Last night was one of the happiest days of the year for Your Humble Scribe. For hockey returned to the Boston Garden when the Bruins, fresh off their 3-2 road trip, finally had their home opener. Besides the second period, when they went nappy time for a while, it was a decent enough effort, with plenty of grit and scoring, and it culminated in a 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
I was originally to have gone with Smitty but he decided instead that he'd rather have a kidney stone. No accounting for some people's taste. Me, I'd have rather gone to the game, but tomato/to-mah-to, I guess. Taking his place was DB, aka Mrs. Smitty, for whom this would be only her second hockey game.
It was, perhaps surprisingly, a good time, despite me having to explain to her, yet again, how offsides worked, and enduring conversations like these:
DB: They're just fighting?? Why don't they stop it?
CS: And how do you presume they do that?
DB: Um...blow the whistle?
She was at least attentive to the game itself and we both had a really good time. I thought when Smitty's kidney stone kicked in, my evening was blown. And though going to a game with a neophyte can sometimes suck, it didn't in this case. I'm glad she came. And I never thought I'd end up saying that!
