As you may know by now, my boys are obsessed with hockey.
Whether it be playing in the driveway or on the backyard rink, the boys are outside at least once a day playing. And like every Canadian, they pick their favourite player and team and play for the Stanley Cup.
In recent years, when it comes to Christmas gifts we’ve tried to get the kids more experiences than physical gifts. Sure, a toy is great but after a week the novelty wears off and it ends up collecting dust in the corner. However, an experience is something you not only look forward to, but remember for a long time after.
With that in mind, we bought the boys tickets to an NHL game for Christmas this year. As anyone in Ontario knows, buying tickets to a Maple Leafs game is not feasible for many. So we did what every good, hard working Canadian does: we got tickets to a Buffalo Sabres game.
We chose the Sabres game for March 10, when they hosted the Vegas Golden Knights. When we bought the tickets, we chose that game because it was Vegas coming to town. However, as hockey fans will know, since that time the Sabres traded disgruntled forward Jack Eichel to Vegas for Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs and a couple of draft picks.
Luckily for us, March 10 happened to be the first game back in Buffalo for Eichel.
KeyBank Center was jacked for the game. Fans had signs – none of them showing support for Eichel – and every time Eichel touched the puck, boos rained down from the crowd.
This went on for the entire game.
And to make things even sweeter for Sabres fans – they won the game 3-1, with both Krebs and Tuch scoring.
The highlight of the game for me, however, was not what happened on the ice. Rather, it was what happened off of it.
The boys, who haven’t been to the United States in three years, learned that the chicken wing was invented at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo (and yes, the chicken wings were delicious!), that iced tea is called sweet tea, and pop is soda.
“This is a weird place,” quipped Duncan.
And at the game, Cameron passed on his knowledge of hockey.
Seated next to Cameron at the game was a gentleman who had never watched a hockey game before in his life.
From what we learned, the gentleman was a member of the Armed Forces for 30 years and was gifted the tickets. Always keen for a new experience, he took the tickets. As the game got started, he introduced himself to Cameron, and asked, “So how many quarters is this?”
“Periods. They play three periods.”
And this conversation continued for the entire game, with Cameron explaining why the whistle was blown, what the penalty call was… and why everybody was booing the guy wearing No. 9 for Vegas.
By the end of the game, Cameron’s new friend was into the game with the rest of the 12,000 or so at KeyBank Center, standing as Tuch scored the empty netter to seal the win.
As the crowd started to leave, Cameron and the veteran gave each other a fist bump as they parted ways.
As he made our journey back to the border, all Cameron could talk about was how he “had to teach an American about hockey.”
While it wasn’t the easiest journey getting to the game – having to get a COVID test in the States prior to coming back, and paying $50US a pop to do so – the memories of March 10, 2022 will live on in the boys’ memories for a long time.
To me, that’s money well spent.
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Mike Wilson is the editor of the Listowel Bnner. Comments and feedback are welcome at mwilson@midwesternnewspapers.com.
