Game Day in Calgary

I felt amazing during the game, until I lost all feeling from the cold, that is. Then I got back to the hotel and had no idea what to say about it. I stared at a blank page for 10 minutes before walking away to have some tea and contemplate. I could never do it justice. I may never try.

All in all, today has been exhausting. I got in around 7:30pm and felt like going straight to bed. How was it that Calgary so took it out of me today?

I woke up early this morning and took the train down to the city center and checked out what makes this so-called Cowtown tick. Evidently, on a Sunday, it's not much at all. It's interesting to me that the population here is larger than Seattle's, but there's a lot less going on downtown. Perhaps that's because the city sprawls out so much farther, not wedged in between water and mountains. At any rate, I didn't find anything there to amuse me.. except for the brief thought that one could understandably assume Canada has some sort of inferiority complex, given the requirement of an extremely tall phallic tower in every major city. Aside from that, nothing; very little shopping was open, no people were around, so I got back on the train to the hotel and set about counting down the minutes until the game that brought me here.

After dressing quite fashionably for the affair -- base layer (mountain climber long johns) top and bottom, jeans, long sleeve tee, Montreal sweatshirt, coat, scarf, Habs toque with ear flaps, gloves with hand warmer inserts, sock liners, wool socks, stick-on foot warmers, and shoes which I could barely reach to pull on after all those layers -- I grabbed my ticket and took the 5 minute walk down to the stadium with the other fans. Once inside, I grabbed a couple of cans of Molson Canadian (each one for the price of a six pack at The Liquor Box across the road), and found my seat.

With the warm-up skate finishing up, the sun shining on me,and the temperature a balmy 15 degrees, my excitement was running high. Pre-game festivities included a song by Five for Fighting, singing of the Canadian national anthem (as well as the US anthem, why?), and a flyover by the Snowbirds, the Canadian equivalent of the Blue Angels. All of this fanfare would make me roll my eyes and say start the game already in the States, but here I got into it, singing along, cheering the pyrotechnics, and feeling a sense of one-ness with everyone around me. Despite the hassle of moving across the border, I should end up back in Canada eventually. I just love it so much more than my native country.

Anyway. My elation didn't last long. While I loved  being at this rare game, always enjoy live hockey, and will forever be glad that I came, the experience became a bit less enjoyable as it went on. The Flames came on strong in the first period, while the Canadiens seemed to be unable to get their feet under them, which dampened the spirits of me and all the Habs fans around me. Then it got colder. The sun went down, and the wind picked up, bringing the temperature with wind chill down to around -5 F. To add to our ordeal, Montreal continued losing (ultimately being shut out 4-0) despite picking up their game and outplaying Calgary for the second 2 periods. Penalties and resulting power play goals plagued our boys. The concrete under our feet was much colder than the air, and my foot warmers quit working, making me unable to feel my toes for at least 35 minutes of the game. Beer sales ended before the 2nd intermission, and as the outcome became obvious, the drunken Flames fans jawed more and more at those of us there to cheer on Montreal. I stayed until the final buzzer, but then this frozen Habs fan skipped any after-game hoopla and got back to the hotel post-haste.

In the end, I may voluntarily forget how the game went. I've seen my Habs play live many times, and fare much better. But I'll never forget the experience today. It was like nothing I've ever done in so many ways, and not all of it was entirely pleasant. But I'd love to do it again. And again. And again.

When's the next one? I'm ready... let's go!