H is for ...

Hockey!

When I started planning this post, the Capitals were still in the playoffs. They were battling back and looked like they might just get through to the next round. Unfortunately, last night game seven of the series ended in an overtime loss to the Flyers. My husband can put away his jersey until next year.

When we moved here, my husband was a fan of a host of NY teams - Mets, Jets, Islanders and Knicks. Some may detect a theme here as they all have less than stellar records. Anyway, of all of these, the only one that he is still dedicated to is he Jets (ultimate losers) and this is surprising since he grew up with the Islanders. His family used to have season tickets during the dynasty years and for a while one of the team lived across the street from him. Is it any wonder that he claimed to bleed Islander Blue? He was a die hard fan.

So what happened? We moved to a town where the local team has one of the best owners in the NHL.

Ted Leonsis is one of the most fan-oriented owners out there. I know this because I've witnessed his greatness first hand. In 2001, the Caps had a series of events planned to kick off the season. Hubbo planned to be at a bunch of them but stuff kept getting in the way. The last straw was when he came down with a wicked stomache virus and was unable to use the tickets he was given for his birthday. He was so sad.

Knowing Ted's reputation I sent him an email. I'm not sure what I expected - something small to be sure. Instead, after a few emails between myself and Ted, (not an assistant) a large package arrived at our house 2 days later. Hubbo knew nothing about my emails at all so he was shocked when he saw the return address on the Fedex shipping tag. He was sputtering when he called me to tell me about it. He had no words. Inside was a hockey stick autographed by the team.

As I'm sure you can imagine, hubbo was elated and it was infectious. My girls caught the bug and now I live in a hockey house.

H is also for Hooray because with this post I am finally back on schedule for the ABC Along. Yay!