I actually played hockey for a year when I was in kindergarten. My dad and uncles were big into hockey and my dad wanted me to continue that tradition. Unfortunately, I wasn't super interested in hockey. I ended up playing that one year and then moved on to basketball and ultimately wrestling.
For me hockey was a bit of an afterthought. I focused on football as my main sport. For my winter sport, I tried basketball, but ultimately settled for wrestling. I did always think hockey was cool, but it really wasn't on my radar. Wisconsin also didn't have a professional team so there wasn't anyone local to cheer for.
Now you know me. I love visiting Canada. When I would sit at a sports bar up there, they'd usually have a hockey game going so I would watch. When I was visiting my buddy Andy in Dallas and he suggested we go to a Stars game, I was all on board.
Now I've been to plenty of Packer games at Lambeau Field, but this would be my first professional hockey game. We ended up getting cheap tickets for $10 each, so it was a deal too good to pass up. The Dallas Stars were going to take on the New York Rangers.
I was obviously going to cheer on the Stars, but you'd never guess it. I showed up wearing my blue Hamm's shirt that had colors similar to the Rangers.
Overall, the game was good. The Stars ended up winning 2-1. There was a lot of good action and it was fun. Andy and I had a few beers. The funny thing is the beers cost the same price each as we paid for our tickets!
I did learn something interesting about coming back too late after intermission. If they have started playing, security will not let you back to your seat until there's a pause in the game. It was weird at first just standing there for how long waiting and not knowing what was going on.
This experience was really cool and I'm really glad we snagged the cheap tickets. I think I might have to watch some more live hockey. I might be a ways away from the Dallas Stars, but their minor league team, the Texas Stars, plays near Austin.
The following are a bunch of pictures I took.
