To catch a cold in spring? Well, it happened to me. For the first time in I don’t know how long I actually took a sick day from work. But with Olivia and Sonia just on the tail end of their colds, it was not a stay in bed kind of day. The good news is that I was able to catch some Z’s in the morning, but it was standard excitement after that. Yet another eye-opener that as a parent, there’s no time to lay down and sleep it out from now on.
Regardless, both sick parents did enjoy a rare experience on Monday night. Kevin (Steph’s husband) was gracious enough to comp us 2 PLATINUM tickets to the Leafs game against Buffalo. These are not just your typical average Joe seats. These are the Xanadu of seats. Plush, cushiony pleather mecca. Row 9, just inside the blue line. What I like to call “Puck in your face” seats. No pucks tonight came our way but I could easily see a slapshot coming full speed on any other night.Â
These seats allowed us to enter the mysterious “2B” gate entrance. This entrance is for platinums only. You’re taken down into the bowels of the arena where there is considerably less people moving around. Sushi bars, beer stations with empty lines! Heaven on earth. The decor is quite elegant for an arena and there are several private party rooms for the bigwigs to entertain. Certainly not what you’d see in the standard concrete jungle upstairs.Â
Even though we were in platinum, our seats were in an awkward location. In order to get to them, we had to go through the zamboni entrance, and then up into the normal concourse and back down. In front of our seats was another solid row of seats that prevents access to our seats from below. I believe it is to act as a barrier from the less privileged from getting to the lower concourse.Â
During intermission (who cares about the game, right?), we went for some refreshments and washroom break and thought, since the upper concourse has easier access, let’s go there. Big mistake. Lineups for everything including washroom were out of sight. So we went to the lower concourse as was our right and since most people there head to there party rooms during intermission, no lineups anywhere. The one problem though was getting back to our seat. Since we were a little tardy, the 2nd period had already started. One of the worst things you can do as a spectator is walk up and down the stairs and in and out of aisles when a game is in play. Especially hockey. The ‘sit-downs!’ and ‘Get out of the way!’ calls are deafening when they are aimed at you. As I mentioned before, there’s no direct access to our seats from below. So 10 minutes into the period later, we found a relatively clear path by jumping over a couple rows of seats. How degrading for us platinum patrons!
The game itself was fun to watch. You wouldn’t catch me watching this matchup on TV since the Leafs had no chance of making the playoffs. But to be there live is quite different. With no announcers, you can hear everything that’s going on the ice. It feels like you’re watching a ‘pond hockey’ game consisting of your pals….except in this case your ‘pals’ are massive and fly around like rockets. You really get an appreciation for how skilled these guys are. Especially their footwork. And you really get an appreciation for how small the rink really is when you can take in the whole surface at once. Sonia felt that in person, the game’s majestic-ness is reduced to a bunch of guys on a small piece of ice chasing a puck around. Why are they getting paid so much for this? In earnest, I had to agree. Without announcers and graphics flashing up on the screen, it really didn’t seem to be that important. It’s strange, but we don’t get the same feeling at other professional events like baseball or football. For some reason, those games seem to retain their glory even in person.
Anyway, the game was excitingly close and ended in overtime: 2-2. In fact, a shootout was needed to resolve the issue. It’s kind of funny is that since its inception, I have not witnessed a shootout in any game I’ve watched on TV. I go to a game once in a blue moon and behold: A shootout. I must admit that the format, although unfair to decide a game, was quite fun to watch. The fans go insane. But in a polite Canadian way: Nobody stands up so that everyone else can see. If this were the USA, everyone would be standing, craning to see the action….because idiotical thinking: if I stand up, I can see better. Thus the domino effect that must ensue. In Canada, logic prevails, everyone sits, and those who do stand get shunned.
Toronto ended up losing the shootout 1-0 (3 shooters aside). Sundin, Tucker, Ponikorovsky. All three had very poor attempts at trying to score. As if they really didn’t care. And perhaps they didn’t.  Price on each ticket: $209. Cost to us: a dinner for Kev and Steph. Well worth it. Thanks!