Some things came quicker than others. As noted previously, we've been to the Parliament Buildings around 15 times, starting with our very first house-hunting trip, back before we actually lived here. Parliament was easy, but for some reason we have been slow to experience some other hallmarks of Ottawa living, like a hockey game.
Until tonight, the only hockey game we'd been to was a community league game two years ago, played by a boy from church who was about fifteen years old at the time. Since a decent seat for an Ottawa Senators NHL game is close to $200, we figured the free admission to see the North Dundas Devils was a great value.
Another great value, with higher-calibre hockey, is the Ottawa 67s Major Junior A Hockey Club. I don't really know what "Major Junior A" means, but these guys are basically the best players in Ontario aged 15-20. The Ottawa 67s traditionally have a strong team, and they have a great fan base. They also have a great location.
In the heart of Ottawa, beneath the North Bleachers at Frank Clair Stadium (Home of the defunct Roughriders and Renegades CFL teams), is the Ottawa Civic Centre. It is just big enough to seem like a legitimate crowd, but just small enough to really hear the crash of the players against the boards. It feels like small-town hockey and it's great. Even though Ottawa squandered an early 2-goal lead (to ultimately lose 4-2), I loved it. Now we can cross one more thing off the list.Actually, we'll just put a checkmark next to that one, since I think I'd like to go back a few more times before we cross it off completely.
1 comment:
The first time I ever went to a hockey game was in the Corral in Calgary (pre-Saddledome days). I did not know much about the game, but learned early that the fans can become part of the game when the guy next to me was hit in the arm by a flying puck.
One time my dad took us to a hockey game in Salt Lake. That was when the Salt Lake team was the farm team for Calgary. It sounds like the kind of arena where you saw your game. We sat near the boards on folding chairs that were set up on a wooden platform. When the players would hit the boards on our side, it would actually move our chairs too. That was quite exciting. We were also close enough that we could see their faces clearly as they were pounding away at the boards. There is nothing quite like watching hockey in person and in a smaller arena.
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