whirlwind of hockey
Apr. 10th, 2024 10:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unicorndukeI had so much fun. I drove in Saturday morning to Utica, getting there pretty early compared to when the game started at 3. So I spent some time wandering around Utica, mostly being weirded out. It's a strange place. It's almost as if they've torn down most of their old buildings over the years and put up a bunch of new stuff. Weirdest part is that all of the new buildings never touch each other. There would be old rundown building fronts with the sides cleaned up and painted. The streets didn't make any sense and were very wide. Clearly they were trying to improve the city, there was both public and private construction projects but the vibes were strange. Felt very rust belt city except they didn't like, preserve anything of the old city really. I wandered around Saturday morning around 11am and there were literally three places open for business, two coffee shops and one sit down breakfast place. Odd city. It was chilly on Saturday.
It was easy to get to the arena and there was free parking in the arena parking. One of the discord people had mentioned some things about getting to the arena and when to enter which was nice.
One discord friend also arrived and they sat with me during the games Sat/Sun other than being a bit of chaos gremlin and wandering off at various points. I had booked the hotel and we split the hotel which was nice. Some other discord server peeps were also in and out, and we met up and also some folks just chatted in the discord instead of meeting up which was also fine.
The hockey games were so much fun. Lots of really close games and I love being in an arena for hockey. It's been fun and fast and only some of the games were actual blowouts. Seeing the hockey players skate in person is just amazing. I was also able to get photos with a couple of players and talk to some folks who used to play for the Connecticut Whale.
I don't love the crowds at the USA games. Ew. I don't know if I've ever been to an event that felt so gross with nationalistic pride to this extent. It was weird.
I wore earbuds or ear protection for most games, since the in-arena music is so damn loud. What is up with that honestly. There were some games that I did the over ear hearing protectors that I use for tractor and power tool work and that worked very well for the big games. In the smaller games, the crowds were much more cheerful and nice and I only needed earplugs for the music. The europeans love to bring instruments of various kinds to games which is amusing.
I have the perfect seat for me, in the second section, but the very bottom row so I can see down into the glass without being too high in the stands. I was in the middle since I didn't leave my seat much but also since I was in the bottom row, I could hop the railing or go under it to get out if I needed.
I've developed a tiny rub and now scab on my nose from my masks, the KN95s for some reason just ended up doing that. It's vaguely annoying but not the worst. In between games, we have to leave the arena so I'd spend as much time without a mask on as I could. I was very happy with my decision to bring water bottles and a ton of snacks since concession food is almost certainly going to make my stomach upset. It was a 10 minute walk to downtown where the restaurants were and also I dislike buying a ton of food. So I made sandwiches at the hotel and brought them, made sure to drink at least a half bottle of water and eat a bunch of food between each game and I think it worked out great. I did order food for pickup monday and ate it for lunch/dinner that day and lunch yesterday. I sat on the tailgate of my truck and monched food, drank water and read a book. In the arena during breaks, I either brought a project, crochet mitten and at some of the other games, my knitted sweater to work on or read a book on my phone. I didn't bring my bag to the very crowded games because the lines were longer and security was tighter and I didn't want them taking away projects.
There was really only an hour and a half break between games and since they let us back into the rink and hour before puck drop for the next game, I ended up waiting until 40 minutes before puck drop before going in because then I could watch warmups, which I love watching.
I will say it was exhausting. I didn't sleep well the first two nights and the crowds and noise tired me out a ton. My seat neighbors have been a set of parents with their kids who have been there every game, they have four seats on one side of me, but if the games aren't crowded, the kids have sat elsewhere and the parents sat in the middle of their seats. On the other side of me, the two seats were only occupied for the Canada-USA game and I haven't seen them otherwise. So good company.
China and Denmark got relegated and it literally came down to who won the last game last night which was fun and my guess is France and hmmm maybe South Korea or Hungary will be promoted from D1 for next year. Probably Hungary as number two. Those four teams are on the bubble, so they get promoted and demoted a decent amount. Team Czechia wiped the floor with Switzerland and it turns out they have the funniest goal song ever. Listen here, they play starting at around 0:33 seconds. It's fucking hilarious.
I got to see the almost totality eclipse, skipping the first period of Finland vs Switzerland for it, which I regret a little bit. The eclipse was cool but it was mostly cloudy so I could kinda see the sliver of sun left (with glasses obv), but at various points, the clouds covered it. It did feel like a bad storm rolling in which was pretty neat but overall, ehh okay. I think it would have been more dramatic if it had been sunny.
I was a little worried about the drive home last night after the last game, but I got in a little after 11pm and while I was tired, I felt okay during the drive. Ate snacks.
