Traitor's Diary: Habs vs. Flyers

5:46 pm I arrived a bit earlier than usual, so I took a few minutes to take a couple shots of tequila from my flask. I put my Flyers shirt on over my Habs shirt, because I want to be able to get my camera in without being hassled.

6:04 pm The best part was the walk from the car to the Center. I saw a fair number of Habs fans, and for some reason, that made me smile. A few of them were stopping to take pictures along the way, which also warmed my heart. How cute! I really wanted to take off my Flyers shirt and join them in spirit, but I also really wanted to get my camera in.

6:12 pm I get in with no trouble, and head to the ladies room to make my transformation. Off comes the Flyers shirt, revealing the Kovalev shirt underneath. Yikes!

6:15 pm I make it out of the ladies room alive, but this is definitely uncomfortable. I need a drink for sure, so I had to the AT&T Pavillion.

6:16 pm I ask for a margarita, but I am told "we don't have margaritas." I get a tequila and orange juice instead. I wonder if the barkeep thinks I am from Montreal when she gives me the bullshit about margaritas, because I have had many a margarita from this very bar. Whatevs. I've got my drink and I head back to my seat for warmups.


6:20 pm I down my drink (man OJ and tequila goes down so smooth) and get ready for warmups. There are a couple of Habs fans right behind me, and I really wish I spoke French, so I could understand what they were saying. A Flyers fan asks them if they are local or if they came down from Montreal. They tell him they came by bus, which took them about 11 hours. Sheesh! I hope they're not turning around and going right back!

6:29 The boys come out for warmups. I take pictures. Kovalev is a total slacker during warmups. He leaves the ice a full 7 minutes before any other player. What a prima donna! I then remember that there are other players on the team and take some pictures of them too. I remember EP's request for pictures of Halak, and snap a few for her.

6:46 pm Warmups are over, so I head up to hit the head and grab another drink. I get lightly booed by some dude on the concourse, but so far that's been all. I guess it's not fun to boo a girl who is all by herself and doesn't push back.

7:04 pm Anthems. The Flyers fan behind me asks if I can lean forward so he can take a picture of my Kovalev shirt with his cell phone and send it to his friend. I guess so dude, but can't you just take it without asking me? And maybe not during the Star Spangled Banner? A little respect, dude.

7:07 pm Gametime. Ugh. Flyers score right off the bat, and right in front of me. This is not going to be fun.

7:?? pm It seems like the Flyers score again in like 30 seconds, but after watching the replay at home, I know it was about another 8 minutes between the first goal and the second. It really seemed much quicker than that, and really took the wind out of the Habs fans sails.

7:38 pm Well that was interesting. Habs lead 3-2. That was unexpected, and now I really fear for my life. Especially since the last goal was Kovy and I am in a Kovy shirt. Eek.

Intermission. I head to the ladies room and attempt to find some food, but damn the lines are long. I guess this is as good a time as any to tell you that I never stand and cheer for goals. Not even during the playoffs. I'm just not that kind of girl. I think this self-restraint will come in handy tonight. All night, I've been trying to figure out which will be worse for me: A Habs loss or a Habs win. Which one will get my ass kicked more?

Second and third periods: Maybe it's the OJ & tequila, or maybe this post is too long and I am losing interest, but not much memorable happened from my standpoint. The Flyers fan behind me was a little obnoxious, but not towards me. Lots of pucks hit the glass right in front of me, but since I'm a pro, I didn't flinch. It seemed like in the third period, the Flyers had scoring chance after scoring chance.

I went into jinxed fan mode late in the third when it was all tied up. I had my feet up on the boards during the third, and even though it was getting uncomfortable, I couldn't change position for fear it would jinx the Habs. I also desperately needed some lip balm, but since I hadn't put any on all period, I couldn't put any on. These are just two of my superstitions....usually they don't manifest themselves until the playoffs, but I guess we're getting close to that, eh?

Anyhow, you know how the rest of the game goes....Habs win, I make it out alive. The only trouble I had on the way out was when I was waiting for Rod to come out of Fan Gear. I was standing against the wall, checking my email, and some douche comes up behind me and yells "CANADA SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" right in my ear. Um, thanks dude, I'm American, but okay.

All I can say is please baby Jebus, don't let the Flyers and the Habs meet in the playoffs. Although baby Jebus, I do need both of them to make the playoffs, so I guess they will have to meet again at some point, but yikes, that will be trouble for me.

I added a few more pictures to the Habs set on flickr...