After just a few ice skating lessons and a few weeks with a street hockey stick and puck (well, an orange ball that is meant to replicate a puck), Caleb had shown a keen interest in hockey. We got a Sharks jersey for him, which he wears to hockey lessons without fail, and whenever else possible. He sometimes sleeps with his hockey stick. And, because his jersey is for Evgeni Nabokov, the Sharks’ goalie, he gets excited whenever he sees “Nabby” on TV.
So, even though Caleb is only three, I thought it would be worthwhile to take Caleb to a Sharks game. Kate thought I was brave. I thought, well maybe, but also it meant a guilt free night out at a Sharks playoff game, against the storied Detroit Red Wings no less. The Red Wings are one of the “original six” hockey teams and have won the Stanley Cup 11 times (including a sweep of my hometown team, the Washington Capitals). So, I was excited too. When the playoff series schedule was announced, I learned that Game 1 of the series would take place on a Thursday evening at the pre-school friendly hour of 6pm (a benefit of living on the West Coast). I bought two upper level tickets, 4 rows into the upper level, on the blue line in the zone where the Sharks would shoot during two of the three periods.
On Game Night, I was prepared. I made Caleb change into pull-ups, packed a backpack with a change of clothes just in case, put on his Nabby jersey, and took a deep breath. Any concerns I had with bringing a 3 year old to a sporting event were immediately alleviated, however. In fact, when at the game with Caleb we were both treated like rock stars.
First, we got there early to avoid the big lines, and when we walked up to our seats, the usher spent time with us and played a game with Caleb. He asked Caleb to pick the hand with a prize in it and after a couple of hints, he chose the hand that had a very nice Hot Wheels car in it. Caleb loved it and played with it throughout the game. After the first period, Caleb wanted to go down to the ice. The ushers in the first level let us down, no questions asked, and we spent some time right at the glass on the ice hanging out with the fans in the $500 seats. Of course, as the second period was about to begin, we headed back to our seats (though Caleb was a little upset).
Walking around the arena, everyone was great too. People came up to us and gave Caleb high fives, the vendors with giveaways called us over to give us miscellaneous tchochkes, and Caleb spent time talking to the police officers.
Something that’s not new these days is that sporting events now are as much about the overall entertainment value as they are about the game itself. The Sharks have this figured out as well. Caleb loved watching the players enter the ice through the shark, and loved watching Sharkie the mascot wander around the arena and banging his drum to get the fans excited. With five minutes to go and the Sharks up 3-2, it was an incredibly entertaining game, but by that point all Caleb cared about was finding Sharkie.
We did have our moments where Caleb was a little antsy...after all we were there for over three hours between when we arrived and left. But overall it was a great experience, and Caleb is looking forward to going back next year.
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