My First Hockey Game: 24 Hours in Dallas for the WCF Game 4

For some people, the excitement of going to a home game is almost commonplace. I love the Dallas Stars. I also live half a country away on the west coast. But last season I flew to Dallas, my friend flew from the east coast, and we watched game 4 of the Western Conference Finals at home in the American Airlines Center. And that was my first hockey game.

Let’s set the scene. We bought tickets for game 4 of the WCF when the Stars knocked out the Seattle Kraken. We were filled with bubbling joy but with each passing game, we deflated like balloons.

The Stars had lost three in a row and were facing getting swept at home. Jamie Benn did a very dumb thing and got himself suspended for two games. It was so over. With this twisted turn of events, we flew to Dallas to watch them get swept.

The circumstances were dire, but I didn’t expect how fun the atmosphere would still be at my first hockey game. I saw real Stars fans! Real people who know who Roope Hintz is, wear garish shades of green and buy little Otter plushies.

Apparently, the vibes were somber compared to usual. But I couldn’t tell. This was my first experience watching a hockey game ever and my first one in Dallas. We went into a photo booth, roamed around every shop, looked at every food offering, and I fully forgot how miserable I should have been at that moment considering the team faced elimination.

When I was a child, I went to a Wiggles concert. it blew my mind that they didn’t live in the television. That was when I was three months old. When I saw the Dallas Stars take warmups, it felt just like the Wiggles concert. They were real and doing their funny wiggly little stretches on the ice in front of my face.

I realized the puck hitting the glass was loud. I saw the big green light-up star get lowered and I wanted to take it home. And I felt happiness in the midst of their probable defeat. Shouting “STARS!” during the anthem with the entire building was so special.

Vegas scored first. We got humbled quickly but still glared with disdain at the VGK fans in our section. Then Jason Robertson did what Jason Robertson’s going to do… he scored. And we lept up, screamed, and swung our rally towels with all our might. The arena was absolutely vibrant in the epic highs and lows of elimination Dallas Stars hockey.

I felt like I truly ascended to another plane of existence just watching Miro Heiskanen skate. When Robertson tied the game, it felt simply right. It’s just not true Stars hockey without overtime. We laughed, we might have cried, and I grinned broadly at my family’s exuberant texts from back home.

The syncopated chants of “Let’s go Stars!” throughout the game perfectly embodied the chaotic enthusiastic energy of the crowd. Nervously sipping my possibly radioactive green slushy, we joked about how many overtimes they’d make us sit through.

Ty Dellandrea’s face quickly took one for the team and drew a penalty. So we saluted his face. Then the seemingly impossible happened — Joe Pavelski’s absolute snipe of an overtime winner.

I remember screaming at a supersonic pitch and losing my voice. We clung to each other in disbelief and shook each other with giddy shrieks. Maybe that’s what this comes down to — remembering how the unthinkable can happen in the best way. And realizing how much sports can make you feel.

I haven’t watched the highlights of that game. I live inside my memory and writing this has taken me back to that night. Watching your team win live against all the odds is a truly unforgettable experience and you could not script a more exciting first game to watch.

So we strutted out into the delirious cries of “wooooo” with arms full of confetti, hearing Taylor Swift’s “Karma” blasting from the AAC, and the smiles fixed on our faces felt permanent leaving my first hockey game.

I suppose this is just a long-winded way of saying get ready. And get excited. Don’t take for granted those incredible games. Embrace the emotion of every moment. Hockey is fun, friends are fun, and when you mix those with winning? It’s an unbeatable combination. I enjoyed my first hockey game and can’t wait to attend more.