My buddy John Michael Liles plays for the Colorado Avalanche. JM and I were in the same class at Michigan State and have remained really close friends along with Brad Fast (also a MSU hockey alum). Brad made John and I co-bestmen in his wedding and we are even the co-godfathers of his son Riley. So when the Avs rolled into town for last night's game we made the trek to Detroit for game one with my buddies Aaron Hundt and Lucas Drake; Brad brought his wife, Lindsay and little Riley along.

The game was about to start and I had to have a Little Caesar’s pizza and a beer. Been a while since I was a spectator at Joe Louis Arena so I decided to do it right. After I stood through the national anthem with an entire pizza in my hand the game was underway. My godson Riley is 19 months old (give or take?)... So it was a lot of fun watching him watch hockey. He was pointing and cheering “goal” no matter what team scored. I had to take a lot of time away from watching to give him head-butts. I don’t know why, but he thinks it is hilarious to bonk heads.

I am a pretty calm hockey fan and I love to watch how the game adapts. I also bug the hell out of the person next to me by talking systems. The Red Wings were all over the Avs in the first period. They pressed hard and the Avs seemed to want to carry the puck through the neutral zone a lot. Not something you want to do against the Wings. They always seem to have three men back as a safety for there first two attackers, so the middle of the ice is pretty clogged up. Avalanche turnovers kept them from getting anything going.

The second period started pretty much the same way but the Avs seemed to be getting back to basics. Although the Wings had chased Jose Theodore, the Avs were very much in the game after John Michael ripped a slap shot by Chris Osgood. That was a great moment for us being able to see John score in the playoffs. I jumped out of my seat and got a few dirty looks from the Red Wing faithful, but hey, a friend doesn’t score in the playoffs every day. I thought John had a very strong showing and could have had a few more points and even a close call late in the dying seconds of the game.

The Avs started to grind a little more and play safer in the neutral zone in the third period. That change really gave them some life but it wasn’t enough. They dug too deep of a hole early in the game. I think that period will give them some confidence moving on to game 2 and the series should be fun to watch.

This is still way too early for me to be watching hockey in the stands. I really hope I am busier come spring time for the next 10 years... But it was a good night supporting a friend and hanging with people close to me.

Tune in to Stretch on Maxim Radio on Sirius Satellite Radio each Wednesday morning at 11am ET for NHL All-Star goalie Ryan Miller's weekly Stanley Cup Playoffs report.

 

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