Day 2 of our tour started with a visit to the Caps practice arena, the Kettler Iceplex in Arlington, VA. It's a wonderful facility, with about twice the seating of the Toyota Center in LA, and an amazing gift shop! More on that to follow. First, it was time to watch Alex the Great get ready to face to Penguins.
While we were standing upstairs watching, a TV camera crew came over and wanted to talk to Nadine. Apparently they were filming a program for Swedish TV, featuring the Caps young star Nicklas Backstrom. I guess they saw blonde hair and blue eyes and figured Nadine would play well on Swedish TV. She gave big props to Nick, then they turned the camera on me, who hadn't been paying attention to all of the conversation! I wanted to talk about the Kings Swedish rookie Oscar Moller (who we love) but found some nice things to say about Nick and Swedish hockey players in general. They seemed happy! Crazy stuff like this always seems to happen when I'm around Nadine...now back to practice.
I was a little worried this week after reports that Ovie left practice with only one skate on after getting nailed in the heel by a shot. But he looked in fine form, so we're go for Sunday. I knew he wouldn't miss the chance to go a few rounds with Sid the Kid!
After practice, it was time for some retail therapy! I think Nadine bought one of just about everything in the store that said Capitals. I was a little more reserved, but I picked up a t-shirt, a hat, and an acrylic model of Ovie for my office...he and I can play a little game of hockey when I'm bored on conference calls!
So I check out, then Nadine steps up to the counter. I go outside to wait since it's a little crowded in the store. Ten minutes pass, then 15, then 20...and she's still in there! So I go in to figure out what's wrong, worried her credit card has been stolen or some other madness has broken out. And what do I see, but her with a handsome older man, having their picture taken by the store staff. Who is he....Alex Ovechkin's Dad! Yup, Pappa O!!! He loved her so much (probably since she was talking to him in Russian) he bought her the last Ovechkin pennant in the store...something for his Nadya. Seriously? How does she pull this crap off? The woman has hockey gods following her every move!!!
And then things really got crazy! We got word that the Penguins were on their way over from the airport to practice!!! OMG...Sid Crosby is coming within feet of me! So we stayed longer to see a little of the Pens practice session.
While we were waiting, I took a photo with a hilarious Ovie cutout in the store window, and Nadine caught up with Bruce Boudreau, the Caps coach! He was kind enough to pose for a photo.
And then, from across the parking lot, hockey's Prince Charming made his grand entrance....I almost fainted! THE ONE AND ONLY SIDNEY CROSBY!!!!!!
With the practice session of our dreams complete, we left to go meet my friend Michelle, who was also in town for the weekend and waiting for us at the hotel to go see some of DC. But before we left, the car person in me couldn't resist a shot of this.....
Gotta love a Lamborghini...especially one belonging to Caps defenseman Mike Green.
The hockey gods are indeed good!
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