I feel like HOCKEY tonight!

It has been four months and nine days since the last time the Saint John Sea Dogs played a game at Harbour Station. And for this hockey fan, those 131 days have been long!

I'm not the sort of hockey fan who can quote stats and predict which team will win the Cup. I'm not even the sort of fan who really knows exactly what's going on all of the time. I'm the sort of fan who stands behind her local team and cheers them on simply because it's in her Canadian blood!

There are other reasons, of course. The fact that the players in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (AKA "The Q" for obvious reasons) are the same age as my students (and sometimes are my students) means that I'm going to cheer them on with all the fervor of a hockey mom. The Sea Dogs that I've had in class over the years, almost without exception, have been a delight to teach, and it's very easy to root for them to achieve success.

Will we go "all the way" this year? Who knows. Everyone said that this upcoming year was supposed to be Our Year, and look how well we did last year. Tonight's game doesn't even count -- it's an exhibition game, as was the one they just played where they beat the same team they play tonight. But it'll be so good to be back in our seats again, waving the big blue foam hand and leaving the place a little hoarse.

Yes, folks. To quote Stompin' Tom Connors, "It's hockey night tonight!"