I miraculously survived the work day, in spite of a knot in my stomach caused by a strange mixture of excitement, nervousness, joy and maybe even a little fear. Eight years is a long time. This team is still so young. We're playing Vancouver, a team including a gold medal winning goalie and a pair of red-haired alien twins, one of which earned bragging rights this year as the NHL's leading scorer.
It just doesn't get bigger than this.
And on top of all the hockey implications, I realized something else. I'd never been to a professional sports play-off ANYTHING in my entire life. My nephews have been to World Series games, for crying out loud. How do you act at a play-off game? Can you still yell at mean people in your section? Will they get mad if I hold up my sign? Will the Drew-cam get the respect it deserves? Did I bring the right ticket (none of them have dates....arrrgh!)? So much to fret over...
I shouldn't have been worried, because start to finish it was an absolute blast!
I found Jen and Bri on the walk over, and since we were early we checked out some of the fun happening in Chick Hearn Plaza, including some street hockey! Jen and Bri played, and I did what I do best...took pictures!
We even caught King Hall-of-Famers and VP of Hockey Operations, Luc Robitaille, having a ball doing an interview with a local rock station. He's quite the Metallica Fan -- apparently The Black Album is his favorite pre-game music.
When we got inside, the first thing I did was find Nadine. We had a special package to open pre-game that came all the way from Canada! I can't reveal what was in the package, but let's just say we both have some extra special hockey luck with us at all times now.
Then I headed back to find Jen and Bri at our customary warm-up watching spot. And they got out the signs they made to inspire the boys. This one was my favorite.
They also gave everyone rally towels and these neon necklace things, which we promptly turned into head bands. Jen had a little fight with hers first....
Drew had on his game face, and whether or not he's "officially" growing a play-off beard, his face hasn't met a razor in a few days. LOVE IT!
Then I headed back to my seat, scarfed down a pizza faster than I've ever eaten anything in my life, and watched in awe as the lights went down and the noise level went through the roof! What an electric moment!
The game was more exciting than anything I imagined. It was so hard fought, that at points it looked like an all-out war was about to break out. And then it happened....Drew scored HIS FIRST EVER PLAY-OFF GOAL!!!!!!!! I've never screamed so loud in my life! Unfortunately, he also left the game with 47 seconds left in the first period after a knee contact with another player, and my heart dropped! Then I madly started texting anyone I knew who wasn't at the game to see what they were saying on TV. I just couldn't believe he would make it through the whole season, score his first play-off goal and then get hurt!
Luckily he came back out in the second and looked OK. He must have been, because he went on to get 3 assists and help lead the Kings to a 5-3 victory over the Canucks! And Drew was the #2 Star of the Game! WE WON! IT FINALLY HAPPENED! AFTER 8 YEARS, A GUY WEARING THE NUMBER 8 BROUGHT IT HOME.
Talk about goosebumps! The karma around the number 8 and the Kings is going to be legendary. And I mean FOREVER! Destiny HAS to have a hand in this....I can just feel it.
If you're not a Kings fan yet, you will be. Because we're not done. We now lead this series 2-1, and have a chance to open the lead Wednesday with our second game at home. Something tells me it will be another one for the record books....
GO KINGS GO!
That's our "don't fear the ginger sign"! So happy you got a pic of it on the jumbo-tron! We kept missing it at the game. GO KINGS GO!
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