Some friends invited us to a Stanley Cup party last Sunday. We always have fun with Dana and Art, but I was reluctant to go.
That's Dennis on the left. He was there the whole game except for the times he stood, inches from the screen, yelling at Chris Pronger. Thanks to Dennis, even I could enjoy the game. (Thanks to Bryn Benson for the photo.)
Without being able to see, hockey can be a tough sport to follow. What would poor, poor Beth do at the party while everyone’s eyes were glued to the 60-inch TV screen? I do love a party, so decided I’d figure it out. Maybe rather than try to follow the progress of the game, I should choose one player, follow his progress instead. Which Blackhawk to follow? That, my dear, was a no brainer. Who else but Nick Boynton.
What?! You’ve never heard of Nick Boynton? Well, he was a plus-two on Sunday night, and Philadelphia’s star Chris Pronger was an unheard-of minus five. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Three months ago, when the Blackhawks called Boynton up, he was playing with the Rockford Ice Hawks. The NHL web site says that before Boynton joined the Blackhawks, he had “five assists and 22 penalty minutes in 15 AHL tilts with Rockford and the Manitoba Moose.” Not sure what all that AHL tilt gobbledygook means. The most important fact there is this: my man Boynton played for the Manitoba Moose. How. Cool. Is. That?
And if playing for the Manitoba Moose isn’t enough to make you love Nick Boynton, there’s this, from the Chicago Tribune:
One day when Boynton, a 19-year-old first-round draft pick of the Bruins, was working at his family’s farm in Canada, he couldn’t get out of bed.
A misdiagnosis and 35 pounds of weight loss later, doctors in Boston correctly identified that Boynton’s pancreas basically had stopped producing insulin.
You read that right. Nick Boynton has Type 1 diabetes. Just like me. The Tribune story said that after finally diagnosing him correctly, doctors told Boynton to sit out a year. The mighty moose refused. He wanted to play hockey.
One of the other guests at Dana and Art’s party Sunday was a Canadian-born hockey fan named Dennis. Dennis teaches third grade by day and still plays amateur hockey at night. He sat inches from the big-screen, totally focused on the game. I asked him to alert me anytime #24 was on the ice, and Dennis didn’t disappoint.
Throughout the entire game, the cheers and groans from Dennis gave me a clue of what was happening on the ice. “Woooooooo! Ugh. Ahh. C’mon lads! Woooooooo! Argh. Damn. Wooooooo!” By the second period, I had diagnosed my new Canadian friend with Hockey Tourrette’s.
The best part of the game, duh, was any time the Blackhawks scored. With every Blackhawk goal (and there were a lot of goals scored on Sunday) Dennis would run to my seat, say a polite excuse me, and then crush me in a hug.
I love hockey. Go Dennis! Go Boynton! Go Hawks!
Wow. I didn’t even know there was a guy named Nick Boynton on the team.
Go Blackhawks!
Hey Beth,
Even with sight I wouldn’t have been able to assess a hockey game like you did! You go girl…or as we say in Jersey, You go goil!!!! Glad you enjoyed
yourself. Love reading the blog….
Great blog, Beth! We’ll be looking for Nick during the game as we watch from Anacortes, Washington.
I was there, eyes wide open and discovered that hockey is really hard to follow. Thank GOODNESS for Dennis and his hockey tourettes because that is the only way I really figured out what was happening. So Much Laughter! Highlight of the evening was meeting you Beth!
Thank you to Beth for posting this.
Namaste, Bryn, the music junkie
GO Hawks! So do you think it’s a bad thing wanting them to win the cup in Chicago instead of tonight?
Great blog! Amazing how you keep finding the Type I athletes!
hey beth i think you are so cool i love your dog!!!
Recovering from BIG GAME last night (Boynton was plus one, by the way!) and wondering how the city will fare tomorrow: it’s the start of Blues Fest in Grant Park, the Cubs are playing the White Sox in Wrigley Field tomorrow afternoon for the crosstown classic, Printer Row Lit Fest starts and tomorrow the city is throwing the Blackhawks a ticker-tape parade, just like they did for the White Sox when they won the World Series in 2005.
I’d better go rest up!
