Hockey Fan or Stalker: Take the Quiz

It’s the off season, how do you plan to spend it? If you’re a hockey fan, you’ll get by, reading trade and re-signing rumors, whining slightly about how there’s nothing to do and anxiously wait for the fall. BUT, if you’re a hockey stalker, you are plotting and planning your schemes to meet players even if they go to Turkey for summer vacation.

Not sure which category you fall into? Take the quiz!

1. You go the Kettler to watch practice because:

     a. You enjoy watching what the team is working on to face their next opponent.

     b. You might get to meet Brooks Laich.

2. You hang out outside Kettler after practice is over because:

    a. You might get an autograph and/or picture of your favorite player.

    b. You might get to meet Brooks Laich and maybe even get a chance to slip him your phone number.

3. You leave Kettler and discover you are following the car of one of the players. Do you:

    a. Smile and tweet to everyone (from a red light, of course) that you just saw Brooks Laich in his car.

    b. Throw on the sunglasses, change lanes, and drop back 3 car lengths to follow Brooks Laich because you might find out where he lives or shops.

4. You frequent restaurants that are known as player hangouts because:

     a. It’s a cool sports bar in your neighborhood that just happens to be a player hangout. It’s cool; you go there all the time, in season or off season.

     b. Even though you had to drive 45+ minutes to get there, you go as often as possible because you might get to meet Brooks Laich and actually touch him and flirt with him.

  

5. You happen to know the home address of a hockey player. Do you:

     a. Keep it secret, the guys deserve their privacy.

     b. Keep it secret, check to see if there are any rentals available nearby, call Mayflower and start planning your move to his building or neighborhood.

  

6. You follow on Twitter or friend on Facebook people who have some connection to the team because:

     a. It’s great to get the inside scoop of what’s going on with the team from insiders.

     b. You might find a way to use them to your advantage to meet Brooks Laich.

7. You’ve gotten this far in the quiz and you:

     a. Laugh because you recognize it’s a joke.

     b. Feel insulted. No way do you do any of those things, you just happen to really, really like Brooks Laich and one day you’ll meet him and talk to him and date him and become his wife and have his children and everyone will be jealous but you’ll be living happily ever after as Mrs. Brooks Laich, so who cares what everyone else thinks, because no way are you a stalker.

So, how did you do? If your answers were mostly ‘a’, you can breathe a sigh of relief, you’re never going to be mistaken as a stalker, you’re a fan. But, if you answered mostly “b”, you are the only honest person to have taken this quiz…Any questions?

(note: I selected Brooks as the focus here because he is such cougar bait, but you can substitute any young Caps bachelor of your liking, whether it's Ovi, Sasha, Nicky, Mike or Varly. But, if by doing this, your answers change from a's to b's, please don't come to me for their addresses, I selected "a" on question #5!)

My Winning Season

Yesterday was the final game in the Capitals regular season for 2009-2010. Not only was it a winning season for them, but it was a season of win for me too. I can’t say when I’ve enjoyed a rollercoaster ride more.

I was very fortunate to enjoy a lot of Caps awesomeness in person this season. My season of win actually began at Caps development camp on 9/7/09. I had never been to watch any skating at Kettler before, what a great way to start. It was the first time I ever got to watch hockey players up close. I can tell you right now, it sealed the deal on my fascination for the game. Not only did I get to see the players that were being considered for the team, but also some Caps players that just had to get back out on the ice too. I even got to watch Neuvy and some other guy in net who got to play all of about 10 minutes in a regular season game once.

My second trip to Kettler was for Veterans Camp on 9/13/09. I got my first glimpse of Knuble, Cash and Beagle, as well as all the guys I’ve been cheering on for a while. I got a greater appreciation for how hard they work to perfect their game. And an appreciation for the camaraderie they share as a team. Who knew? Ok, a lot of you all knew, but I didn’t!

Next came the Caps Convention on 9/26/09. What a total fandom adventure that was! Not only did I get to hear great hockey stories and Q & A sessions, I was fortunate enough to get a picture with Nicky and autographs from Brads, Laich, Morrisonn and Bourque. I’ll admit the autographs from Shaone and Chris were not the highlight of my day, but the rest of day was pretty awesome and exhausting!

Finally, time for the season opener on 10/3/09. It was against the Maple Leafs and we won; final score 6-4. The Southeast Division Champions banner was hoisted to minor fanfare. Highlight for that game, to quote my tweet at 9:18 pm that night, “We caught the fucking puck!” Oh yeah, Mike Green bobble head swag was also obtained.

November rolls around and it’s the Caps/Panthers game on 11/7/09. We win again, final score 7-4. Witnessed Matty Perreault’s first NHL goal. Our Pocket Ovi was a star that night! Ovi and Green didn’t play that night, Ovi’s pesky upper body injury kept him in the press box. That was also the night that Florida Panthers center Gregory took a shot to the face, which resulted in the Hubs and I being shown on national TV as they escorted him off the ice. Didn’t tell anyone at the time, but I do have the video saved. (Why, I don’t know, but saved it is).

Then December rolls around, this month’s game was against the Hurricanes on 12/11/09. Final score 4-3, Caps winning in overtime. That was the night Tim Gleason took home his own special souvenir, 30 stitches in his face from blocking a wicked shot from Ovi. It was also our first live OT game of the season and it ended with a GWG from Mike Green. Nail biter of a game.

The New Year in game attendance arrives late in January. The game was 1/23/10 against Phoenix. Final score: 4-2 Caps. It was the sixth game of the winning streak we all enjoyed this season. It was also my first opportunity to see that glorious “C” on the chest of Alex Ovechkin. Watching Neuvy in net that night was also a great highlight for me. And, finally, this was also the night that inspired my Ode to Tweetup’s post. It was an epic #caps108 that night!

February brings the Olympics and no Caps game for us. We took the opportunity to go up to Hershey and finally take in a Bears game. My winning season continued on 2/27/10 with the Bears winning 9-2 over Bridgeport. Sadly, I wasn’t thinking clearly enough to devise a plan to get my camera into Giant Center, so I only got one decent photo with my cell phone, but, I finally got a chance to watch Holtby play a game and could not keep my eyes off the man. I have my own video of his quirky antics on my iPhone to enjoy whenever I feel a little blue. It was a great road trip, and we hope to do it again soon.

March was my only failure to obtain Caps tickets this season. I wanted to go to the Rangers game on 3/6/10. Sadly, tickets could not be obtained and we missed witnessing Theo’s first shutout in person.

Finally, time to close the season out. Last night against Boston was the first loss I’ve seen at Verizon Center all season; Bruins won it 4-3. (Come to think of it, I only saw one loss at Verizon Center 08-09, but that’s a blog post that didn’t get written). It was also my first in person shootout finish of the season as well. Now I’m not counting this game as a loss in MY winning season. Who could be disappointed with game that included a Chimmer/Thomas “scuffle” and a shootout finish with Brads and Gordo taking the shots! To cap it all off, who wouldn’t enjoy watching hockey players disrobing for fans? (Yeah, not really, but a girl can dream, right?)

So there you have it. My winning season. Oh, and the Caps winning season as well. It’s been a hell of a year, but it’s not over yet. I don’t expect to have tickets to any playoff games, unless some kind soul decides to reward me for my winning ways. Not to worry though. I’ll be there in spirit and hope to continue more winning next season.

(All of the pictures in this post can be found on my Flickr page with lots more. Well, except for the last picture from yesterday's game. Still editing the 895 shots taken and my real job is taking precedence over that happening any time soon. But they will get there. Done now, check them out!)