Oilers vs Ducks: Game 4

I can't say that this post will be funny or interesting but it's been awhile since I've done anything post-worthy or that I've let myself post so I figured I'd toss one up.

So I get a call Wednesday night from Keith but I'm unable to answer the phone cause I'm in the shower. About 15min later I call him back to see what's up. Turns out Keith's got two tickets to game 4 of the Western Conference Final but I missed out on the extra ticket cause I was in the shower. He was in a "need an answer now" situation so he called a handful of people and whoever said "yes" first was in. After finding out the bad news I reflected on my unfortunate luck for about 20min. Then my phone rang again and based on the DVDA song playing I knew it was Keith. The conversation went something like this...

Pat - "Hey man what's up?"

Keith - "Pat?"

Pat - "Yeah"

Keith - "There's been an injury"

Pat - "....."

Keith - "You're going to the NHL"

The Players:

Pat
Keith

Francine (after game)
Jessie (after game)

Location: LRT, Rexall, Castle Keep, Brewsters
Time: Thursday Night

$300. Three hundred dollars is what separated me from a ticket to the game and 300 is what I paid. I picked Keith up and we headed to the LRT station for the short trip to Rexall. On the train we encountered the first rowdy yahoos of the night. With Mac's slushes in their hands, no doubt a mixed concoction of sprite slush and a clear liquor, they high-fived everyone, cheered aloud, and swung from the over head hand rails like monkeys. We happened to see Karen (Jocelyn's sis) and their dad on the train on the way to the game aswell. So after the quick train ride and some casual conversation we arrive at Rexall and shuffle through the packed tunnel to the arena. Surprisingly there's not much going on outside the building except for a few face painting stands and food vendors. Once through the doors and inside the madness we do our best to fight the crowds and make our way to our seats. On the way we grab a couple beers each and when we find our seats we take in the view. Originally the price for the seats seemed a bit steep but once you're sitting in them it ends up being the furthest thing from your mind. Being at the top of our section we were free to lean forward, sit on the backs of the seats, or even stand up without having to worry about blocking anyone's view. With a beer stand about 20 feet behind us and a washroom the same distance but slightly to the right it would make for a night of numerous beers (Canadian and Coors as the beer stands tapped out during the game) and dashes to the washroom on commercial stoppages. Knowing that all the real die-hards and the rowdys were on the level above us we figured we be sitting with a mix of older people and people that brought their young kids so the language would have to be censored. Sure enough we were right but as the beer went down and few thunderous chants of "Bullshit" by the crowd happened, any censors we had placed on ourselves were lifted.

Game Time

With the build up to the game, when the Oilers hit the ice it was almost indescribable. I'd like to say it was amazing but I don't feel it quite fits so I'll use the ol'thesaurus to pick some choice words. The best words I could use would be astonishing, beautiful, intimidating, majestic, overwhelming, or to keep it simple, the place went Fucking Nuts. I can easily say that what you see on t.v. doesn't even come remotely close to actually being there. Everyone was already on their feet so we just remaind standing for national anthems. In game 3 the crowd did an incredible job of singing the Star-Spangled Banner and then an a cappella version of O'Canada. The valiant effort the crowd did in game 3 was just a build up to what we did in game 4 as I'd say we easily surpassed the volume of both anthems as we sang the American anthem just about as loud as the Canadian which was once again sung a cappella.

I don't see much point in describing the game since I figure anyone reading this must have watched it. A few mentionable notes during the game are a handful of 5 on 3's, a chant of "Bullshit" and "We Want a Ref", a goal by Georges Laraque, and the fact that I bought the last two beers served according to the security guard shutting down the beer stand.

After the game Keith and I were both pretty messed up, though starting to sober due to the second intermission closing of the beer stands and the Oilers lose. We decided to give the guys a call because they're always out drinking on a thursday but after numerous failed attempts the only one that would come out was Jessie. We drunkenly discussed the possibilities of flying down to Anaheim seeing as tickets wouldn't be hard to get as the games don't sell out, but as I would find out the next day West Jet and Air Canada don't fly to Anaheim. So we decided to meet in the Keep and we stopped to pick up Francine on the way. Once there we had a few more rounds (reluctantly the same drink I had before the Druid on the 29th) and decided we'd head over to Brewsters to grab something to eat and maybe some more booze. However I can actually say that on the ride there my body began to shut down. I figure it must have been that combination of alcohol and extreme lack of sleep as I found myself on the border of blacking out. In Brewsters no one had much of an appetite except Keith who went for the steak sandwhich. It was a short time spent there and the majority of which I think I was being propped up by Francine who I believe also crutched me out to the car.

After Jessie dropped us off that was pretty much the night all wrapped up.



Oh...except Keith threw up 9 times.