PS: Yay, Hawks!
Hey Beth,
It’s your hockey buddy – (hug through the air waves). I loved your blog. I was in rare form that night, no doubt, but here is my story and I’m sticking to it. Firstly, I didn’t watch any of Friday’s game when we played embarrassingly poor, given the finals. So that brings us to game 5 at Art’s. I wore all my good omens, (hockey players do have some superstitions, and so do fans)- so I had my party hat, party shoes, Dustin Time! Blackhawks t-shirt, and the all important Crown Royal Black. I was wound up – jacked! If the Hawks lost it wasn’t going to be for my lack of preparation and cheering every play. I’m thrilled you were part of that crazy crowd. As you know, Boynton and the boys did not disappoint. We played awesome, and even better in Game 6 – when we won it all! Today, I drove with my sister-in-law, Bonnie, into the city to get pictures of the Art Institute lions, and the Field Museum brontosaurus with the Toews jersey. Parade tomorrow!
Yay, Dennis! See (okay, hear) you at the parade tomorrow. I’ll tell any sighted fans accompanying me to be on the lookout for the crazy Canadian in the party hat, party shoes (Dennis, what kind of shoes qualify as “party” shoes?) Dustin Time t-shirt and all-importan Crown Royal Black.
Yay, Boynton! Yay, Blackhawks!
Yea! A parade!!!
Yes, a parade! Can you fly in by tomorrow, Mare? You know hanni and I will be there…not sure about Mike, though. Actually, it was our turn to take Flo to her appointments tomorrow morning but niece Janet graciously offered to sub for us. With all the traffic coming in for the parade plus all the White Sox and Cub fans heading north to Wrigley, plus all the music lovers heading to Grant Park for Blues Fest, plus all those bookworms road raging their way to Printers Row, well, even if we started out tomorrow morning I don’t think we’d make it out of the city by Monday. Thanks to Janet, we can stay SAFE & SOUND right here in town and enjoy all the fun.
hey betha…it was our pleasure! we were listening to the hawks with minke in the car. after her hair appointment, she wanted to get back home quick to see the rest of the hawks celebration on tv!
That Flo, she is always on top of things!
Mike walked me down to the parade route this morning, it was too hot for Hanni to manage. Actually, it turned out too hot for Mike and me to manage – we got there around 10:30 am but went back home before the parade started. Too hot, and too crowded! It was fun to be there for a while, though, just to get the “vibe.” Lots o young people (sounded between the ages of 20 and 30) and all very, very happy. Mike said there were a lot of families with kids, the kids had made elaborate Stanley Cups out of cardboard and aluminum foil..adorable! TONS of hockey jerseys, he said.
Once home I listened to the radio to hear the crowds yelling and screaming as the Blackhawk double-decker buses rolled by, then heard some of the speeches.
No wonder everyone in Chicago loves this team –the players are so young, and not ruined by the media. Not yet, at least. So fun! Especially enjoyed Duncan Keith’s speech: “this is awesome!”
Never heard a word from my Moose Man Nick Boynton, though. Did you?
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Next thing you know, you’ll be loving soccer.
Ha! I think soccer is safe, Benita. Those vuvuzella horns are enough to keep me away — hard to hear the game over all that racket!
Whew! That’s a relief! I predict you will come to your senses about hockey sooner rather than later, especially if it takes another long slog to win the Cup.
Well, gotta admit I probably wouldn’t be so taken with hockey if either of our Chicago baseball teams were playing something worth watching. The White Sox played the Cubs last night and when Mike and I tuned into the game in the 7ixth inning (on our way home from the Crate and Barrel soiree, doncha know) I laughed out loud to hear *both* pitchers had no-hitters going. With the offense the Cubs and White Sox are putting out there this year, a no-hitter against either of these teams is really no great feat. Record keepers would have had to for *sure* add an asterisk, but in the end, neither pitcher got a no-hitter anyway. Final score was 1 to zero, our hockey team scores more than our baseball teams do, just think if I’d been waiting for a hug with each run.
If the Yankees and the Mets both sucked (and much of the time they do), I still would not go for hockey. But that’s just me. Not my kinda crowd.
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