Poised, smooth, calm under pressure: all things that describe me not, especially when related to hockey. This is the person who once sat next to Rob Blake in the tiny restaurant in El Segundo, CA and didn’t even say a word to him. A moment that still comes back to haunt me. How I could sit next to one of my all time favorites and not say a single word to him is beyond me. I can pretend that is was just my respectful nature that said “I don’t want to interrupt him during his dinner,” but the hard truth is, I just didn’t have the guts. I can think of much harsher terminology, but I’ll maintain my ladylike demeanor (just this once) and stick with guts.
So you can imagine my concern when my boss offered to take to me to the “Toast to our Teams” event held at Pepsi Center. It is an annual gala where the players from the Avalanche, Nuggets and Mammoth all mingle with guests as a meet and greet sort of extravaganza for those who get a ticket. Just how you get a ticket is still unclear to me, seeing as we are 20 year season ticket holders and have never gotten an invite… But luckily for me, we do the flowers and seeing as I am the biggest Avs fan at work, my boss wisely invited to go.
I figured the night could go one of three ways. One, I am too shy and don’t say a word. Two, I get overexcited, have a few cocktails and say something along the lines of “what the f*** happened last night against Chicago?” Or three, I miraculously play it cool and say the right thing at just the right time. Well, the hockey gods were looking out over me and I left my spazzy self behind and said all the right things. The only slip up was when Jerome Iginla walked past me and I shouted “IGGY!” in a high-pitched tone that combined both excitement in seeing him and desperation that he might walk right by me. I quickly pulled it together, shook the man’s hand and said congratulations on #600.
I don’t often surprise myself, but I sure did that night. With any luck, I’ll get invited next year, the Avs won’t have a game the next day and then can thus hang around and schmooze it up some more, and I’ll actually be able to hand out my business cards. Since I’m at it, we will also be on the top on the league in points and coming off a season where we just squeezed our way into the playoffs, and shocked everyone by winning the Cup a la the LA Kings, minus being the douche bag, vapid team, with their leased-out lifestyle and soulless fans. Maybe in exchange for two NFL teams, they should take move the Kings to a more deserving city, where they would actually know that they had a team prior to them winning a championship. Welp, I guess my ladylike disposition can only last so long... C'est la vie and Go Avs!