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| Schedule Magnet given to Home Opener attendees. |
After my success of attending last year's opener, I was resolved to again attend this season's Sound Tigers home opener. Since I haven't heard from my son in over a month and don't know anyone else who likes hockey let alone the Sound Tigers, I once again made the trek alone. Ha!
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| My ticket. |
Once again, I bought my ticket (see above) at the gate. Once again, I sat in Section 100. This year I had to pay more in order to sit about where I usually sit (down near the glass). This year, they restricted the cheapest seats to literally the top row of the end sections (see pink in the diagram below). They also limited the best (and most expensive) seats (at the glass) to a single row (see "red" in the diagram below; the "other" red - for sections 105-106 & 114-116 is actually supposed to be orange). The Green rows are the next expensive section but only consist of 3 rows (where they exist). The Orange sections are really the best because you get a good view of the entire rink; naturally, these seats are fairly expensive ($36/$39). The arena management raises ticket prices $3 the day of the game at the box office. If you buy online, you save the extra box office fee but have to pay a different fee for buying online. "Six of one, half dozen of another."
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| Seating sections for Sound Tigers games. |
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| View of arena before start of game (courtesy of Sound Tigers). Section 100 is at upper right. |
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| View from my seat of warm-up. |
When I first starting accompanying my son to Sound Tigers game, we arrived early just to see warm-ups. It is something of a contest to sit behind the net and not flinch when a puck hits the glass in front of you. Another reason to get there early is the chance to catch an errant puck. Today, one shot bounced between the glass and the net and landed practically in the lap of the boy sitting in front of me in the front row. Richard has something of a collection of these plain black practice pucks.
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| Near the end of warm-up, the entire team gathers at the goal until they knock the puck in. |
When I first arrived, I did not sit in my (assigned) seat but went farther down the row so I was directly behind the goal. Unfortunately, just before the start a young father with his little son and daughter arrived. So I had to move to the right, to my actual ticket seat. (Both kids were clearly too little to understand the game. I am perplexed why a parent would bring such small children to the game (and they were decked out in team paraphernalia). And where was the mom/wife? I kinda felt sorry for the guy, trying to care for two small kids. Thank God they were well behaved.)
(In contrast to my neighbors to the left, was the "family" in front of me. I couldn't figure them out. It was a bi-racial couple: oriental woman with white man (he looked like he could be a short cop). The boy appeared to be about 13 while the girl was younger (10?). The children were flanked by the adults, with the males at the left and females at right. I didn't see any wedding rings. The woman seemed to be sometimes confused by the game. The boy was clearly a big hockey fan.)
(I can't help but people watch. I wonder what about their story. I hope things work out for them. They all look like nice people.)
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| National Anthem time. |
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| Fairfield County Children's Choir (Courtesy FCCC) |
The team introduction was pretty lame this year, especially considering it is their 15-year anniversary. Gone is the gigantic inflatable tiger arch with the fog. It was a pain to set up and take down but it looked impressive.
Tonight's game was against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. We used to play them quite a bit several years ago but then the divisions changed. They were always tough. But tonight, the Sound Tigers scored first! It was close for much of the game until near the end. After the Tigers scored their third goal, the Penguins pulled their goalie with a few minutes left. This resulted in an empty net goal by the Tigers. The final score was 4-1 in favor of the hometown Sound Tigers!
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| Congratulating the goalie at the end of the game. |
For refreshments, I skipped the usual chicken tender combo. Instead, because I wasn't very hungry, I got a hot dog. To my surprise, it was not only quite filling, it was also spicy hot. I didn't find it very enjoyable. I won't be getting one of these next time I'm at a game here.
Later, I succumbed to the temptation of a packet of Cracker Jack. It's been a long time since I had this. When I was a kid, Cracker Jack came in a little rectangular box with a real (solid, 3-D) prize inside. Now, it comes in foil-like bag with a crummy flat prize (I got a NY Yankees sticker).
During the second Intermission, they had the usual "Chuck-a-puck" contest. The price remains at $5/bag of pucks. I'm not sure what the prize was. I didn't play (It's a waste of $5). They only award a single prize now. It used to be that the three closest pucks got something. Tonight, you had to get the puck inside the tire at center ice. They also did T-shirt toss during intermissions.
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| Cleaning up the Chuck-A-Pucks. |
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| Goodnight. See ya next time! |
Links:
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2014_10_12_archive.html
http://www.soundtigers.com
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/six_of_one,_half_a_dozen_of_the_other
http://www.singfccc.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star-Spangled_Banner
http://www.wbspenguins.com
http://theahl.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1014699
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracker_Jack
http://www.ctpost.com/sports/article/Saffan-out-as-Sound-Tigers-team-president-6303203.php
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Written: Sunday October 11 and October 18, 2015.
