Sunday night hockey!!

We had the choice to either go to Saturday nights game, the Florida Panthers against the Tampa Bay Lighting or we could go to Sundays game against the Colorado Avalanche. The girls wanted to go to Sat. nights game, mainly because it was a Sat. night game. We have seen the Panthers play Tampa before. Colorado has not played in Florida in 4 years. It was an opportunity to see a team who rarely plays here. After much coaxing & talking with the husband, the girls were talked into Sunday nights game.


We watched the game on Sat. night & the Panthers got their asses kicked all over the ice by Tampa. It would have been very depressing to watch at the BAC (Bank Atlantic Center). We would have left there feeling so let down. I just hoped that the loss to the worst team in our division would spark a fire under them for Sundays game. Cheyenne really takes these games to heart, she gets really upset when they lose, LOL.


We like to get to the BAC early, for warm ups. So we left here a little before 3pm. Doors open at 4pm & the game started at 5pm. We got a good spot on the ice, right in the corner where they come out at.


I did not notice before but this pyramid of pucks is only put up so the goalie can knock it out on the ice on his way out for warm ups. I had to ask Cheyenne, she notices everything. That girl is a fountain of hockey knowledge :P !!





Briana was too cute. She got down in the corner & put her arm through the gap in the glass. And she was able to touch the jersey of every player that went out. And she said their names as they went by.

"Booth" "Weiss" "Olli" " Horton"





Cheyenne was was calling her a perv, LOL. I think someone was a little jealous. But of course that is not something she would do because it is so uncool :P . And yes, she has officially reached that age where coolness is importnat, oh boy!! Anyway, I didn't get alot of good warm up pics. But here are a few of the better ones.

Rostislav Olesz #85 & Tomas Vokoun #29



#24 Ruslan Salei



#4 Jay Bouwmeester



Cheyenne's fave #16 Nathan Horton



#7 Steve Montador, one of Briana's faves.



Another shot of Salei. I don't know why but I always like taking some pics of their backs with their name & number.




And you knew I wouldn't get through this without a few shots of my man, #20 Richard Zednik.







After warm ups we got up to our seats pretty quickly since we were in lower level. The zamboni cleaning the ice before the game.



The ice, I just love the way the ice looks.




I actually think I got some pretty good game pics.

Face off.



The ref, trying to get out of the way, LOL.



I just love everything about the game of hockey. I love the commraderie of the fans, the sounds of the cheering "Go Cats Go" & "Let's Go Panthers Lets Go" !!! The sounds of the puck hitting the wall, the glass, the other players sticks; the sounds of the checks against the boards. The sounds of the skates on the ice & the way the ice sprays up when they stop fast. The aggression, the intensity. We have developed a love for the game so much that we watch every game on TV that we can. And when the Panthers game is not televised, we listen to it on the radio. Ahhh, if only we could afford Center Ice :P !! Anyway, back to some pics.







This is one of my fave game pics because its in the middle of the play.



Banana man, he is freakin' hilarious. He beats his head against everything & dances to the Peanut Butter Jelly Time song.






Okay, so as it turns out, we were so happy we went to this game. As I had hoped, they played hard the whole game, they kept the score tied right to the end of regulation, ending at 3 to 3. This turned out to be one of the best games we have seen because it went into overtime. We were on the edge of our seats right up until the end.

This is the jumbotron before overtime, period 4.



And the jumbotron before the shootout, period 5. I know ity's a little fuzzy, sorry.



Before the shootout, the zambonis come out & clean a strip of ice right down the middle.



I only got one picture of the shootout because I was too busy watching it. With my fingers crossed & my butt barely in the seat :P . Nathan Horton #16 was first in the shootout, he missed. Then the Avalanche player had his turn & Vokoun stopped him. This is Stephen Weiss #9. He was also stopped. Then the Avalanche player went & he was stopped. Then Olli Jokinen, the captain #12 was up & he was stopped. The final Avalanche player got one by Vokoun for the win.




However, I have to say, walking out of this game was not a disappointment. The Panthers played hard & made us proud!!!! Even though they lost.