What An Evening!

One thing I like about my adoptive home town is they seem to attract semi-pro sports teams. We've run the gambit from a CBA team (the Thrillers), to Arena Football (the Red Dogs), and now we have a CHL team, the Rapid City Rush.

With the past history of semi-pro teams in the city, it's no wonder I haven't shown much interest in them: They don't seem to last very long.

That is until April 10th. That was the date I got to see my first professional hockey game. It was the first game of a 7-game series between our second year franchise, and a team from Bosier-Shreaveport, LA for the CHL Northern Conference Finals. A friend had an extra ticket for the game and asked if I'd like to go.

I used to like watching hockey, but that was back before the NHL lockout. (For the record, Av's all the way! There'll never be another Patrick Roy.) Hockey just fell off my radar. Oh, I'd check the box scores in the paper when I thought about it, but it wasn't a priority.

Then I actually went to a game. Man, what a rush (no pun intended). To say I've come back to the game of hockey is an understatement.

I missed the last two games of that series with Bosier City (which went to seven games, BTW) with an injury (not sports related), and I missed the first game of the Ray Miron Presidents Cup Finals. But I didn't miss last nights game 6. Funny thing, though. Of the 4 games I attended, 3 went to overtime, and the home club won all three, including last night.

My words can't describe what it was like last night, so I'll let the local press do that for me. What I can say, is that last night was probably the most non-firearm related fun I've ever had. Seeing your home team overcome a 3 goal deficit to force overtime (with 2 of those goals coming in the last 8 minutes of regulation to tie it up). Then almost two complete overtime periods. Over 110 combined shots on goal. All I can say is - DAYUM!

For those who have seen a hockey game live on any level, be it NHL, AHL, CHL, or collegiate, you know what I'm talking about. For those who haven't experienced a live hockey game, you don't know what you're missing!