Game 59 AfterThoughts: Special Teams and Special People

What is it like to attend your first Dallas Stars game?

A few weeks ago, I heard from one of my longest friends, Eric. (Above, right)

He said that he was going to be visiting Dallas at the end of the month with his two sons for a surprise family event (as his wife and daughter were already going on a different outing that weekend), and hey, aren’t I like “a hockey guy,” and wouldn’t it be fun for all of us to go to a hockey game together?

I said yes. Yes, it would.

He hadn’t been to a hockey game before (and nor had his boys), so for today, I’m going to tell you what it’s like to go with someone attending their first Dallas Stars game, which just so happens to be the same one that happened last night, when Dallas defeated Los Angeles 6-2, in a pretty celebratory sixty minutes.

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First, some context: In January 2005, I was entering the second semester of my freshman year in college at Biola University. The first semester had been a tough one, involving mountains of reading in the great books program I’d ambitiously applied for, all in preparation for three-hour seminars discussing said books with classmates under the relatively light tutelage of a professor there to facilitate discussion more than dictate it.

The thing about three-hour seminars is that, it’s a lot of time with the same group of 15-20 people. We had been assigned into cohorts, the idea being that you work together throughout the year in having honest and fruitful discussions where you do the reading and you work together to unearth the bounty that great books have to offer.

The idea is that having a set cohort allows you to build trust with each other, allowing for more meaningful and frank discussion throughout the term, so you aren’t afraid to disagree with one another in service to the search for truth. In practice, that first semester was a beating where our group ended up fractured and standoffish, with egos and insecurities running rampant throughout the room.

So in our first class of January, when I walked into a room in Sutherland Hall and saw a new guy in our cohort with jeans, flip flops, and a terrible haircut (or lack of one), I figured there was no way he and I could have any less in common than I did with everyone else in my group.

We wound up seated next to each other, and before the seminar began, I think I said something sarcastic (I know, I know), just to see if he had even a shred of a sense of humor. He responded with his particular brand of clear-eyed cleverness, and I remember this thought flashing through my mind: He gets it.

Eric and I have been friends ever since.

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The first decision you have to make when attending a Stars game is this: when do you want to arrive?

Some people prefer to arrive as close to 7:00 as possible. That’s understandable; the intermissions can feel pretty long as it is, and when you have two elementary-age kids with you, asking them to sit around for even longer before the game starts is sometimes a bit optimistic.

But when Eric and I coordinated a plan earlier that day, I recommended we aim to arrive around 6:30. You’ll see why in a minute.

Oh, the other thing you have to plan for—especially with kids—is food. And wisely, Eric said it would be best to eat beforehand, and so Eric and the boys picked me up around 5:00pm from Irving, and we headed over to In-N-Out Burger.

I won’t throw a hand grenade into this story by telling you all the reasons why In-N-Out Burger is a better option than Whataburger! (especially if you, like Eric, are from a state like Illinois, where they don’t have either). But I will simply say that it was not my decision, even though I happen to agree with it.

Anyway, we ate, and then around 5:50, we hopped onto 114, taking it to I-35, getting off at Victory. I recommended that we park close by this one time, even though doing so averages $40+ (which is roughly double what it was only a few years ago, if memory serves—the price of being a big draw). Obviously there are less expensive parking options available if you’re willing to walk a bit more, but again, the time and the age of our group dictated doing so in this case.

So we parked in the Comerica Parking Garage (you need to pre-purchase a pass to park in there), and walked across the street to American Airlines Center in time to walk down and see the teams warming up.

This is something I highly recommend any first-time visitors do. The seats (generously purchased by Eric) were up in 309, but just getting some feel for how fast the players are moving and how hard (and accurately) they’re shooting is something you really appreciate more if you can feel it up close, at least for a minute or two.