I'm driving out and back tomorrow just for the first three quarterfinal games and skipping the USA game because it starts at 8:30 at night and I'm not about that. Then back out for semifinal Saturday and staying over until sunday for the medal games. The drive is easy so I feel confident.
It was easy to get to the arena and there was free parking in the arena parking. One of the discord people had mentioned some things about getting to the arena and when to enter which was nice.
One discord friend also arrived and they sat with me during the games Sat/Sun other than being a bit of chaos gremlin and wandering off at various points. I had booked the hotel and we split the hotel which was nice. Some other discord server peeps were also in and out, and we met up and also some folks just chatted in the discord instead of meeting up which was also fine.
The hockey games were so much fun. Lots of really close games and I love being in an arena for hockey. It's been fun and fast and only some of the games were actual blowouts. Seeing the hockey players skate in person is just amazing. I was also able to get photos with a couple of players and talk to some folks who used to play for the Connecticut Whale.
I don't love the crowds at the USA games. Ew. I don't know if I've ever been to an event that felt so gross with nationalistic pride to this extent. It was weird.
I wore earbuds or ear protection for most games, since the in-arena music is so damn loud. What is up with that honestly. There were some games that I did the over ear hearing protectors that I use for tractor and power tool work and that worked very well for the big games. In the smaller games, the crowds were much more cheerful and nice and I only needed earplugs for the music. The europeans love to bring instruments of various kinds to games which is amusing.
I have the perfect seat for me, in the second section, but the very bottom row so I can see down into the glass without being too high in the stands. I was in the middle since I didn't leave my seat much but also since I was in the bottom row, I could hop the railing or go under it to get out if I needed.
I've developed a tiny rub and now scab on my nose from my masks, the KN95s for some reason just ended up doing that. It's vaguely annoying but not the worst. In between games, we have to leave the arena so I'd spend as much time without a mask on as I could. I was very happy with my decision to bring water bottles and a ton of snacks since concession food is almost certainly going to make my stomach upset. It was a 10 minute walk to downtown where the restaurants were and also I dislike buying a ton of food. So I made sandwiches at the hotel and brought them, made sure to drink at least a half bottle of water and eat a bunch of food between each game and I think it worked out great. I did order food for pickup monday and ate it for lunch/dinner that day and lunch yesterday. I sat on the tailgate of my truck and monched food, drank water and read a book. In the arena during breaks, I either brought a project, crochet mitten and at some of the other games, my knitted sweater to work on or read a book on my phone. I didn't bring my bag to the very crowded games because the lines were longer and security was tighter and I didn't want them taking away projects.
There was really only an hour and a half break between games and since they let us back into the rink and hour before puck drop for the next game, I ended up waiting until 40 minutes before puck drop before going in because then I could watch warmups, which I love watching.
I will say it was exhausting. I didn't sleep well the first two nights and the crowds and noise tired me out a ton. My seat neighbors have been a set of parents with their kids who have been there every game, they have four seats on one side of me, but if the games aren't crowded, the kids have sat elsewhere and the parents sat in the middle of their seats. On the other side of me, the two seats were only occupied for the Canada-USA game and I haven't seen them otherwise. So good company.
China and Denmark got relegated and it literally came down to who won the last game last night which was fun and my guess is France and hmmm maybe South Korea or Hungary will be promoted from D1 for next year. Probably Hungary as number two. Those four teams are on the bubble, so they get promoted and demoted a decent amount. Team Czechia wiped the floor with Switzerland and it turns out they have the funniest goal song ever. Listen here, they play starting at around 0:33 seconds. It's fucking hilarious.
I got to see the almost totality eclipse, skipping the first period of Finland vs Switzerland for it, which I regret a little bit. The eclipse was cool but it was mostly cloudy so I could kinda see the sliver of sun left (with glasses obv), but at various points, the clouds covered it. It did feel like a bad storm rolling in which was pretty neat but overall, ehh okay. I think it would have been more dramatic if it had been sunny.
I was a little worried about the drive home last night after the last game, but I got in a little after 11pm and while I was tired, I felt okay during the drive. Ate snacks.
I'm driving out and back tomorrow just for the first three quarterfinal games and skipping the USA game because it starts at 8:30 at night and I'm not about that. Then back out for semifinal Saturday and staying over until sunday for the medal games. The drive is easy so I feel confident.
no subject
Date: 2024-04-10 04:36 pm (UTC)Glad you are enjoying the games tho!
no subject
Date: 2024-04-10 05:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-04-11 12:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-04-10 06:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-04-10 10:35 pm (UTC)I’m glad you did all the right coping-skills work to make it a good time for you. And sympathies about not sleeping well. Sometimes noise becomes a weird physical work - perplexing and exhausting all together.
no subject
Date: 2024-04-11 12:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-04-12 12:13 pm (UTC)