so excited by it and insisted on joining in with us! At on point the youngest boy's mother called him and he said, "I am not Ryan, I am Guite!"

The Bruins won the game 4-3 over the Albany River Rats in overtime. Kris Versteeg scored the first Providence goal. Dwayne Zinger passed the puck to Ben Walter for Providence's second goal of the evening and Kris Versteeg went to work for the tying goal with a pass from Karsums to Curry who took a shot that was re-directed by Versteeg in front of the net! As the Providence Bruins went into overtime against the Albany River Rats, it was former River Rat Bobby Allen who scored the winning goal with an assist by David Krejci and Ryan Glenn.

I much prefer leaving an away game as the winning team! You are less likely to have fans giving you a hard time and the drive home is so much more fun! But you know what is even more fun? Exiting the building and running into a stranger who says, "I recognize you. I saw you talking to the mascot." Turns out, it IS the mascot. You make friends, and I'll be! Chivalry is not dead! He told us that Albany is not always the safest place and to be careful walking to the car. But what is better, even though the car was only a short distance away, he rode along side us to make sure we got to our car safely!

This was one of the very best games so far this season! It had all the elements of a great hockey game! A great team, a worthy opponent, good hitting, teamwork, a fun crowd, and when we went into overtime, an overtime WIN!!!! Next stop, Providence, RI Sunday November 5, 2006 vs the Binghamton Senators at 4:05pm.

I apologize for any typos as it is 3:40 am and I have re-read this, but all the words are now blending together :)

Letters of love, lust, or disagreement can be sent to rlord (at) soveryobsessed.com

by Rebecca | 1:24 AM | 3
filed under: 06-07 season