I’m just going to come right out and say it. I have never been to a hockey game. Ever. I’ve never even watched a game on TV. I haven’t even played a game of tabletop hockey. As you can guess, I’m just not a hockey person. I’m not ashamed to admit it. That being said, I’m proud to say that my first experience with our national obsession was the annual ConnecTeen Hitmen Game! As a new volunteer with ConnecTeen, I was thrilled to be part of such an important event. I’ve been told that not everyone remembers their first hockey game, but I’ll remember mine.
For the first 20 minutes of the game, I was in a state of pure confusion.
Everything was happening very quickly and I had no clue what was going on. Half the time I didn’t even know where the puck was. I was a stranger to this fast paced game and it was all quite puzzling. The players on the ice seemed to switch every 30 seconds and the mood of the crowd seemed to switch from anger to elation just as quickly. It was 20 of the most confusing minutes of my life, and nobody even scored.
By the second period, I had a better idea what was going on. More importantly, I could finally keep track of which team was which.
Then, all of a sudden the crowd started booing and sighing.
I’d completely missed what happened. It turns out the other team had scored a goal so quickly after a face-off I hadn’t even seen it. It turns out it’s equally important to watch the puck as well as the players. Thankfully there was an instant replay on the big screen, or else I never would have known what had happened. The second period was definitely more interesting then the first. Maybe it was more interesting because there were more goals. Or, more than likely, it’s probably because I figured out how to watch a hockey game.
By the third period, I’d figured out which team was which and I could mostly follow the puck. Before I knew it, I found myself cheering and sighing with the rest of the crowd. That’s something that I never thought would happen when the game first started. When the final buzzer and the Hitmen had won the final game of the regular season I couldn’t have been happier. Turns out I am a hockey person.
All in all, I really enjoyed my first hockey game!
I learned a lot about the game and can now proudly say that I have been to a hockey game. I would even go to another one! Not only was it fun to watch the game, it was also great to see such a big crowd and know that 2 dollars from every ticket using the ConnecTeen promotional code was donated to ConnecTeen. Seeing everyone wearing ConnecTeen sunglasses and enjoying the game made me feel so proud to be part of the ConnecTeen team.
