The Big Ice

Today started off slow - we had friends over (John/Jeff and his wife Kathryn/Katy - the name thing is another story) last night to play some games. They ended up leaving after midnight and I got to sleep around 1:00, which was slightly earlier than my previous evening. Anyway, Athena got up before 7:00, which wasn't great for me. She was playing in the bedroom and watching TV while Elizabeth and I were doing our best to get some more sleep.

I turned on the hockey game (Gold medal match - Finland v Sweden) and noticed Athena face down in the middle of the carpet, completely asleep. I mean the girl was out of it. It was pretty damn funny. I've been patiently waiting for the stage where she can fall asleep anywhere at a moment's notice. It is starting to happen. It is a beautiful thing. Of course, this meant that she didn't take a nap on time.

At 1:00 was the Skate with the Canes charity event at the RBC Center - something my mother got me tickets for this past Christmas. It was a lot of fun - meeting the players, getting pennants autographed to go in both kids rooms, and getting some pictures taken.

I have to relay my major embarrassing moment at the event though. One of the Canes defensemen, Aaron Ward (pictured left), lives in our area and uses the same vet that we do. I saw him in there once. So when I go up to get his autograph, I ask how is dog is. "He died in December". D'oh! Cancer, evidently. I felt great at that moment.


That was the first part, an autograph session with five players (Justin Williams, Aaron Ward, Mike Commodore, Craig Adams, and Kevyn Adams) and one assistant coach (Jeff Daniels). This picture is the second table (K. Adams, C. Adams, Commodore from near to far).


The second part was the actual skating part - I brought my skates with me and Athena decided she really wanted to be out there with me. Out on the ice was the captain, Rod Brind'amour, Ray Whitney, Anton Babchuck, Nic Wallin, Chad LaRose, and assistant head coach Kevin McCarthy. Also, much to Athena's delight, Stormy was out on the ice. Here is Athena and me getting his autograph. Below is Athena lifting her feet off the ice and forcing me to carry her.

After the ice session, we got a walk-through of the locker room. One thing the team does is keep a board of the standings to remind each player what they're aiming for every night. The facilities are nice, no thanks to Athena dropping the occasional goldfish on the floor.

After the lockerroom walkthrough, we had picture sessions. One of the images you can see on Elizabeth's blog. The players available for the picture sessions were (image, left to right) Oleg Tverdovsky (D), Glen Wesley (D), and Joseph Vasicek (C) on one side, Cory Stillman (LW), Cam Ward (G), and Andrew Hutchinson (D) on the other.

As soon as we got in the car to go home Athena fell asleep. No time flat. I took her out of the car and dropped her into her crib around 3:30. She slept until some time between 5:00 and 6:00 at which point we ate dinner. She did manage to get to bed at 8:00, which isn't too bad. Elizabeth was a bit concerned that she would be up all night.