A night with the Isles

We are a hockey family. There is no denying it. Frank grew up with it, his dad loves it, and now, gulp, my son is following in their footsteps. Right down to rooting for the New York Islanders. My only prayer for my son is that he does not become a goalie!



This year, I decided to crash "Boys Night Out". If your remember last year, Frank and his dad took Tyler to his first Islanders game. I decided that if I was going to be searching for and buying the tickets, I was buying four! I sure am glad I did. Granted I was kind of a third wheel, it was wonderful to watch the boys take in all the sights, sounds, and smells of Nassau Coliseum!


We headed to Champions in the Marriott to have dinner before the game. We were lucky enough to get seats on the "ice" and by the "boards". The middle part of the restaurant is set up like a rink, complete with the blue and red lines. Tyler was so excited after his dinner that he got up and played some quick pretend hockey. Everyone around us was amused by this creative kid!

We arrived to the game right before warm-ups. After some coaxing, we got Tyler down to the glass to claim his front row spot. Here are two generations of Genovese Islander hockey fans:

And three generations of Genovese Islander hockey fans:

I was welcomed at the game as long as I did not interrupt during any plays! For the Islanders on the ice was John Tavares, the top draft pick of the year and Tyler's favorite players, Kyle Okposo and Blake Comeau. For the Capitals, Kyle Ovechkin was the big draw and after seeing him up close, no wonder! He is a big guy!

The game ended in overtime and did not make my little guy happy. Seriously, didn't the Islanders know that Tyler was in the crowd? After the Capitals scored their winning goal in overtime, making the score 3-2, thus ending the game, Tyler burst into tears, only to be consoled by another guy who has seen more heart-wrenching losses than he cares to admit!

Let is be known though that less than a week later, the Islanders played the Capitals again, beating them 4-3 and Tyler was quick to ask us why they could not have done that the night he was there!