Your first time is something you dream about long before it happens. You get psyched up and you want everything to be perfect. Everything will be new and it’s unchartered territory for you. You may be a bit apprehensive because you don’t know for sure how everything works, but how hard can it really be? You get a rush of adrenaline when you’re getting close. It’s almost time.

First hockey away game. What did you think I was talking about? Perv.

My first hockey away game was definitely a mixed bag. I was pretty stoked to be going back to Colorado (where I went to college) to see my Phoenix Coyotes play the Colorado Avalanche. In any other year, this matchup would be pretty lackluster, but both teams are the Cinderellas of the season so far. The flight in was good, rental car and hotel were easy, and getting to the arena was cake so the stressful travel part was good! That was the part I was actually worried about because, how can a hockey game go badly? I love hockey.  It is my home away from home.

The game went badly.

It didn’t start that way.  I went down the to glass for warmups. This other Coyotes fan and I were literally the only ones at our end on the glass. My favorite player skates out and recognizes me… score! He reads my sign… score! He flips me a puck… score! Things are going swimmingly. The Pepsi Center seems like a cool place to watch hockey.  My seats are right behind the Coyotes bench.

Now, I guess I didn’t really think about fan ettiquette.  We have had quite a few douchebag fans come to see their team play in Phoenix. Sometimes the opposing fans almost outnumber our own.  I figure, they paid money and we need money so they get to be a fan, same as me. Yes, I roll my eyes, but for the most part I (and everyone else) leave them alone. The fights that happened in Phoenix during the Boston Bruins game were all between Boston fans.

I wore my one of my jerseys. I made signs, but I only showed them during warmups. I only yelled for some of our players 1-2 times per period (down from 20 times per period when we are home). I was being a pretty considerate road fan.

Now with travel, accommodations and game tickets, I shelled out a pretty reasonable $400-$500ish for my road experience. The two idiots next to me managed to ruin it with about $30 a piece in beer and I’m pretty sure they pre-drank before the game as well.

First shift of the game, my player gets high sticked to the face and is cut/bleeding. He comes and sits literally in front of me and gets worked on by the trainer. Badness. The idiot twins see the back of my jersey and his jersey and it was a field day for the rest of the game with the inappropriateness. They showed their idiocy when they said that leaving Winnepeg was the best thing that happened to the Coyotes and that Winnepeg had nothing going on in it. Really? Winnepeg loves hockey. They also thought that Gretzky leaving as coach was horrible for our team because he was such a good influence on the players. Really? The Coyotes are 10-7 and fifth in the Western Conference. The players seem to be doing just fine.

They didn’t just harass me, they yelled stupid things through to glass at the Coyotes bench. The players can deal. They yelled stupid things at Dave Tippett. He can deal. But when you mess with Coyotes assistant coaches… you’ve gone too far. So I have a smart and witty retort that apparently goes over their intoxicated heads. Then they get mad at me. They got verbally aggressive to the point that the very tall (and nice, and polite) Avs fan on the other side of me told them that if they didn’t leave me alone that he was going to have a problem with them.

And all of this was happening while my team was getting it’s butt handed to them. I can’t imagine how it would have been if I actually had something to cheer about. I thought about leaving early, but I will never leave the game while there is time left on the clock.

It will be quite a while before I shell out the cash to go into enemy territory again. I guess that’s the problem with having great expectations. A lot of the time, it’s too hard to live up to.

NHL fans:  Come to a hockey game in Phoenix. Our arena is beautiful, our weather is great, and hopefully our fans will not ruin your experience. The only reason you’ll be sad is because the Phoenix Coyotes will beat your team.

Thanks for stopping by idiot twins. You give Colorado Avalanche fans and hockey fans a bad name.

Veronica Corningstone

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