The Shadow Lady landed tickets for a Thunderbirds Hockey game... Not just ANY tickets, but tickets in one of the Microsoft Suites at Key Arena.  NICE!

After parking, as we walked to the arena through the Seattle Center Park, we got to thinking... It'd been quite a while since we'd gone to a hockey game.

I looked... October 1, 2005 was the last game we went to... it was the day the lobby was flooded with water when we arrived, and the game went to a tie-breaker shoot-out and ended in a loss to Kamloops.

While we were talking, we noticed now nice the Space Needle looked with the fountain running in the foreground...

We got there a bit late... so the lines were all gone.

The upper bowl of the arena is closed for hockey games, and the lower bowl was about 2/3 filled, so I doubt there was too much of a line, anyway... they don't advertise much, so the folks who go are pretty big fans.

Once inside, we headed to the suite level, and on to our seats.

 
It was nice!  I'd never been on the suite level at the Arena.  They're done up pretty nice!

They had enough food to feed an Army!  Hamburgers, BBQ Pork, hot dogs, baked chicken, chicken wings, pastries, deserts, beverages... it was pretty awesome!

You have a very nice view of the stadium, too...

Not only that... the Red Sox game was on!  The Bosox were winning, and the game was mostly over (Bottom of the 7th) when we got there, but it was still good to watch!

With an "Are you ready???", the Thunderbirds took the ice for the game...  

 
They announced the players, and starting line, and then sang the National Anthem... I felt bad for the guy singing - his mike was off or something, and you could barely hear him.

Before too long the game was under way... it was NICE to be back at a game!

The first period was fairly uneventful.  The Tri-City Americans are in first place in the division, with twice the points of the T-Birds, who are in 3rd.  The puck was in the American's end for most of the period, though... the T-Birds were playing quite well, I though.

14 and a half minutes into the period, Boyer scored his first goal of the season... The T-Birds were doing VERY well!

 
It seemed that the T-Birds held possession of the puck quite well... but they didn't get many shots for the amount of time they had control. 

The "Hey" man was there... he's at EVERY game, it seems!

Just before the period ended, the Red Sox finished out the game.  They won 10-3, to win game 1 of the series...

The Americans ended up scoring twice in the last 5 minutes of the period, ending the period with a score of 2-1

The tricycle race was pretty fun to watch... they were racing for Ozzy tickets.  It was fun watching them try to maneuver on the ice. 

The second period (my favorite) saw more of the same... the T-Birds had the puck more, but didn't really shoot that often.

 
Early in the second, they tied it up.

This shot was my favorite of the game, I think.  Boyer had just shot the puck in the net, under the goalie's legs.

The ref saw it, as did the fan sitting below us... the two T-Birds are just starting to react, and the judge still hasn't turned on the light...

 
It was real nice being on the Suite Level... nice seats, nice view, and easy access to food, drink, and the bathroom... what a way to watch a game!

The T-Birds scored late in the period, also, bringing the score to 3-2.

At the break, I did the "Chuck a puck"... trying to get the puck in the sunroof, for a chance to win the car, or 10,000, or a free tire rotation, or... lots of chances, you just have to land it in a colored bucket, or the car.

My closest shot bounced off the ice, bounced between the windshield and the sunroof, then onto the ice someplace... one other one hit the side of the car, while the other one bounced over.  Oh, well... It was fun!

 
Early in the 3rd period, the T-Birds scored, bringing the score to 4-2.

It was a sweet goal... a very nice shot to the upper corner of the net, over the goalie's shoulder.

 
about 6 seconds later, Boyer landed himself a Hatrick... and the score was 5-2!

The game was pretty uneventful after that.  The T-Birds pressed, but still weren't shooting enough in my opinion.

 
The game ended with the score 6-2, with another goal coming late in the game.

 
It was a good game, although the T-Birds were outshot 20-32... the goalie really did well, and ended up being the "Second Star" of the game.  Boyer, with his hatrick, was the "Number One Star".

 
Walking out, we noticed the Microsoft Executive Suite, and Stopped for a picture...

 
The Needle called to me on the way out (It normally does), and of course, I had to take a picture... it'd been over a year since I'd seen this view after a hockey game... :-)

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