Being a hockey fan can be a lonely business. I'm certainly the biggest hockey fan I know, and I'm the biggest hockey fan most of my friends know, too, so sometimes it feels like I'm the only hockey fan around.
Not today. Today I went to the Bruins' training camp, and what a crowd! Ahh.
The Bruins' practice facility is Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington, not too far from where I live. Last year, I went up to training camp a few times, since I was conveniently between jobs for most of September, and had the leisure to spend time sitting in a freezing cold arena, smiling fatuously at men on skates. This year, as I am employed, I haven't been yet, but today they were calling it a Fan Fest, from 10-2, and I was there. To see the Bruins again, to hear the sounds of hockey, skates and shots and whistles, made me smile as I shivered (boy, is it cold in there). I watched most of the scrimmage which was going on when I got there, and then some practice exercises, and eventually was too cold to stay any longer. I left smiling, though: hockey season is coming!
Then, NESN is showing Classic Bruins this afternoon. They take an old, significant-in-some-way Bruins game and show part of it, enough to fill an hour (a game usually last about 2 and a half hours). The first one was from 94, when Cam Neely scored his 50th goal in 44 games, and it was great to see again. Funny, too, to see things like the Shawmut, Baybank, and Lechmere ads on the boards, all New England things since gone. And to hear the old announcers, too ... I used to mute the TV and listen to the radio guys, which will help you understand what I think of the TV guys of the past, but nostalgia slightly improves them. Still, give me Bob Wilson any day, he was the greatest. And I do feel that radio announcers have a tougher job than TV, where they know you can always see what happens, no matter how they describe it. Anyway. It's been a good day for hockey, and I'm wearing my Terry O'Reilly t-shirt from when they retired his number, and the weather's nice, and now I need to go get Something Done for packing readiness, since the condo closing is six weeks from yesterday and I Am Not Ready.
I mostly knit, sometimes crochet or cross-stitch. I read, a lot. I love cats. I love hockey, especially my no-longer-local team, the Boston Bruins. Want more? Read on.
I have to drive nearly 6hrs to get to the Detroit Red Wings training camp every year. The best thing about it is that the players always hit the local bars. If I were going to whore myself out, it would likely be to hockey players ONLY. Yeah, I'd be a whore, but I would have standards.
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