First up was the MSU-LSSU game and the crowds for both were comparable. I had
 the MSU fans to my right and the LSSU fans to my left. There was also a large
 Wisconsin section at the other end of the arena. The crowd was pretty sparse
 at first, but kept filling in as the game wore on. It was a boring first
 period but after the first period...all the Hockey-L folks were set to meet.
 As usual I went the wrong way in the arena looking for the 101/130 meeting
 place where we were to assemble/gather together. After I found the group, I
 met a few folks and handed out the buttons. Unlike Mike, I have a pretty good
 memory (both long and short), but I was really testing myself by trying to
 remember so many faces and names in such a short time! It helped having met
 Beth, Tony, Garrett, and Mike before the mass-meeting. As we were standing
 around chatting, I spied a familiar face walking by...it was Ben (BIG Ben)
 Hankinson, another former Gopher player. I went over and got another big hug!
 I felt guilty deserting the H-l crowd, but I hadn't seen Ben in a year. We
 talked for a few minutes, ben is now playing with the Utica minor team under
 Herb Brooks and they had driven down to see some quality hockey. I would have
 liked to see Herbie again, but didn't run into him unfortunately.
 
 Back to the game...the action picked up in the second and third periods which
 was good. Kevin and Michael were doing a players critique on the game and
 players and letting me know how good or bad they thought certain guys were
 doing. I purchased the souveniers I wanted after the next intermission. I am
 glad that I didn't wait, because the enamel pins sold like hotcakes. This is
 the prettiest pin since the Lake Placid pin! I was getting a big kick out of
 the MSU band playing their school song...but for all the wrong reasons. Two
 very dear friends of mine who played in the U of Minn Marching Band taught me
 the X-rated version of the MSU fight song and everytime I hear the tune...well
 you can imagine! There is also an X-rated version of the Michigan fight song
 which I also know. Don't worry though, I have to be extremely inebriated to
 sing either version, so you're not likely to hear either one anytime soon!
 
 Also in the second period break I met up with two of my Minnesota hockey
 friends who were there albeit incognito (no Gopher gear). By this point in the
 day, I had been "badgered" by several people in red and white and it was
 really getting old. I was almost sorry that I hadn't brought along a plain
 sweatshirt or sweater to wear. Kevin and Michael continued to entertain me
 with their comments. You should have seen their faces though when I told them
 that the bars were open till 4:00am! Too funny. It was a shame that MSU had to
 lose the game as their fans were really great at keeping the cheering going. I
 enjoyed seeing Bill and Virginia Krebs all decked out (head to toe) in green
 and white! They were also VERY enthusiastic in cheering on the team even
 though they were several sections over from the MSU crowd.
 
 After the game some of us met again at the 101/130 area to walk over to the
 dinner together. Since James and I knew how to get there, we led the way. The
 dinner was great fun! We really could have used a bigger room, but it was nice
 and cozy. More buttons were passed around and it was a very congenial crowd to
 say the least. Most disappointed were Bill and Virginia Krebs who are diehard
 MSU fans and put on a good face in spite of the MSU loss.
 
 Here are all the folks that I remember who were there: James Bradshaw, Pam and
 Lisa Sweeney, Garrett Lanzy, Jim Love, Bill and Virginia Krebs, Beth Weise,
 Mike Machnik, Steve Kaptanakis (sp?), Larry Haag, Cindy Hood and husband, Jon
 Finke, David Parter, Erik and Alison Einset, Ryan Stone, Derek Snyder, and
 last but certainly NOT least Tony Hejna. Tony did a fabulous job of finding
 just the right place, for the right price and making all the arrangements for
 the group. I know that everyone had a great time and I really appreciate the
 time he took to help us out. Tony also told me that he had invited both Bob
 Croce and Keith Marder to the dinner and although neither one showed up, he
 took a couple of extra buttons for them. This of course resulted in our party
 being mentioned in the Times Union on Friday and that ABSOLUTELY made my day!
 Thanks again Tony!
 
 We adjourned briefly to the pavement outside for a quick group photo which
 Mike missed, had to go see a man about a horse I believe. Mike did get a big
 kick out of his "Ceramic Dalmation" trophy or Pongo-on-a-puck as it's
 affectionately known now. Unfortunately in transit from Minneapolis to Albany,
 Pongo became unglued from the puck so he was just placed on top of it.
 However, when anyone came over to see it they naturally picked it up and Pongo
 fell off! Those in the immediate area would say: "OOHHHHH, you broke it!!"
 Good joke. Another amusing moment was when several people were discussing what
 kind of a job the afternoon Ref had done, namely Greg Shepherd (of the WCHA).
 He was being dragged through the muck (so what else is new?) and I piped up in
 his defense: "Well you know, he IS blind in one eye." Hilarity abounded! The
 dinner/camraderie was great but altogether much much too short!
 
 We all adjourned back to the Knick for game two. The Wisconsin contingent was
 very large and loud as always. The BEST sign they had was a sheet on which was
 written: "It's a great day for Hockey!" I liked it so much I even took a photo
 of it. The Wisconsin band was smaller than usual but still very loud and I am
 glad I was at the other end of the rink!
 
 After the first period I saw where Louie and his buddies were sitting and went
 over to say hello. Louie put a Wisconsin sticker on my sweatshirt so I could
 cheer for the Badgers. I was hoping that the Badgers would win the first game,
 after all they are in the WCHA. I even cheered for them a little. It was too
 bad that the real Michigan team didn't show up to play, it would have been a
 much more interesting game then. In the third period Kevin decided that the
 Wisconsin crowd was much too quiet and since he had a red shirt on under his
 jacket he went over to the Wisconsin section to get them all riled up. He
 swears that he got them going...but Michael and I didn't notice too much noise
 coming from the area when he was over there! ;-)
 
 At the end of the game all the Hockey-Ler's adjorned for their respective
 hotels/parties. Pam, Lisa and I went back out to Wolf Road on the CDTA shuttle
 bus and then went over to "Playfields" a sports bar at the Holiday Inn. We
 understand that the really hot spot was "The Scoreboard" bar, but we couldn't
 figure out how to get there. Well, there were alot of LSSU fans at the bar and
 we were enjoying some Nachos and drinks and watching a replay of the afternoon
 game. It was after 2:00 when Dave Espe appeared upstairs as he had heard that
 there were a few Minnesota fans upstairs. He was pretty trashed and when he
 saw the little Wisconsin sticker on my sweatshirt, well, he had a fit! Told me
 to take it off and to root for the Lakers on Saturday as he was going to do!
 Well, I had very little choice...if an ex-Gopher could cheer for a different
 conference, so could I.
 (end of part three)
 
 Carol
 U of M
 GO Gophers!!!