Hockey Night

Two nights ago, Jude and I took John Patrick to his first hockey game - Predators vs. Edmonton Oilers.  Going into the game, my thought was that if he made it through two periods, we'd have a real hockey fan on our hands.  How'd it turn out?  Well, I think we have a real hockey fan on our hands.

We arrived at the game a little late, but got to our seats without any difficulty.  My friend, Peter Klett, was already there with his wife, Charity, and their son Cort.  Cort is 1 month younger than John Patrick, so we were interested to see how they would do together at the game.  Over the past 10 years, since the Predators have been in Nashville, Peter and I have seen a lot of hockey games together.  This, however, was the first game we had been to together with our sons.  Wow, times have changed. 

Although John Patrick seemed to enjoy the game, what he really enjoyed was playing with the empty seats on our aisle.  The seats fold up, so he spend a great deal of time with his back to the ice, bouncing an empty seat up and down with his hands.  The first time the Predators scored, the horn sounded, loudly, and John Patrick jumped into the air, startled.  He looked at Jude and started crying.  She scooped him up, hugged him and he calmed down.  When the Predators scored again, I was able to quickly cover his ears so the horn wouldn't scare him. 

Between the first and second periods, John Patrick was fascinated by the zambonis as they drove around the rink, preparing the ice for the second period.  I leaned toward him and said, "zamboni," and he laughed and laughed.  Apparently, the word sounded funny to him.

At the end of the second period, we left.  The Predators won, 4-3, and John Patrick did great at the game.  A win all the way around, I'd say.