After that, we headed up the escalators to the 300 level, where we stopped by 1933 Ranch Bar & Lounge, where you can purchase water, soda, beer, and pre-mixed cocktails. But most importantly, where you can play Large Jenga, or The Ring Game:

I jokingly said that the boys would be happy to just play The Ring Game (official title, as determined by me) all night long. After they both got the knack for it far more quickly than most adults do, I’m less sure that it was a joke. Nonetheless, Eric and I grabbed our beverages and we found our seats in time for the anthem.

This was also a point where you realize the wisdom in planning your food consumption ahead of time. The AAC has a lot of new (and delicious) food options this year (the new chicken tenders in particular are large and savory), but you might have to make a bit of a trek to find the specific thing you’re looking for, and threading your way through the narrow concourse of the 300 level is not particularly enjoyable with young children along for the ride. So we were happy just to head to our seats.

We finally sat down at 7:01, and that’s when I was reminded that there really aren’t any bad seats at a hockey game. Not really, anyway. Sure, center ice on the Platinum Level is probably where I would sit every night if I had my druthers, but hockey is such a visually appealing experience that as long as you can see the ice, you’re going to enjoy yourself. And you can see the ice from pretty much anywhere.

I also think sitting up higher is actually more conducive to understanding the game, especially for a new fan. Seats in the lower bowl are more exciting for all the reasons we mentioned regarding warm-ups, but unless you’re right on the glass, I think you’re going to have a tough time following the action (and sometimes even moreso, then). And since Eric and his boys are all excellent soccer players—he and I played intramural soccer together back in school (I at goalie, he at defensive midfielder)—I figured they would naturally absorb the game when they could see it all playing out in front of them up higher.

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During the pregame pump-up (I don’t know what else you call the preamble right before the National Anthem), Eric’s eight-year-old son, J, was holding his ears. It gets loud up there, where the hanging speakers in the rafters aren’t so far away from you as they are in the lower bowl, and it was a bit much for J at first.

Aside: I took an adult to their first Stars game last year in the opening game of the playoffs against Vegas, and they said the same thing. :Why is it so LOUD?" But unlike that grown-up, J acclimated to the noise, as evidenced by his dancing during every goal celebration later on.

Also, something you probably remember from your own childhood, when you have occasion to reflect on it: kids really want to get on the video board. This is a huge deal for them, and when the board says “Make some noise!” they will make some noise, which is generally a sort of pre-adolescent screeching a foot from your face in a desperate effort for recognition for its own sake. Youth is wasted on the young.

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Oh right, the goals. Jason Robertson scored less than five minutes in, which was a relief to me, personally. The last thing you want for newcomers is a dud—I can’t help but think that some poor folks attended their first Stars game in that 4-1 defeat to Nashville in December—and it was good to see that the Stars who faced Columbus had stayed in Ohio. This was, instead, one of the best teams in the NHL, and boy, did they ever look it.

Now, that goal also showed me something about watching a hockey game: it is tough to tell when a puck goes into the modern net, as it usually bounces right back out. That’s a virtue of the taught nets Razor mentions on the broadcast, as well as the giant pad on the ice in the center of the net that also bounces pucks right back out. So for the Robertson goal, the kids had to wait for the replay.

Oh, and there’s another thing: when you’re eight or ten years old, it can be tough to see if people are in front of you (as they almost always will be, with the Stars selling out every night for over two years now). J in particular was distressed early on at not being able to see everything, but through a combination of acclimation and education (i.e. “watch the video board if the people in front have the audacity to keep their heads in front of the puck”), he was able to start tracking the play.

Would it have been nice if five of the six Stars’ goals had been scored at our end of the ice, rather than the far end? Sure, yes, absolutely definitely. But one can hardly complain about seeing a bunch of goals, unless it’s 2014 and you remember that 7-5 loss to the Islanders, like some of us weirdos do.

When Warren Foegele scored (or was it Connor Brown?) it was weirdly reassuring to see the boys get angry. How dare the other team score? Eric and I have watched a few soccer games with his family before, and the fact that the kids’ reactions to a hockey goal for the “bad guys” mirrored their reaction to a goal scored on Arsenal last fall told me they already knew more than enough to have a good time.

