My First Time - Losing My NHL Game Virginity in San Jose

Monday January 14, 2008 @ 04:28 PM EST

This is very ambitious of me to try and express the details of my entire first NHL experience in words. I thought about doing a play on one of those MasterCard “Priceless” commercials but that’s probably what you would have expected, right? Well in case you are just now jumping on board, I spent this weekend in San Jose where I got to see my favorite team the Maple Leafs play the Sharks (another one of my favorites). And wow, what a weekend it was! Having now seen my first NHL game and LIVE Hockey Night in Canada, I feel at one with my NHL fan brethren, well I don’t feel like such a big fat poser anymore anyway. Knowing I would get caught up in the moments of this trip I made sure to log the happenings on my Blackberry periodically. Along for the ride was my pops, Frank who was seeing his first NHL game as well. For the people who have been there (firsts, seconds, hundredths, whatever), you can probably relate. For those of you who have yet to experience YOUR first time, I hope this provides a little insight into how to do it up right. It was truly a treat. It goes a little something like this…


Friday January 11th -
First of all I need to go over some travel necessities that every hockey fan should probably not go sans when making the trek to their final NHL destination:
1)The Hockey News (especially the crossword puzzle, try and finish it before touchdown, without cheating)
2)NHL Yearbook Magazine, so you can geek out over all the stats.
3)iPod full of gangsta rap and episodes of Entourage
4)Blackberry or PDA to check scores, league haps and Laur’s blog page of course.
5)PSP with Gretzky NHL (I’ve come to terms with the fact that mine is lost somewhere in Saskatchewan … but don’t ask)
6)Fear of flying remedy of your choice (Might I suggest the double ‘driver for those early morning flights… hey it’s got orange juice in it)


9:20 am
So here I am, at SeaTac airport waiting in line at gate D11 waiting to board the flight, sufficiently lubricated and good to go. If you’ve never been to SeaTac, you have no idea how huge it actually is. I don’t think I’ve ever even seen the same part of this airport twice, it’s the size of a small Canadian city with three times the people. We attempted to upgrade to first class. It’s a little known fact that if you get up to the gate early enough you can be put on a “wait-list” in case some of the first class passengers don’t show up, you can adopt their leg roomy, free champagney seats for a small fee. No dice though, we were stuck in the old coach. I’m absolutely terrified of flying. It’s my only one true fear. So at this point I’m thinking, what cruel shift in the universe would have me crashing and burning BEFORE I see my first NHL game? If anything do me in after, on the way back. And you know how people always tell you that you’re just as likely to win the lottery as you are to die in a plane crash? Really, is that supposed to make me feel better? Like there are two kinds of people in this world, those who win the lotto and those who die a fiery death miles above the earth… I don’t think so.


9:30 am
I’m sitting in my seat (aisle or bust!) on the plane. I don’t know if this is a weird tradition but I always kiss the outside of the plane before I board it, it’s good luck. The main flight attendant guy (Steward? Stewarder?) told me it was good luck to kiss the flight attendant also. I told him I might regret not doing that later. So as of right now I am required to do something that I feel even less comfortable with than flying. I have to shut off my Blackberry. I see why people call it a “Crackberry” now..





1:39 pm
I didn’t die! We landed in San Jose about noon, by the way I absolutely LOVE that you exit the aircraft from those stairs outside the terminal at this airport, for some reason I got a huge kick out of that. I thought it only happened in movies, and with the president. My dad and I are staying with my Aunt Carolyn, who lives in San Jose, so she picked us up at the airport and we met up with some old family friends for lunch. We have a lot of connections in the Bay Area. I had actually begged my dad to take me to Great America (which I had been calling Magic Mountain for years up until this morning.. my bad), the Six Flags Park in San Jose… what am I, eight? Again, no dice. Next time.


Unfortunately my plans for today were botched when my “date” was very rudely (IMO) reassigned to the AHL days before his birthday a couple weeks ago. My friend Devin plays for SJ, and is the only excuse I would have for cheering for the Sharks at the game tomorrow night. He called me a few days before I left and told me that he would most definitely not be back before Friday, since we were both hoping he would be back by then. I just hope he’ll be back period; he deserved to play on Hockey Night in Canada Saturday. So that highlighted the only bummer of the trip, but what can you do? Anyway he told me to watch his roommate at the game and let him know how he did. I told him I was going to doorbell ditch Joe Thornton.


3:04 pm
We made a stop at HP Pavilion AKA “The Shark Tank”, since we were in the area. I couldn’t believe how nice of a facility it is, a five star barn, I didn’t really expect less though. This is where it really hit me, and I got really excited for the game all the sudden. We hit the Sharks Store and picked up some merch. My dad had to get all tealed out for the game (he’s a Sharks and Red Wings fan….. I have no father). I managed to throw down about $200 on Sharks merchandise that I wouldn’t even be wearing at the game. Dev told me to pick up a Setoguchi name and number t-shirt so I can represent. I did, but apparently he’s pretty popular because the pickings were slim. I also picked up a “fake” (replica) jersey, a hat, and some pucks, etc for my all homies back home. There was this guy outside the stadium that was making balloon animals, and please if any of you SJ people are familiar with the kid I am talking about, let me know… because I have no idea why he was there doing that. But this kid was DAMN good! He had this huge Sponge Bob made out of balloons, it was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen made out of balloons..I don’t know if that is saying much but it was pretty impressive.






5:16 pm
We made it back to my Aunt’s house to chill out. She lives up on this golf course in San Jose, really nice area. Reminds me of that show Weeds, little boxes on the hillside… you know the tune. She has this lawyer friend staying with her, so with the four of us it was a pretty full house. And let me tell you a little something about this guy Rick. Do you remember a while back, that story on the news about the lady who found a human finger in her chili at Wendy’s? Well he was the one who represented her in court, turns out she and her husband had conspired to make a buck out of this “mishap” (you don’t mess around with Wendy’s), you know the story. Strange, the people you meet randomly, eh?


Saturday January 12th -
12:03 pm
GAME DAY! When I woke up today, it was like Christmas morning. I’m so pumped. I could hardly eat my breakfast at the golf club. After we ate, my Aunt took us to the stables up the road from her place. I insisted because I absolutely love horses. I was petting this horse and apparently my Abercrombie jeans were on the menu because the little jokester bit me, right on the thigh! I wish I could say that was the first guy that tried that move with me… HA! I had been bitten by horses plenty of times back in my equestrian days, but this one left the weirdest bruise. Maybe he was a Sharks fan…





4:20 pm
Before our pre-game dinner, we decided to hit up the Silicon Valley International Auto Show at the convention center. I really wanted to see the Maverick Big Wave surf contest going on today, but it was a little out of our way. We met up with some more family and friends, along with the two little foster girls that my Aunt sponsors at the convention center. Leave it to me and my family to bring an entire entourage of people everywhere we go. They all had tickets to the game also, although we were all sitting in different sections at the Tank. While I was picking out my next BMW money pit, I got my first chirp of the night (I’m wearing my Leafs jersey) in the form of “that’s the wrong jersey to be wearing tonight”. The guy was actually pretty cool and asked to take a picture with me, it made me laugh so I decided to humor him in return.





5:19 pm
We had reservations at this pub in San Pedro Square called Tied House, which seems to be the hotspot for pre-gaming. Walking down SP Square, all I can see is teal everywhere I look. San Pedro Square seems to be THE place for pre-gaming and post-gaming and just all around par-taying. I had no idea how huge the Sharks actually are here. The Sharks franchise has done incredible things for the hockey scene, not to mention the entire sports scene in the Bay Area. In fact they are so big in San Jose that it’s weird to think about what the city was like before the Sharks were here. I mean, every car has a Sharks sticker; every business is “Sharks Territory”. It’s very cool. Anyway, I got a few boos from the Sharks fans and imagine my joy when I see in line at the pub, some Blue and White. So I made friends, shared some high fives with my fellow Leafers, and skipped the wait (we had reservations…. Leafs fans don’t stand in lines). I met a really cool group of Leafers (and my first face paint sighting) inside the pub. I was just glad I had some back up at the game tonight. I even got booed by the staff at Tied! At that point I decided maybe it wasn’t a good idea to drink the beer I just ordered… My dad’s nephew’s son Connor asked me at dinner if hockey was like soccer, where they don’t score that many goals. I told him normally yes, but tonight he could be wrong (keeping in mind the poor record the Leafs achieved during this trip). The only thing I ask is that the Leafs don’t embarrass me tonight. I am not looking forward to making the Walk of Shame out of the arena, not one bit. You know when you’re the visiting team fans and you lose, and all the home fans point and laugh and throw rocks at you? Like I have done to many an Everett Silvertips fan, well that my friends is the Walk of Shame. I’m freaking out about now. I’m so excited for the game, I’m absolutely bouncing off the walls.





6:31 pm
I am officially sitting in my seat (sec 121, row 21, seat 17) watching the warmies at the Tank right now. There were no lines at will call where my dad and I picked up our tickets and there was no line to get in, which surprised me a little (the beer and restroom line is another story). We are sitting behind the goal that the Sharks defend twice, with a pretty decent view of the ice. There’s a really high concentration of Leafs fans in this section, which I’m beginning to wonder if this is where they decided to seat all of us. I’m really impressed with the HP Pavilion, its really first class and the seats are comfortable as hell! I think I’m going to move in here. I can’t believe I am watching Darcy Tucker and Joe Thornton in person. It’s very surreal. Have you ever seen your heroes in person? It’s kind of a big deal, right? I’m truly in great company tonight. Tucks is warming up without a helmet because, well he is much too cool for safety. I was happy to hear that they called up Pogge today, I’ve always liked him and I still think he is the strongest goal prospect that Toronto’s got. I’m sticking to my guns on that one.








6:57 pm
I can see Kelly Hrudey and Scott Oakes from here! It’s really starting to hit me that I’m at an actual NHL game. And not just any NHL game. The Toronto Maple Leafs’ first visit to the Shark Tank in 5 years. To top it off it is (inter)nationally broadcasted on Hockey Night in Canada. There are a ton of Leafs fans here; it’s so amazing to see Leafs Nation out in full force out on the West Coast tonight. The Tank is electric as the Sharks players make their entrance from the giant Shark mouth to the ice. As a proud American, I’m actually really looking forward to rocking “Oh Canada”. I have to say, standing in the beer line was actually worth it. Like most places I’ve been in California, the great micro brews are kind of limited, so we opted for Bud Light on tap and they give you a whole pint! Well worth the 8 bucks and first of many tonight. I’m thinking I’m going to be ambitious and aim for the hat trick, it’s a special occasion. The game hasn’t even started and I’m hooked. I already can’t wait to go to my next one. I feel kind of honored to be a part of this… Dev calls me right after the anthems and right before puck-drop, I don’t know if he knew that or he just has really good timing. I couldn’t hear him over the noise but I felt like I needed to pick it up and rub it in his face that I was at his game and he wasn’t. Rude, I know. But I felt even more rude being one of those fans on their cel phone, so I shouted something about calling him back at intermission and hung up. And puck drop, it’s official.





The Leafs scored early on in the 1st, prompting a surprising amount of noise from all the visiting Leafers in the building. And the goal was right in front of our section so it made it that much more exciting! I found the Leafs fans to be a little bit more enthusiastic, but then again I think our beer cup stacks were a little higher. 90% of the people in the Molson Canadian line were in Blue and White, I had no choice but to be a part of that! It’s great! I can’t believe how fast NHL hockey is, not that I would even begin to compare this to the WHL games I’ve so often frequented, but the game is much played much tighter, you can tell you’re watching professionals, and need I bring up the 2,000 vs 20,000 in attendance. We had a couple pretty impressive “Go Leafs Go” chants going up in our section. When the first period ended, we all cheered, we had a lead!


Everyone had told me how loud the fans at the Shark Tank get (at this point I’ve renamed it the “Drunk Tank”). For a while during the game I was skeptical of that claim because all the Sharks fans seem pretty subdued and well behaved so far, in fact I didn’t get heckled for being a Leafs fan as much as I secretly hoped I would be. I had to bite my tongue in the third period when the Sharks came alive and the Leafs (surprise, surprise) started to blow it. I don’t even care that it wasn’t my team who scored, when the Sharks scored that first goal and everyone jumped in the air and screamed, how could I resist not taking part in that? The thing I love about sports games is that the crowd’s energy is contagious. Especially this one, San Jose is very passionate about this team. I would think it’s safe to say their fans’ passion rivals that of NHL teams up in Canada. I mean how iconic is the “power play chomp” out here? Tonight’s game was a sellout crowd of 17,496. I had to stop and look around and take it in, how often am I a part of a crowd of this magnitude? This was definitely a touching experience. Next time you’re at a game, look around and take in the crowd; its mind blowing that all those people are there for the same reason and every single person’s energy in there just comes together and sort of takes on a life of its own. You don’t really ever think of it, but it’s there.





I feel no need to reiterate the entire game to you, because you already know how it turned out. And hey, the Leafs didn’t embarrass me; it was actually a pretty close game considering. There was no Walk of Shame, because I really didn’t feel any shame. And those Sharks fans are a classy group, so I didn’t get rocks thrown at me. Other than a Leafs win, I couldn’t have asked for a better first game to be at. It was surreal to me that I was actually a part of Hockey Night in Canada, or Hockey Night in California I suppose was more like it. When I watched the game later on my DVR I could not believe how weird it was that I was actually there, and how it was true that being there is a completely different experience than watching it on TV. My favorite part is meeting all the other fans. It’s very rare that strangers can come together for a common cause and all the sudden its like one big family. Everyone usually has a pretty good story, too. The Toronto fans sitting in front of us were actually from Toronto, and made the trip all the way out here from the East. I met a whole bunch of Leafs fans from London, Ontario, who along with myself, stayed after the game to watch them film After Hours on the ice. Besides I wouldn’t dare miss an opportunity to creep on my not-so-secret crush Kelly Hrudey (a former Shark) in person. If you caught After Hours and heard the “Go Leafs Go” chant in the background… that was us, before the producer politely told us to shut up. Most of the fans that stayed for After Hours were Toronto fans, because HNIC is a big deal to us! I met a couple of Calgary fans on my way out who told me that they attended all three Leafs games out in California, that’s pretty hardcore. I only wish I had the funds for that kind of devotion! Hockey fans are the best; their passion for the game and for their teams is really inspiring. Leafs Nation had definitely taken over a large part of Sharks Territory for this one night. And the West Coast knows how to party, so I can only hope we showed them a good time! And who knows, we could have possibly seen JFJ and Paul Maurice’s last day at work; we could have been witnessing history, people! It was one of the more memorable experiences of my life. Which is more than I can say about a lot of firsts in my life… HA!







Sunday January 13th -
1:50 pm
I’m sitting at the San Jose airport waiting to board the plane back home to Sea-town. I had won the aisle seat off of my dad at the game last night, he said if the Sharks won I could have that seat, it was like a reverse bet. I’m going to miss the sunny Cali weather, but I miss my dog and to be honest, there ain’t no place like the great Northwest. I’m actually not as nervous as I usually am when I’m boarding a plane, which is what always happens when I have a really good trip. The game was everything that everyone told me it would be and more. Or maybe it just meant more to me. Either way, it was a lot of fun and I can’t wait for my next NHL game, wherever that might be. What a way to lose your virginity, eh? Rock out.





Oh what the hell….
Flight to San Jose from Seattle……$248
A double screwdriver at the airport……$14
A single screwdriver on the airplane……$5
Devin Setoguchi name and number T-shirt……$24
Dinner for 10 at Tied House……$150
3 Pints of Bud Light + 1 Molson…….$40
Knocking those beers back with 17,500 of your closest friends…… PRICELESS.





Check out all the other pictures too! Because all this will probably make a little more sense with a few visuals. Congratulations on making it down this far, you’re a trooper.

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