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And no, I'm not talking about some dodgy film sequel starring Nicholas Cage and John Travolta, I am in fact referring to coincidental fact that I too went to a hockey game this weekend. I went to see the Nottingham Panthers play the Hull Stingrays. The score, sponsored by East Bay Rag, was 5-1 to the Panthers, the first two periods were a bit scrappy and there were a lot of mis-placed passes, however in the final period an almost completely different Panthers side came out and took control and scored three goals. There was an injury to one player, three pucks went into the crowd but no fights, although there were a couple of occasions where it looked as if it was going to kick off. I do hasten to add that I had arranged and bought the tickets before realising that our webmaster had just gone to a hockey game.

This was my third hockey game, my first being a proper NHL game where I saw the South Florida Panthers play Carolina Hurricanes, which was a much grander affair with video replays and ice dancer cheerleaders. My second game was a Peterborough Phantoms game, which was a re-arranged game after the first one was called off due to a hole in the ice. Peterborough is a lower league side, probably equivalent to the old division 4 in football, so everything is a bit tatty and small scale, but the atmosphere is fine and they won 6-3 and there was a punch up when I went to see them.

One thing I had forgotten, or maybe it was just more in your face at Nottingham, but everything is sponsored, the team, the period breaks, the helmets, the penalty boxes even the bloody air in the arena. So everytime there was a break in play not only did their young girl cheerleaders try and react to whichever random tune they played (I'm convinced that one of the girls on the middle row had just turned up to watch the game, but was given an outfit and told to join in, she was that far out of sync) but everything had it's sponsorship message read over and over again, even now I could tell you that the away penalty box was sponsored by PWP (not that I could tell you who or what they do). Another thing that has made across from the states is the over-sized replica jerseys, well they maybe over-sized for the majority of fans, but I guess for me and most of the American population, they are snug-fit.

That aside, hockey is a much more friendly and civilised spectating experience than football (soccer), you can take beer to your seat, there's a real mix of ages and genders in the crowd and you don't feel intimidated if it's your first visit. If you've never been, I highly recommend it.