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But after that, the Stars were off and running. The first period ended 3-1 after Tanner Jeannot’s double minor gave Matt Duchene the chance to grab a lead the Stars would never let go, but one other very important thing happened on that power play, too:

That save did happen at our end of the ice, and it was awesome. The roar of the crowd after that save had to feel at least half as cool for Eric, L, and J to experience as it did for Matt Dumba.

In a way, that was probably the Kings’ last sniff at the game, though perhaps the third period feels different if they capitalize on Thomas Harley’s high-sticking penalty to make it 4-3 before the second intermission. But they don’t, because Dallas’s special teams are dominant. Really dominant. Like, “Give Steve Spott and Alain Nasreddine a high five every day” dominant.

By the way, after the game, J said his least favorite part of things was when the Stars had one of their guys in the penalty box. I am sure that most of the Stars would agree with him, as yeah, it’s a bummer when you’re outnumbered. But one person who didn’t agree with that assessment was Sam Steel, who scored the most textbook version of a Beautiful Breakaway Backhand goal you are ever going to see. Just look at where the puck entered the net here:

Coincidentally, J also said the shorthanded goal by Steel was his favorite moment of the game. There is nothing like turning the tables to appeal to even the novice hockey fan.

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The goals were plentiful, and the game was a delight. Offers for popcorn or other snacks were turned down throughout the game, proving that burgers, fries, and milkshakes beforehand were the right call.

It didn’t hurt that J had napped in the car before the game, either. But I knew the third period was the right time for things to be over when I was overexplaining things about individual players and intricacies of the rules to Eric to such an extent that J finally told me, in strained politeness, to stop talking, as he was unfortunately sitting between me and his dad, meaning he had to hear me shout-say every word. It seemed like a fair request, really.

The four of us also managed to make the experience a memorable one even outside of the hockey (two 18-minute intermissions are a long time for kids, though the go-kart segment was a big hit with them). J showed a surprising aptitude for balancing a bottle of water on his head, and L was tracking the game pretty well by the end of things. The game presentation was a big hit, though I would’ve loved a Snackwards Cam segment that sadly didn’t happen in this one. (Would you believe gross-out humor tends to appeal to elementary-age boys?)

For me, the most memorable moment had nothing to do with the game, though. Because when sitting back down from one of many goal celebrations, I was reminded that the new seats in American Airlines Center are narrower than the old ones, which means it’s a lot easier for the key fob in your pocket to catch the lip of your 1933 Ranch plastic cup, buckling the plastic and showering me with a drink named in honor of Dirk Nowitzki. Am I blaming the seats for my own clumsiness here? No, of course not. I am simply stating facts, and the fact is, how dare gravity and physics conspire against me in this way.

Really, it was a very good time. The Three Stars announcements are a nice send-off for fans, and after hitting up the crowded restrooms, we took the stairs down (escalators are for the unadventurous) and checked out the statues of Dirk and Modano.

If you haven’t seen them yet, make a point to do so. The Modano statue in particular still looks every bit as good as it did when they unveiled it. It’s great to see things intended to honor people turn out that well. Majestic isn’t an unfair word for either edifice.

From there, we headed back to the car, by which point exiting the Comerica Parking Garage only required a couple minutes of waiting. It was a delightful evening (even with a very damp sweatshirt), and I am now even more convinced of this truth than I was before: if you have never been to a hockey game in person, you have to go. There is nothing like it. Eric, who lives near Chicago and watched a fair share of Blackhawks games during their heyday, very quickly caught onto the tension points of the game, making for a very enjoyable anticipation/exhilaration/exhalation progression that is native to all the best sport experiences, which is to say drama.

And if you’re going to watch the Stars, you’re probably going to see a lot of goals, which is kind of the point. Or two points, if you’re the Stars.