What Lockout?

And so it begins - the NHL Lockout is here. No hockey, probably, this year. (Sorry, Full Stop - I know it must be killing you. :-( ) Wait, I meant to say, no NHL hockey. Because the Chicago Wolves (AHL all the way, bay-bee) are still playing, and guess what? HV and I have season tickets!. Front row. Eat that, Gary Bettman. We'll get all the good, clean, back-checking, high-sticking teeth-smashing fun we can dream of for less than half the price of bad seats to the Blackhawks. And so much better hockey, too. (Speaking of that, HV tells me we - and by "we" I mean the Wolves - might even inherit Chris Chelios for the season. And if, like me, when you saw his name you went "Wow! That's great! Who is he, again?", well, he's a future Hall-of-Fame Blackhawks defenseman. It's a big deal.)

Sure it's a different kind of crowd at a Wolves game than you'll see anywhere in the NHL. And if possible, just a little bit more bloodthirsty. I quote my hockey-loving brother (one not previously mentioned on here, so I therefore must dub him - "Sk8terBoi?" - naah... "Madison Man"? Hmm... I'll work on it.) when he noticed the crowd last year and said: "Gee that's a lot more mullets than I've ever seen in one place before." Quite true. And the cute little 13-year-old redneck girl screaming "KILL HIM! KILL HIM!" in her sweet little redneck voice every time an opponent got smushed into the glass in front of her just added to the ambience. Ahh, hockey fans. Gotta love 'em. And keep wellll out of arm's reach.

Oh that reminds me of that time I put my Pepsi on top of the boards during the warm-up period of a game last year (nowhere else to put it - it's not like there are cup-holders in the front row, tra la ;) and a guy from the opposing team skated over, aimed, and whammed himself into the glass just at the right spot to knock the cup off and drench me with soda. Sweet, innocent Joan - now all the wiser about proper cup disposal when seated near the opposing team's goal. At least I didn't get all mad or upset - I just kinda laughed. Like I would give him the benefit of thinking he'd pissed me off?? As if. (HV said he was flirting with me. I love you, HV.)

So yeah, HV and I are looking forward to the Wolves season. We're rooting especially hard for #25, Stephen Baby, a rising local star (a Winnetka boy) from our own alma mater. (And for the record, all you ignorant mullet-heads, it's pronouced "Bah-bee". And it's actually spelled "Bâby" but I never learned the keyboard shortcuts for the "â" so I had to cut/paste that in just now. Besides, the AHL didn't seem to want to spend the extra money on getting the name right on the jersey, so he's just listed as "Baby" to them anyway. Grump.)

Anyway, I'm stoked. And I know HV and I are going to need people to come with one or the other of us to a game here and there, so if you're interested, we'll be accepting bribes shortly. :D

- Joan