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