It was still 25 days until the grand opening of Mariucci Arena, and 81 days
until the Hall of Fame game against Michigan Tech.  Pam Sweeney, Paula, and
I (Carol's on vacation) needed a hockey fix last night, so here's what we did:
 
5:30-6:30:  Dinner and beer at Stub & Herb's, the hockey fan's mecca near
Mariucci Arena.  Got waited on by Katie, our favorite waitress who we often
see after Gopher games during the regular season.
 
6:45-8:30:  Went to Augsburg College arena to see the season-ending All-Star
game of the Twin City Collegiate Development League.  Plenty of offense and
not much defense, as usual.  White beat Black 20-9.  The scoreboard read
19-9 at the end, but the scorekeeper managed to miss White's 14th goal.
 
8:45-10:45:  Back home to see what's on TV.  Made some popcorn and tuned
into a local cable channel to catch the last few minutes of a Roseville
Junior Olympic College League game between Wonderful Muffler Man and Pine
Beach Lodge (love those sponsors!).  The Muffler Man crew won a close one,
13-11.   Time to switch channels, just in time for the second period of the
North vs. South game from the Olympic Festival in San Antonio.   About
halfway through the second period, with South leading 3-0 (they would
eventually win 4-0), it was time for the second Roseville game of the
evening, featuring Arden Fasteners vs. Knight Promotions.  Rather than break
away from the Olympic Festival action, we used the built-in sports addict
feature of our TV to watch both games at once.  After the Olympic Festival
coverage ended, we devoted our attention to the Arden vs. Knight game.  The
Roseville league games usually feature some actual defense, and this game
was fairly typical.  Neither team ever lead by more than two goals, with
Arden Fasteners eventually winning a hard-fought game, 9-7.
 
After all that it was time for Pam to go home, and for Paula and me to turn
in.  Too bad there isn't much for a hockey fan to do during the off-season.
 
-- Erik