Hockey Season

It is uncomfortably warm today, a bookend to yesterday's high humidity. The air is deeply saturated with pollen, making my over medicated self (inhaler + antihistamine/asthma pill) barely north of miserable. It has been one of those days when my clothes don't seem to fit properly – the bras are too tight, the t-shirts too small, the pants too snug. I could put on the same clothes tomorrow and everything will fit fine. Today though, I am uncomfortable.

J and I gathered with the rest of our merry group of Penguins fans last night to split up the season tickets. Every year I am amazed at how civilized it is. We sit around a table, order food and alcohol and proceed to calmly negotiate who will get each game. Every year every one at the table walks away happy.

There are some rules. D and B get the season opener, as they hold the account and must deal with the hassle of paying for the tickets. J and I usually get the last home game, as we buy in for the most number of games (15 this year). B also likes to attend any game that is giving away a bobble head doll, but willing to trade those games away in exchange for us giving one of the dolls to her. I love seeing all the Leafs fans in the Igloo, so one of the two Leafs games goes to J and myself every year. Everything else is open for discussion.

This year is a little bit different, as we initially gave up both Leaf games because of prior commitments. Ironically, one of those commitments fell through less than 18 hours after the ticket split, so now I am emailing and pleading for the October 18th game back.

Also different this year was the number of cross conference games we will be attending. The NHL adjusted to the schedule to ensure that each team plays every other team in the league at least once. So J and I will not only (hopefully) be attending our annual Leafs game (same conference, but whatever), we will also have an opportunity to see the Penguins play against Los Angeles, Minnesota, Edmonton and Calgary.

And, painfully, the Detroit Red Wings. J and I may sell the tickets to that one. It is not the Hossa deal. I still think that anyone who believed for a second that he would stay with the Penguins after the end of the season needed to step outside and get some fresh air. And stay outside until their head cleared. However long it would take.

I still believe it was a bad trade that netted zero long term prospects for success and resulted in the loss of two excellent forwards in Christensen and Armstrong.

Putting all of that aside, the most painful part of losing to the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup finals (because they were the better team) was that Ty Conklin could not find one damn team willing to pay him more more money then... Detroit.

Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn.