Fargo

I never thought the coolest bus station would be in Fargo, ND. Alas, they have wifi, comfortable seats, and direct TV. I should mention I'm the only person here so I've gotten to watch both the Red Wings and Canucks games. Red Wings won 4-0, wahoo!! That puts us one step closer to a playoff spot, but no guarantees. I'm pretty on edge. The still in progress Canucks game has been great because Chicago is finally losing, and Daniel Sedin just set the record for 2nd most points in the franchise. 

I'm waiting for the 12;00am bus, and I won't be getting to Mason City, IA until 7:00am. I cannot wait to sleep on the bus! 

The drive here sucked. I was hauling ass to deliver on time since the bus hardly passes here, I couldn't miss delivery. And just when I thought I was okay, South Dakota is covered in snow. It was so bright, I couldn't see jack shit. I had to put on my sunglasses.

I ended up making delivery on time after all, and decided I'd walk a mile to the bus station since I'm a cheap bastard. Half way through, a man offers me a ride. He has three children in the car, so I accept. Big mistake.

No, he's not a creeper. But I ended up stuck with three annoying ass kids for 2 hours, and listening to some sad stories about his current life situation. It was so depressing, I felt really bad for him. I ended up buying his kid's food as at least a thank you for the ride. It wasn't him I was bothered by at all, it was his annoying ass kids. You should probably know I fucking hate children. Getting farted on, touched, seeing food thrown around, screaming in my ear, gah it's so fucking disgusting. 

He took me back to the bus station and here I am now, completely alone and having a blast. That's just who I am.

Tomorrow, I set sail for Saint Matheiu De Beloit, Quebec! But I have a layover in Detroit, where I will be attending Red Wings vs Kings with my lovely grandmother and aunt Eva. So stoked!

Bonjour!

They're the 2 best friends that anyone can have, they're the 2 best friends that anyone can have. And they'll always be seen together!

So I still can't believe Luongo and Burrows came walking up together side by side like little mobsters! Be still my beating heart! I'm still looking for the right words to explain what April 18th 2013 meant to me.

Me and Vanessa at warm ups! I'm rocking my new Burrows jersey!

WOW I'm going to go out on a limb and say Luongo and Burrows remembered me from the hotel because that is the fastest any player has shown me love at a warm up drill. They mostly don't make eye contact and try to pretend we are not there. But I will admit our signs mostly say "Cory catch a goal in my pants!" and "Luongo keep the Canucks sexy STAY!". This time we toned it down quite a bit and got lots of love from the boys! Not that there were lots of fans there but something tells me the hat was a big deal in the locker room at pre-game skate.

I had to stop myself from tearing up at warm ups and even as I write this I must stop myself from tearing up! ROBERTO FUCKING LUONGO SHOT A PUCK AT ME!!!!! ME!!!! And not just one MANY! I wonder has he ever done this before in warm ups? I was very surprised when I felt the glass shaking looked down and saw ALEX BURROWS was the one hitting it! No one, not even Vanessa know how big that was for me. I'm sure all three of them have a good idea the way I was jumping up and down but they will never truly know. It was so great to see him so happy and I think me making him happy made Burrows happy too!

And because Weise and Raymond are always so nice to us when they come to Dallas I thought it would be nice to give them a sign as well! Good thing Vanessa forgot her Cory sign cause they both smiled and gave us much love as well.

My super friend and fellow Burrows fan Shauni tweeted this photo of us to me during warm-ups. She said we were on TV in VanCity!

Burrows gave me much love! Je Adore!!!!!

 

Luongo shoots puck at... ME!!!! I can't feel my legs!

So after the love of warm ups I went upstairs to grab a Molson since our tickets had Platinum club access. That is the only place you can get Canadian beer in the whole arena. Just one catch you can't bring it down stairs :( Screw you America! I later went down stairs and was laughed at when I asked if they took Canadian money in the beer line. I said fuck it because I didn't want to miss Lu coming out.

Vanessa and Pierre diss the Kari Lehtonen photo! In hind-site this may have been bad luck! 

 

Pierre and Callahan get their first arena photo together!

So I went back to my seat and who do I see coming onto the ice?? THE FUCKING STARS! No really after that it was the Vancouver Canucks! The whole team first and then Luongo and Burrows. They both looked at me and smiled! Then they whispered something to one another. Then Lu removed his hat for the moment of silence for Boston, which was later followed by the Star Spangled Banner... That was odd but well placed seeing as this country has been through so much in the past few days.  I stood there in silence praying for Boston and because our anthem is so long snapped a photo of my boys. When the Canadian anthem came on I was yelling "Oh Canada!" Then it was puck drop time!

Luongo and Burrows respecting the USA.

Canucks entering the bench.

Burrows!

 

First Line respecting the USA.

 When the game started I believe I hugged the glass. Lu caught this out of the corner of his eye and let out a little chuckle. What I noticed during game play is Burrows didn't move down with the rest of the first line. He stayed seated right beside Lu the whole time, as if to support him just as I had set behind him the whole time to support him. I feel bad for saying this but I hoped Cory would get pulled so I could see Lu play. But alas no such luck.

Burrows and Lapierre on the bench.

The highlight of the night was when Lu was talking to his trainer and he was smiling. I turned to Vanessa and pointed to Lu and said, "HE'S SMILING!" I feel like such an idiot! He stopped as soon as he realized I was watching him! And during an icing call I asked Vanessa to take a picture of me and Lu and she did. She said he was trying to turn but also trying to pretend he wasn't.

I'M in HEAVEN!

 And the game wouldn't have have been right if Cory didn't come by for a sip of water to see Vanessa. I was so happy that she could be as happy as I was even if just for a few seconds. He and Lu shared a few word and Cory pointed to us. Vanessa didn't see but I did.

Cory tosses his towel to the trainer.

More Cory... Still not pulled...

Not sure if he is trying to bite his nail or what...

And finally to top off a REALLY bad game the goalie trainer looked at me in the end and said, "You want this?" I just smiled and nodded! I couldn't believe what I was hearing!!! I GET SOMETHING!!!??? I had no idea who's stick it was and Vanessa later told me it was Edler's. AAAAAHHHHHH I have my first stick!!!!!! OMG!!!! MY FIRST STICK!!!! I gave Vanessa the puck they through us at warm ups cause she gave me the Mason Raymond water in February! What are best friends for right?!

Afterwards we went to the tunnels to watch them pack up and said our goodbyes! Until next season boys!!! See ya in playoffs! XOXOXOXO

We met this blues fan at Christie's after the game! He was very nice!

Vancouver @ Dallas

The game wasn’t the best night of my life, despite getting the best seat in the house, sitting right behind Roberto Luongo on the bench, and every player that shifted on the seats. It was amazing getting those seats. Even better, Dale Weise absolutely remembered us, and gave us a wink multiple times, and a finger point gun hand. It was heaven, the Canucks are great. Luongo shot a puck at Njeri during the skate, and Burrows smacked the glass with his stick at her. It was awesome, she was in such glee to get some love from her favorite men! During our bench seatings, I wasn’t able to see Cory very much but when I did, I stared him down like a hawk. Or a horny woman. It was pretty bad, I think I made him uncomfortable since he went out of his way to avoid making eye contact with me.
As most of you know, the game went terrible. My Canucks lost 1-5. :( And it wasn’t a picnic afterwards either, since Dallas Stars fans are just poopheads to the core.
“Remember when we beat you 1-5?” - Douche
“Remember when you last made the playoffs? Me neither. No Goal. No Goal.” - Me
I don’t understand the need to heckle after a game when it has gone your way. I have never done that in the 50+ games I’ve attended. A shame, eh?
Here are some enjoyous pics!








Right now I am torn, watching my Detroit Red Wings play my Vancouver Canucks at Christies, the local sports bar in Dallas. Njeri is here with me, as well as two ladies we met at the game on Thursday, who flew in from Vancouver just for the game. They are awesome-o!
They get to see the Canucks on the regular at the bars they work at!

Missions

Mission Impossible: Getting into Cory Schneider’s Pants

Mission Possible: Getting into the Canucks preskate. You see, it’s fairly simple mathematics.

Number of Canucks fans in Dallas: 2

Number of people at the Canucks preskate besides us 2 fans: 0

This means we get free reign of the joint! Last time I met Cory, I said, “You sound like you’ve picked up a Canadian accent.”

I could have told him about how I loved the article he did with the sperm bank about the red head population. I could have said that I admired him putting education in front of hockey while attending Boston University. I could have told him about how he’s inspired me to write a romance novel about hockey.

Nope, I said, “You sound like you’ve picked up a Canadian accent.” I followed that with this gem, “You are so gorgeous.” And at the end, when I watched him get on the bus, I said, “See you in April, Cory!”.

Yeah, I’m a pro.

I also dorkily asked Bieska if the dent on his face was when the puck hit him the night before. I also stupidly told Kelser about him being on my fantasy team. Maybe this time I’ll prepare some cue cards.

Okay, future writing here. It didn't go so well. The Canucks cancelled the practice skate. So we called it a day.

The next day however, we went to Starbucks by the area that they stay in. So I get a drink and we step outside. Look to the right. And THERE IS CORY SCHNEIDER! He's already on the bus before we can get near it, and go stand by the door to see the rest. A hotel guard tells us we can't ask for autographs or pictures, which dampens the mood. We stand there and see Mason Raymond, Dale Weise, and then Roberto Luongo comes by. Njeri approaches him with a birthday gift, and I kid you not. It was the first time I ever saw Luongo smile. Then Alexandre Burrows comes out and Njeri gets her autographed signed. I don't say anything since the hotel guard is clearly not happy. But Njeri gets to give Luongo the hat she knitted him, so all is good in the universe. We go to the game that night, I suppose that should be a post on it's own. 

Touchdown in Dallas

Okay I hate football but that was a good title, no? I will be landing soon in my place of residence, although techically I am not here enough to call it a home. I also have an apartment in Beacon, NY, so I don’t truly live anywhere. I stay with my mom in my childhood home when I come to Texas. I’ve got a busy couple of days ahead of me! Most importantly, tomorrow my best friend Njeri and I are going to wake up nice and early and go meet the Vancouver Canucks at the preskate! At least we hope we can deduce which arena they will be practicing at. Then on Thursday, we’ve got seats behind the Nucks bench! I’m aching for Luongo to play so I can sit and stare at the back of Cory’s neck. YUM! I think Njeri wants the same, but for Lu.

This past trip, I went to Langley, British Columbia, about 20 miles southeast of Vancouver. I didn’t go to the city since the public transit takes too long to do anything. I just sat at a Tim Horton’s and filed my taxes while I waited for the quick shuttle to take me to Seattle Airport. Last time I went here, I got held up at the border because my company didn’t get my paperwork right. I ended up missing my flight and having to stay the night at the Vancouver airport. You’d be surprised, but I had a good time at that slumber party.

This time, it was flawless, and not only that, but the guy sees me handing over my passport and without even looking at my name he says, “Hey, you’re the hockey girl!” To be called, “The hockey girl” from a guy in Vancouver area makes me feel really special. Maybe girls don’t truly like hockey in Vancouver? They went through all of my stuff last time. I figured I was in trouble when the guy came back in stating, “Let me ask.... did you tell the Mule that you have an entire Canucks autographed jersey when you had him sign your Wings jersey? You broke my heart with that Maple Leafs soap bag.”

I had a nice little conversation with the bloke, he has season tickets to the Canucks and he’s a Wings fan too. I asked him if he also saw my Pierre Moose and my NHL notebook with all of the game results. Man, I could have talked to that border patroller for hours! Glad he remembered me, this means I won’t get hassled going through since they know I’m an innocent hispanic and not a drug toting hooligan.
I haven’t been home to Dallas since the last Canucks game Njeri and I attended. It was an incredible experience getting to meet the team, and we lucked out and made the paper twice! You can read those here.

Vancouver Sun
Canucks.Nhl.com

I’m going to miss the Canucks game tonight against the Blues since it’s probably starting right now and I have no wifi on this flight. I guess I will just have to find a wifi signal at home and watch the recap on Center Ice.  Until the next few days of my fun Canucks chasing (okay okay, sexy ginger chasing) adventures, I bid you adieu!

Finally got Luongo his gift and Burrows signed my jersey!!!

So yesterday sucked ass! The Canucks canceled practice and they were no where in site.

So today I was determined to get Luongo his birthday gift!

Vanessa and I were got there just in time! I saw both Lu and Burrows walking to the bus. Luongo stopped smiled and took the bag from me! I was so happy! Vanessa said he said, "thank you!" but I really don't remember this. I ask Burrows to sign my new jersey and he was more than happy to. He said, "So are you from Vancouver?" I replied, "no I'm from New York but I live here.

After I started to ask him to tell Luongo Happy Birthday but stopped myself and said, "Oh my God it was your birthday too! Happy Birthday!" I said very embarrassed!

So happy my bestie Vanessa was there to see all of this!

And I just love that Weise and Raymond are watching the whole thing from the bus!

Oh Red Wings. Why must you fail me back to back nights.

Sitting in a bed in an RV in Rapid City, South Dakota. Yeah, you’d probably like an update on how I got here.

Let’s see:

Tuesday

Flight from Anaheim to Chicago Midway

CTA train to Chicago downtown

Amtrak from Chicago to Elkhart

Ride from coworker Brad to Goshen, Indiana.

Wednesday

Goshen, Indiana to LaSalle, Illinois.

Thursday

LaSalle, Illinois to Ankeny, Iowa

Dealership gives ride to bus depot

Jefferson Lines bus to Clear Lake, IA

Shuttle ride from Earl to Forest CIty, IA

Couldn’t leave that night as intended because a leak in the RV sent a few gallons of water gushing down on me, my phone, and laptop bag. But it missed Pierre Moose thank goodness!

Friday

Forest City to Rapid City, SD.

See, I move quickly.

Tonight was awful. After last night’s struggle against San Jose and a sad shoot out loss, I expected Detroit to pull it together. Well, I expected it when they tied in the second period, then stole the lead. I didn’t go in thinking Detroit would win, but then I felt I was being negative. Nope, another shoot out loss. I hear a lot of controversy about signing Jimmy Howard to a 6 year deal. Considering goaltenders like....Devan Dubnyk and Scott Clemmensen, I think my fellow fans should shut up. Howard is pretty solid.

I think it’s funny how every result tonight wasn’t what I wanted. I needed Phoenix to lose and instead they got a point. I needed Columbus to lose and they won. I needed Dallas to lose and they won, like hell did they win! And so now my Red Wings dynasty of playoff runs might come to an end. I still have faith, but I’m nervous. Every game here on out will be so crucial, and keep me on my toes!

But at least tomorrow I get to wake up for a noon (I’m on Mountain time) Canucks vs Avs game. This should be good, considering the Avs suck.