At the Good Ol' Hockey Game...

Aussie and I went to cheer on the hometown 'ice hockey' team tonight as they faced the Edmonton Oilers. A great friend of mine was able to find us some superb tickets and so we got to see the game form a great vantage point. Aussie was all geared up to go as we left the neighbourhood and headed for the arena. She did wonder if the game would be played indoors. Thankfully yes, though many of us Canadian boys recall many a cold, cold winter morning when we strap on the skates, head to a friend's pond and skate the entire day away. Ahh, young legs.
When we arrived at Scotiabank Place we stopped for a few quick photo ops on the way in. Here we are approaching the arena: and then outside the main doors where the massive posters of he current heroes hang larger than life:

We stopped in at Bert's for a quick bite. It had a Bahamas theme, so I just had to grab a photo of Aussie in front of the palm trees:

Soon enough they were ready to drop the puck. The special effects on the ice were pretty cool. Here's the best shot I could get of the ice 'on fire'

Before the game is actually my favourite part. The playing of the national anthem. Here's the full video:

and here's a shot of them passing around a huge Canada flag.
We got in a before photo:

as Aussie mentioned several times what a great time she was having.
To boot, we even scored the first goal!!
We took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission and were off to check out the rest of the arena.
Here we are hanging out with the 'Sens-squatch' who regaled us with stories of his adventures in Australia (small world)
and with Spartacat, the Ottawa Senator's Mascot:

Please note that even he is sporting a mustache this month. So I'm not the only one with weird facial hair.

All-in-all we had a fantastic time, though the visitors did the rest of the scoring and finished 4-1. It was a fantastic night as 'host-father' and 'daughter'. Thanks Aussie for the memories.