November 19-20

Saturday morning in Q-ville with Jenny for lunch, in the evening we headed west on route 283 for our first AHL game of the season in Hershey. We were supposed to be there on October 30 when they hosted Binghamton but the snow and rescheduling of the Royals game that weekend changed those plans. When we arrived I went to the box office to exchange the unused tickets from the 30th for another game, I've done it before under similar circumstances. On this occasion  it was a combination of rocket science and brain surgery to get it done, I must have stood at that window for close to ten minutes. The substitute game is also against Binghamton, that will be near the end of the season. On this night the Albany Devils were the opponent, the game went through overtime and a shootout before the Devils prevailed 6-5. Albany has been in the AHL since 1993 but Hershey is by far the league's most tenured franchise, they've been around since 1938. When they started they played at the Hershey Arena (lovingly known as "the old barn"), I saw my first game there in 1968. The current building opened in 2002, like most newer buildings it has that corporate feel to it that a lot of older fans don't like because the intimacy of the Old Barn just isn't there anymore. Everyone talks about progress but it's not always for the good. Sunday was a quiet, uneventful day at home, for the first time in two months there was no street hockey, Royals game or anything else going on. Sometimes it's good to take a day to relax, with street hockey playoffs continuing and the Royals at home as well this week will be busy. Take care, thanks for reading.