Sunday, October 29, 2017

Charlotte Checkers v Utica Comets @ Bojangles Arena


The boys first professional sporting event.  Mom and Dad were excited, as the boys have taken an interest in all sports in the last year.  The boys couldn't believe it.  That and the email that said to dress the kids up in Halloween gear added to the excitement.

Now hockey is not a big deal in Charlotte, and this is not NHL - but the boys could care less.  We were about 5 rows from the ice and the small crowd meant B&L wouldn't get overwhelmed.  We were a bit disappointed to see not a lot of kids in their Halloween gear, but that didn't stop Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma staying in character the whole game.

The whole event was geared towards families, with Chubby, the Checkers mascot, very visible and accessible the whole game.  And the breaks, music and general crowd hoo-har was enough to keep the boys entertained between actual hockey.  And being dressed up meant the boys got on the big screen a couple of times, which thrilled them no end.

Kylo, Phasma & Mom at Checkers v Comets

The game itself  was great.  From the first dropped puck there were fisticuffs.  Had a real Dad moment as I started cheering the fight and had to be wound back in by Mom to show the boys that fighting is not good.  Utica got an early goal and the Checkers never really recovered.  The whole game is so fast.  For someone, like me, who is not a regular fan it was hard to keep up with the action.  And, like basketball, I have no idea why fouls were called, but we cheered when we were supposed to and booed the Comets when needed (and when Mom wasn't listening - bad sportsmanship is something she (rightly) doen't want instilled in the boys.

Great family afternoon out.  Shame about the Checkers losing, but the boys had a blast.  As seen by them coming home and wanting the NHL (any game) on TV while they played hockey outside.  Considering the price of NBA and NFL tickets, we'll be back to do this again soon.

Utica Comets 6 (N. Goldobin, R. Boucher, E. McEneny, Z. MacEwen, B. Gaunce, B. Woods) defeated Charlotte Checkers 3 (M. Ferrantino, A. Poturalski, J. Gauthier).
Crowd: 4,436

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