Hockey Night in Carolina

That was a heck of a hockey game. The 4 hour drive to get to Charlotte was worth it. Next up: The Charlotte Knights AAA baseball.

The Checker's mascot Chubby (no, I'm not making that up)

If you can't play the puck, play the man.

The Marlie's goalie was a little bored in the first period.

The Checker's goalie was busy for the first 33 minutes or so.

Goal 2 for the Checkers

Goal 3 for the Checkers.

Lots of people (the other side was just as full)

So, it took me a four hour drive to get to the game and somebody stole the Mr. Redlegs magnet off the back of my car, but it was totally worth it. The crowd at the arena was a lot bigger than I expected (at least 6,000) and there were even people tailgaiting outside pregame. It was a little jarring walking in from the 80+ degrees outside into a hockey arena, but I had my jersey on so I was okay.

The first half of the game was all Marlies. Their goalie actually looked bored at times and the boys from Toronto got out to a 3 goal lead. Then, with about 5 minutes left in the second period Tomas Jurco scored for the Checkers and they roared back to life.

Pretty quickly in the third, Charlotte got two goals within about a minute. Then it evened out for a while and the place was rocking. BTW, if you're subject to epileptic seizures don't go to this arena; the strobing was a little much. Lights were strobing and everyone was screaming their heads off. It looked like we were going to get overtime for a bit there until, with about two minutes left, Poturalski put a 4th goal in the net for the Checkers and the place went crazy.

A 5th followed into an empty net, but the game was over with the 4th.

Great game. Great place. Now they go to Toronto. The next time they're scheduled to be in Charlotte is next Sunday (if needed).