Yes it is 1am, and yes I am going to write this with a flight that I have in a few hours. That’s because this night was seriously the best night I have had…ever. I can honestly say that.

As you know by now, my hockey obsession started long ago, and as a Caps fan, being able to experience Ovi lifting the cup in Vegas was something I will never forget, and a feeling I will never forget. Tonight was different though. And its all been building up. Rachel and I have been going to games since the beginning. We went to the Inaugural game, and we ended the season together too. Norah started coming along the way, and then when Savannah got back from her mission the sibs were reunited. Over the last month since Savannah has been home, the family has been able to take her to a few different games. Tonight, both my dad and my mom were able to come, along with both grandparents, which was so fun too.

This all started a few games ago. Rachel has made like 2-3 different posters for Kerfoot, trying to get a stick from him. He is the one that has given her pucks throughout the season. Last Saturday, we went to a game with cousins and after the game, Rachel tried to get his stick. He pointed to it and said he needed to keep it but that he would get her one the next game. Perfect. Right until we remembered that Rachel was going with Savannah, Norah, and my dad to that game. I was out of town in Vegas. I was devastated because I knew Rachel would get it while I was gone. I even had them facetime me while they were there. But as the players came out of the tunnel, Kerfoot wasn’t there. Rachel was panicking. It was the first game he had missed all season. Luckily, it was just a sickness. And let me tell you, everything happens for a reason, I truly believe that. Savannah was able to get her first puck of the season that night from Durzi. She was loving it. I remember talking to her after and she was all in on Utah Hockey. Like I mentioned earlier, I don’t think there is a better feeling than seeing people you love enjoying something that you love and spending time with them. Nothing makes me more happy than spending time with my sisters and seeing them love hockey like I do.

So the day began with Savannah and Rachel texting me about poster ideas. Because we have had our fair share of pucks, and this was the last home game of the season, we really wanted to go big. All the girls brought posters were planning to try and get sticks. The team had announced a tailgate outside of the arena starting at 4, so I knew we would have to be there early. The doors don’t open until 90 minutes before the event. There is a UHC debit card that will get you in 30 minutes earlier than that. So we could get in at 5. The tailgate started at 4. So I left work around 2 and arrived to the arena around 2:15. I thought I might be the first one there but I also knew that it could be hard because of the tailgate. When I got there, I had a family of four in front of me and another couple. Luckily, I knew these people and knew that they wouldn’t take the spot we wanted. Right after I showed up another family showed up and I knew that they wanted the same spot as us. Super awesome that I got there when I did. I stood in line for about 2 hours, until the girls showed up with posters and everything around 4:15.

We hung out for about 45 minutes and then got into the arena. Rachel and Savannah went first so that Rachel could sprint in. Thank heavens too because the kid behind me tried to outsprint us to the front row. We got the 4 corner seats next to the bench. That is the best real estate in the game. People think that its easy to try and get that spot, but man, the amount of planning and effort that goes into that is insane. Hours and hours. So we sat there for another hour and a half until the players made their way out. We were all super excited.

The players came out, and Rachel was right at the corner. Kerfy is always 5th and so he saw Rachel with the poster, smiled at her, and fist bumped. Throughout warm ups he smiled at her a few times. Savannah was making eye contact with Durzi, and he almost gave her a stick. Instead he gave her a puck and wrote “No Stick, Hope this okay” and signed it. SO COOL! Savannah was pumped. Norah was trying to get a Sergachev stick and had a necklace of easter eggs. The sign said “Sergy, trade your stick for some eggs?”. You may think this is a funny reference, but Sergy has lots of funny videos about all the chickens that he has raised since living in Utah. He is usually super locked in so its hard to get his attention. But I was yelling and finally he looked over. He saw the poster, Norah was holding up the necklace, and he was laughing. It was so funny. Usually the players don’t give out sticks until the end of warm ups, so we waited. Kerfy went off first and on his way out just tapped Rachel’s poster but went down the tunnel pretty fast. No stick for Rachel. We kept yelling at Sergy but he was still locked in and also darted down the tunnel pretty fast. 0/3 on sticks. We were all pretty discouraged, but since Savannah had gotten a signed stick, it wasn’t all for nothing.

We left the lower bowl and made our way to the concourse. We met my parents and grandparents there. We regrouped, ordered food, and then went to our seats. The game got started and through the first period we sat in our seats up high and ate food. Then after the first, we moved lower into the upper bowl and ended up by our friend Craig and his kids. They have been such a blast to sit by and hang out with all season. Crazy that this was the last game of the year.

As the game progressed, it was 3-3 with about 8 minutes left. We had our eye on a couple empty seats in the lower bowl. After the 5 min to go mark, they let you go sit down there. So we made our way down and snuck into the lower bowl. As soon as we sat down we got on the jumbotron. So my parents texted me to see where we were, and then they made their way down by us. It worked out cause the game ended up going to overtime. Still tied. So we went to a shootout. Super sad because we ended up losing. But, since they lost, more people left than we thought. So my parents left, and then the sisters and I moved down as close as we could. Security won’t let you past the 3rd row so we were on the 3rd row. Since everyone had left in the first couple rows, we were super close. They were going to do awards after the game so we knew that we would have a pretty good chance. Hayton got the first award and then Kerfy got the second one. It was for his relationship with the community. What a perfect award. We were all cheering so hard, we didn’t even see that the media team had put into the video of Kerfoot, him throwing Rachel the puck at the inaugural game on Oct 8th. What a crazy full circle moment.

After the awards were done, the team saluted the crowd and then started making their way off the ice. I had noticed that Sergy had taken his gloves off and his stick was on the bench. As he skated over, I was yelling as loud as I could. Finally as he got to his stick, he saw me. I offered the egg necklace for his stick. I didn’t even have the poster from earlier, but he looked at me and didn’t seem to sure, but I gave him a look, and he obliged. I had to weasel my way past security and they finally let me past them to snag a stick when they realized what was happening. Crazy. I was so busy trying to get back to Norah with the stick, that at the same time as that was happening, Rachel was fighting for her life too. She was of course holding her poster and had flagged down Kerfy. He was pointing at her trying to get the stick to her, but the adults in front of us were trying to get the stick! They were like “oh this is for us right” and Kerfy was not having it. He was looking right at Rachel. Security did the same thing and would not let Rachel past. They said only if he said it was for her. Of course, Kerfy says “its for her!” and Rachel is literally fighting for her life. But finally she was able to get past the security and the adults trying to steal her stick.

Absolutely wild. We were all basically crying. Rachel, Norah, Savannah and I all had a group hug that I can’t really even put into words. It was feelings that had been building all season, hours and hours of hard work fighting for prime real estate, doing our research, building relationships with the players. And it was only us. Everyone else had left. Except for our uncle. I turn around, and Josh is standing there 2 rows above us, taking photos of us. What a moment. What a season. I love this life.

SEASON FINALE - UTA v NSH

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SEASON FINALE - UTA v NSH

GAME 20 - CBJ @ UTA

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