Best Birthday Present EVER

I always worry that when I buy a present for anyone in my life, it’s not going to be good enough or they aren’t going to like it. Fortunately, I didn’t feel this way when I handed my brother his birthday present on Thursday.

My entire family loves ice hockey. My brother has played for close to 20 years and my dad coached for many of those years. My dad also worked for the Cedar Rapids Roughriders, the local USHL team, for 13 years before retiring this year. My mom was quickly introduced to the hockey lifestyle by her husband and very talented son. I was introduced for the same reasons. I learned to count by the numbers on hockey jerseys and I am proud to say I have about 20 non-biological brothers because of hockey. It’s because of my family’s love for hockey that I knew I couldn’t go wrong with this birthday present for Jake.

I have always wanted to attend an NHL hockey game and I knew if I was going to go, I wanted to see my favorite team play. Luckily, my favorite team just so happens to be the favorite of my dad, brother, and mom (kind of by association.) Not so luckily, the NHL was in a lockout for over half of the season. It was just a few weeks ago that the lockout ended and game play resumed. As soon as I found this out, I started looking at tickets to see the Chicago Blackhawks play. I checked games against rivals first; Detroit Red Wings, Vancouver Canucks. Then games against teams I thought my brother would also want to see; Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild. At the same time, I had to pay attention to the date of the game. Weekday games were out of the running unless they fell on a week of a break. If I found a game that fit the criteria, entertaining (good opponent), close to home, weekend game, I checked in to tickets. Unfortunately, most games had tickets for standing room only…….

BUT!

I came across a game that pleased my parents and me in terms of seats, price, date, and team. Of course I couldn’t ask my brother since the ticket were his gift so I hoped with every fiber of my being that he would like them. Thankfully, he did! He opened his card from me at dinner and slowly unfolded the proof of purchase. He immediately raised his hands in excitement and yelled “YEEEEESSSSSSS!” in the restaurant. He was beyond happy to know he was going to see the Chicago Blackhawks play against the St. Louis Blues in St. Louis and I was beyond happy to know I made him happy and chose the right gift. (460)