plausible deniability: It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

April 27, 2006

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The scramble started Thursday when I realized that CBC has two feeds for the playoffs... and the feed we got from Rogers wasn't showing the series opener between Edmonton/Detroit. Research, planning and grovelling filled the afternoon. It was meant to be, though. Through my immense powers of negotiation, Moyse and I had a place to watch the game. All it cost me was an all-you-can-eat sushi dinner and most of my pride. Worth every penny.

I was pretty excited to see the game and the Oilers didn't fail me one bit. I'm not sure if this happened to everyone, but near the end of the first overtime, the feed switched from the game to the Calgary/Anaheim one. I was incensed and hurled many an invective towards the people working at CBC and their mothers (and their mother's mothers). Luckily, someone realized this grievous error and the Oilers returned... Only to lose in the second OT to a fluke goal. Considering how great that game was, Moyse and I decided we needed to see the game in person.

So, we took a trip down to Hockeytown USA. It was a rather uneventful drive: if you discount sporatic hydroplaning, occasional loss of visibility beyond the confines of the windshield and sudden loss of speed as the transmission became waterlogged.

After a brief stop in a shady part of town to prevent my bladder from rupturing, we finally found our way to Joe Louis Arena... Only to find out we had actually arrived at the Cabo Center. Touring around a bit more finally presented us with the sea of red we were expecting. Getting out of the car, the couple who had parked next to us remarked, "Oh look, Oilers fans." Here we go, I thought to myself.

"Yep. They're going to win it today."

"Well, we're Oilers fans too; Especially because our son plays for the team."

We had parked next to Mike Peca's parents.

Joe Louis Arena is a pretty nice place. It's very reminiscent of the Coliseum, with good sight lines and an intimate feel. I knew we were in the States by the shot carosels and the 24oz beers. Surprisingly, they leave the drunks pretty well alone in at the Joe as well. While we were waiting for the game to start, there was a fan that was trying to get up the stairs to his seat. It was a good thing that his buddy there was holding his beers for him because in the middle of his precarious ascent, he promptly fell down flipping over the tops of two rows of seats. No one said anything and I think he made it eventually.

The game was stellar. The looks of disgust whenever the Oilers scored were fantastic. It probably didn't help with the amount of yelling and taunting we did. The fans were excited, I guess. The branding and the pre-game festivities were entertaining. The enthuisasm was nowhere near that found in Edmonton though. Regardless, it was pretty fun trading jabs with Wings fans and the staff at the Joe. When it was all said and done, people there were pretty classy. An older gentleman sitting in front of us actually turned and shook our hands, congratulating us on the win.

With the Oilers up 2-1 in the series right now, every game I've watched so far has been more exciting than the last. Given the current trajectory of this matchup, I can't wait to see what'll happen when I'm back in Detroit on Saturday.

Posted at 12:41 AM
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It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year