Pizza, Hockey and Good Friends...

One of the great things about Matt's job with Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC is that sometimes they receive perks. Well, this week they were given access to free tickets to the Carolina Hurricanes game for all their hard work in 2008! When he asked me if I wanted to go I said "Oh yeah!" Are you kidding? Free tickets? I'm there! We were able to snag 4 tickets and so we shared the fun with our good friends Kelly and Smooth. We started with homemade pizza (and subway) at my place and then we headed to the game. On the way we stopped for a candy fix and then made our way to the RBC Center along with all the other "caniacs". Well, I don't think you can call us "caniacs" but the others that were there certainly are! Although our seats were in the upper part of the arena, they were great! We could see everything that was going on and it wasn't too crowded either. The Canes played the Buffalo Sabres and the game was great and very close. At the end of regulation it went into overtime due to a score of 1-1. So, after a 5 minute period of neither team being able to score, it went into a shoot out! How exciting but nerve wracking at the same time. It came down to the last 2 shots and the Canes scored one goal and shut out the Sabres to take the win! It was crazy to see how loud the half empty arena got after that win. They do have some true fans! It was a great double date and we're looking forward to doing it again!
Thanks BCBSNC for free tickets!

Some highlights from the evening:

1. A sign that read, "I'd cheer for Buffalo but I gave up being stupid for lent".

2. "Dancing Granny"-yes there is a granny fan who has her own segment towards the end of the game when they play music, get her on camera and she dances for everyone! Complete with a booty shake!

3. Psychotic Sabre fans. I mean really, Buffalo? Half the arena was Sabre fans! And they are quite obnoxious after consuming alcohol all night long. I hope they don't kiss their moms with those mouths!

4. Penalty Box time! Although there weren't a whole lot of fights, the Sabres seemed to be in the penalty box quite a few times. One guy checked a Canes player so hard against the glass (intentionally) that the Canes player fell to the ice and lay there for a few seconds. The ref physically pulled the Sabre player into the box for his 2 minute penalty. One unhappy fan chucked his cup of beer towards the commotion, showering the other refs!

5. During intermission (did you know that they rest for as long as they play between each period? Are you kidding me?) the Mighty Mites came out to play hockey. This was a club team from Hillsborough and they were so tiny and so cute to watch.