Scott and I have had season tickets to our local minor league hockey team, The Grizzlies, for about 10 years now. Before that we used to go to as many games as we could fit in. I used to be a HUGE Grizzlies fan. I read all the stats, kept up on the players, and went to all the team events. Then we had kids, and I just didn’t have time to be such a dedicated fan. But we did take Emma to see Canada vs. Finland in the 2002 Olympics when she was only 5 days old!

I have always wanted to go on a road trip to see the Grizzlies play. We just never seemed to be able to work it out when they were playing one of the two closest teams: Las Vegas Thunder or the Idaho Steelheads. This year for the first round of the playoffs we played Las Vegas. We tried to see if we could go see on of the away games, but it just didn’t work out. When Utah beat Las Vegas in the first round we were scheduled to play the Idaho Steelheads. The first two games just happened to be in Boise, Idaho on Friday and Saturday night. We decided to pack up the kids and make the trek up there for the weekend.

The kids were thrilled to be staying in a hotel with a free breakfast buffet and a pool. They were not so thrilled about going to the hockey games. But once we got there they had a lot of fun. Our seats were right by the Steelheads booster club. They had face painting and sign making booths set up. The kids were thrilled with that part!

All of the Boise fans went out of their way to make us feel at home. I was a little worried about it, since I have never been to an arena where I was cheering for the other team. But they were all great. Especially the booster club members. Of course, the Grizzlies didn’t give the Idaho fans much to be mad about. They slaughtered us the first night 7 to 2. The second night it was a better game, but the Steelheads managed to score a goal in the last 2 minutes to win the game.

I am really glad that we decided to go. It was fun to see the Grizzlies on the road and fun to spend time together as a family. Maybe we will get to do it again next season. Now the Grizzlies have a tough road ahead of them in this best of 7 series!