At one point, after being in GM Place last night for about five or ten minutes, my heart was beating pretty hard. I was that excited to see my first game last night. There’s part of me growing up that felt like I should be a Blackhawks, but it never quite took ahold of me. For a time, when I first fell in love with hockey, I was a Rangers fan. It’s a fact I’m ashamed to admit, but I got sucked in. I barely understood what icing meant, yet alone what being offside meant. Fortunately, to many of you reading this, my dedication to them was short lived and lives in a memory now.
It was when I discovered Patrick Roy that things changed. When he left Montreal for the Colorado Avalanche, I was hooked. Maybe it was the allure of a new team in the league that got me, but they became my favorite. And somewhere deep down, they might still be in my heart somewhere, but I have to say that I follow very little about them now, especially after the lockout.
Now I find myself more drawn to the Canucks than ever before. I always had a general respect for the team, but never had much to anchor me to this team. Moving up here changed all of that. The game that I saw last night from section 103 cemented my devotion. It was such an experience that will never be repeated or beaten being the first time that I got to see my first NHL game in the place that I did. I’m still an outsider to this city, but I feel like I’m more apart of Vancouver than I was last week.