Hockey Night in Victoria

Forty-eight hours after traversing the heavens with Sarah Brightman, Ter and I walked into the same arena but a different world. It was cold, for one thing. And bright. And loud. And it smelled rather a lot like testosterone, both in the stands and on the ice. The Kelowna Rockets were in town for back-to-back games with the Victoria Royals, and we were there to cheer on the home team for the second match.

The set was touted as a battle for first place in the Western Hockey League’s BC division and the Royals were on a win streak at home. Kelowna won Friday’s game, 4-1. They won Saturday’s as well, 2-1 in a shootout. My Flyer karma preceded me, so now the Rockets are in front and the Royals are runners-up.

We had a good time, though. Live hockey games are not for fans who want to watch the game undisturbed, that’s for sure. There was more going on in the stands than on the ice: Marty the Marmot banged his drum; pizza and potato chips were doled out to fans in select sections; there was the local “dance for your dinner” promo where randomly selected spectators competed for audience approval and a gift certificate at a local eatery. Royals t-shirts were bazooka’d into the crowd, more gift cards were handed out to winners of “where’s the doughnut?” (Tim Horton’s) and “who has a BMO Master Card?” (Ter wondered if her government purchasing card would be accepted, but she didn’t test the theory), and all the while, 44 strapping young bucks on skates duked it out for top spot in the division.

There were penalties for delay of game (the stupidest call ever invented), roughing, and an actual pair of fighting majors; the Rockets scored first, Victoria tied it in the second, and there was enough board-crunching to elicit the occasional audible wince from the crowd. The game itself, however, was surprisingly so-so. The Royals were half a pace off the beat despite lobbing more shots at the Kelowna goalie – our seats were in the opposing end zone so we got a good look at a lot of missed chances in the guise of fine saves. I was most impressed by #18 for Victoria; a little guy named Brandon McGee, who tried to make something happen on every shift. I kept hoping he’d pop the winning goal, but it was not to be. At least they got a point for pushing the game to OT and a shootout. As fans, we were treated to everything a grown-up game has to offer … except the outrageous ticket prices!