When the NHL season went on pause last March, the Dallas Stars were on a 6-game losing streak. Even though I have been a season ticket holder for a number of years, I had stopped going to the last few games because it was depressing. They just weren’t playing well. Then the pause happened and the Stars ended up getting their act together, becoming the Western Conference Champions, and getting to Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Of course, since they were in the bubble in Edmonton, we fans couldn’t attend any of the playoff or Cup games.

That was when I told myself I wouldn’t take “going to a live hockey game” for granted again. And even though my seatmate and I opted not to do season tickets this year, I knew I wanted to go to the Home Opener if there was any way to do that. Because of pandemic restrictions there are only about 5,000 seats available for the game (capacity of the arena is about 18,000), and I managed to get a single ticket, high in the upper bowl, without breaking the bank.

To say I’m excited is an understatement! And yeah, a little bit of trepidation about being around that many people, but between the distancing of the seats, the low capacity, the masks, and the fact that I got my first dose of the vaccine last week, I’m planning to just stay away from as many people as possible and enjoy the game. It’s probably the only live game I’m going to this season, so I’ll have to do a full six months worth of cheering in 60 minutes. Good thing I don’t have to work the next day.

Let’s go, Stars!