Christmas is a lonely time for the diehard hockey fan. For two nights we are forced to suck it up and watch basketball because the NHL princesses…I mean…players can’t man up and dance for our pleasure and their salaries – bah humbug! I was so bored that I made a few impulse buys on Christmas Eve including a hockey trip to Chicago and the Insanity Challenge DVD (as seen on TV). Pretty much everything being advertised via informercial that night was making a lot of sense to me, “Yeah, I DO need that serum to make the wrinkles I don’t have yet disappear!” I guess you could say that hockey withdrawal was bringing out the Peggy Bundy in me.

When Boxing Day finally approached – *ahem* that’s December 26th for you Yanks – I was just as excited as most of you were to be watching hockey on TV again. However, little did I know that I would be watching NHL hockey live and in person that night. Around 4:30PM I got an interesting message explaining that a FREE ticket to the Leafs game had come available and it was mine if I wanted it. Uhhh, yeah, hello? Of course, I want it. Plus, it didn’t hurt that the ticket was two rows behind the Habs bench AND had a fancy box attached to it as well! Daaaaaaamn, I wish I had those seats when the Coyotes were in town – I would have been up to no good x infinity!

Seeing as it was the day after Christmas, I was still in my pajamas at this time. I had been playing with the Wii Fit Plus all day and hadn’t even showered yet! Like the mad woman that I am, I got ready at a furious pace, and jumped in the car to speed back to Toronto. It was clear sailing the whole way there until I hit the Gardiner and all Hell broke loose as per usual. I made it to the Air Canada Centre with ten minutes to spare before puck drop. Yes, I missed the warm up! It was very unfortunate considering that the Habs have a spicelicious team that I have come to appreciate.

The box was amazing and was full of great food and great people. It was my first time in a box at the ACC and, actually, at any hockey game. My only box experiences have been for Jays games at the SkyDome *sigh* Rogers Centre. The food in our box was fancy – lobster and shrimp and sushi and ice cream a plenty! Yum! If you have never been to the Air Canada Centre, then you probably wouldn’t know that they have boxes near the locker rooms as well as in the upper bowl! The box I was in was near the Habs dressing room, and was actually the box right smack in the middle of the players walkway to get to the ice! I had the best photo-ops ever, but my camera and my photography skills failed miserably – what else is new?

And then of course there were the actual seats. It’s definitely challenging to know where to look when you are anywhere near the Montreal Canadiens. Lapierre, Price, O’Byrne, and, oh, Mike Cammalleri, why must you be so short? Not to mention DILF-o-rama, Hal Gill! He reminded me of that horrible night in Pittsburgh last season. He was present for the infamous “Teenstache” incident in which, at a local watering hole, I mercilessly taunted one of the Penguins for strutting around with the aforementioned almost facial hair. My partner in crime that night still talks about how much she hates Hal Gill! Apparently, he was quite the douche bag to her! That whole concept of beautiful men having attitude problems is completely unfathomable (sarcasm). On the other hand, another girl friend of mine said she once saw him with his top off and the vision made her quickly reprioritized her life’s goals to #1 See Hal Gill Naked. Oh, yes.

Not gonna lie, much like at the Rangers game on the 18th, I spent a large portion of the Leafs OT loss stealing pictures of the tri-coloured babes – with a large chunk of time dedicated to capturing the Hal Gill money shot. Anyway, I *THINK* I’m hitting another junior game tomorrow. I’m heading back to the old Guelph Sports and Entertainment Centre (now Sleeman Centre) – another former haunt of mine, but with less significance. And, of course, Chicago is fast approaching. I don’t think I need to remind you that I’m going on this road trip despite the warnings from my sequel to Down the Rabbit Hole. This trip could very well be the death of me. After all, it is in the Chicago area that my “character” dies. Until next time…if there is a next time.

Roll the credits…