Sitting in the eye of the hurricane

My recent happenings around Raleigh, have been centered around a local NHL team: Carolina Hurricanes. As you can gather from my header, I do greatly enjoy NHL hockey but my two favorite teams are the Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks. However, I try to support whichever NHL team I live near with the exception of the Islanders back when I lived in NY. The Hurricanes are a great team and I happen to like a few of the players on the roster. Specifically goalie Cam Ward, center Eric Staal (C), and his brother, Jordan Staal, also a center.

Last week, I attended one of their first post-lockout team practices at Raleigh Center Ice. Was that an amazing experience! I've never attended a team practice before so it was all new and totally amazing. First, it was very cold in there as you can imagine for such a small rink and second, I got to see my favorite players on the ice!

Here are a few pictures:

On Monday, January 14, I went to PNC Arena to check out the 50% merchandise sale. Everything at the team store was on sale including the jerseys! I picked up a shearling toque, 2011 All Star Game patch, and CAM WARD JERSEY (black) ! I am so excited to wear it around to a game in the future. It's gorgeous and customized at the team store so it has the team lettering kit!

Coincidentally, there was a full team practice going on the ice at the time. Since it's open to the public, it's also free so you can sit wherever you want. I walked all the way down to the first row seats, behind the glass, and it was totally breathtaking. Not to spoil myself, as those seats are very expensive come game day but it was definitely a treat!

PNC Arena has a nice set up and the seating has good vantage points for the lower level. I picked out where I want to sit for a few games, around 10-12 rows from the ice, center ice. It's not behind the glass but it's lower level and great to see the plays develop on the ice!

Here are a few pictures from practice:

What's next on my hockey adventure list?
Attending more practices and hopefully going to a game, so it looks more likely that that specific game will be the Hurricanes vs. Penguins on February 28th. My goal is the Pens first and than from there I'll look for Capitals, Rangers, and other match ups.