Ahhhh... HOCKEY!

God I love hockey.  Seems appropriate for a website called hockey-whore, ya think?

It's a funny story how I got into hockey ... I used to be the typical woman about sports. Blah blah blah ... I can't understand how you can spend an evening or afternoon watching *insert sport here.* Well, now I'm that addict. In all seriousness, I could never date anyone who wasn't into hockey because from September to June, I would be pretty much absent from the relationship.

My friend, Mark, moved to Hawaii in 1998 and had half a season of Sharks tickets that he wasn't going to be able to use anymore.  I told him that I would sell them for him, and in the process did sell a few games.  But I lagged in the selling, so I ended up going to a couple games.  I had been to a few games before with Mark, but hockey had never really grabbed my attention. 

This particular game ...  was against the Phoenix Coyotes (or Nashville Predators - I can't remember now) was the game that hooked me for life.  That night, we - the Sharks - sucked - and I mean sucked.  Nothing was happening .... we weren't scoring, we couldn't hold the blue line, it was so bad the crowd was actually booing our own team!

But then... Brandtt Myhres stepped out on the ice, grabbed the first player that skated by and beat the living tar out of him.  That's the infamous footage of him, with his shirt pulled off and him howling as he skated to the penalty box.  Not that having his shirt torn off his beautiful body had anything to do with my addiction though, I promise. What changed me is the energy. The entire arena came alive - the Sharks were energized and from that moment on, the game was amazing. I can't remember if we won, I think we did ... but man, all I knew was that I was addicted.
So that was it.  I was hooked.  And since then, I've either gone to the games or watched them on TV.  During the lockout, I was a very unhappy camper because hockey players weren't supposed to be as bad as the baseball or football players. So a whole year without hockey was hell ... but thankfully that's over.

When Aimee lived here, I pulled her into this addiction as well.  In the process of getting Aimee into it, she got her sister and mom into hockey too. Her mom is much much worse than any of us ... it's actually amusing to see her get all upset at the refs for bad calls. I've never seen a woman pace so much during a game in my life. You'd think her retirement was bet on the game.

Now that Aimee moved away, my girlfriend (and coworker) Cathy and I were season ticket holders last year. I also roped her into playing hockey with me! It's amusing how I can get people interested into hockey. I should work for the Sharks! Sadly, this year I couldn't afford season tickets and neither could Cathy. I had about 4k of root canals done and well, she bought a house. Sigh.
Most of the pictures on this page were taken at Sharksfest.  It's been a quite a few years since they have been taken because the Sharks stopped throwing "Sharksfest." But when they were happening, Sharksfest was a pretty cool event. All the players together in one place to give autographs and take pictures - and ultimately interact with their fans. It was a lot of fun ....

Even though I know my site is called "hockey-whore", which apparently stands for a woman who will do anything to sleep with a hockey player - it's not something I can get behind. Although it's neat meeting the players and all, I know that there are women that aim to to "catch" a hockey player.  That's not me ... even though I love hockey - both playing and watching - it's just the sport I love. And anyone who will lower themselves to catching someone because of their money or what they do - that's just alien to me.
Before Mike died, he used to go to the hockey games with me too. In fact, it was a Sharksfest that brought us together!! Mike went to a lot of games with me ... and if he couldn't go to the game, Aimee went ... and vice versa. Those were some great times because the three of us hung out a lot together. We were like family.

I miss those times greatly but change is a good thing. Since then, Cathy and I went together a lot last year - or I'd take one of my friends or she'd take her son. When I was single - it was also a great opportunity for a date. My current boyfriend, Joel, I met due to hockey!!

It was a Saturday game and one of my friends flaked on me just a few hours before the game. I called all my friends who were into hockey and every single one of them were busy. So as a last resort, I placed an ad on Craigslist looking for a hockey date. I wasn't looking for love - I just wanted a hockey fan who was sane and fun to go to the game with. Well, Joel answered and since then, we've been kinda inseparable. He's a great guy ... who would have thunk a last minute ad would have resulted in something like a great friendship and love?