Last Thursday morning, and interesting part of the morning radio show banter caught my attention. I could have sworn I heard that the Calgary Roughnecks were giving away tickets to their Friday night tilt against the Portland LumberJax. Being unsure if I heard this right, after all, it was pretty damn early, I sought confirmation from the TicketMaster website. Sure enough, they were being sold for a buck each. No area seating restriction.
I hopped on it. I scooped up three tickets. Lower rows of the second tier. Damn good seats.
I'm surprised I've never attended a Roughnecks game sooner, after all, lacrosse was my favourite sport as a kid. I played major midget and junior lacrosse in Calgary and BC. I was totally into it. I even got my oldest boy into lacrosse, his first season will commence in 3 weeks when try-outs begin. But that's all water under the bridge, because I had my Roughnecks tickets in hand. It was going to be me, my boy, and his buddy.
We sat down in our seats just as the intros were being made. What initially struck me was just how professional it was. There was a big oil derrick the players ran through upon being introduced. When the last player came onto the floor, the derrick was set alight with fireworks and spotlights, big explosions, the whole bit. Wow! The "Enmax Energy Board" was also was in heavy use, showing us Roughnecks highlights and more player intros. The combination of the fireworks and the JumboTron got the crowd severely riled up.
When the game started, the music did not stop. Thumping energy music is played while the game is in progress, totally unlike hockey. I thought this was a little odd at first, but soon bought in. It's a great idea, sure beats that lull of silence when the other team scores, eh?
The announcer was also very un-NHL like. I caught on to a few "traditions" with these Roughnecks home games. When the opposing team gets dinged with a penalty, the announcer says something like, "Number 44, Peter Morgan, go to the penalty box, sit down and ___" then the crowd in unison thunders "SHUT UP!!" Another funny bit was when there was a fight. "Penalty to Roughnecks number 17 Ryan McNish, a five minute major for opening a big can of whoop-ass. Portland penalty to number 71, Trevor Smith, five minutes for taking it!" Naturally, this stokes the crowd. At this point, the boys were really into it, leaping to their feet for each goal or amazing play. The teenage girls in front got a giggle out of the boys' collective energy.
All in all, what I saw totally exceeded my expectations. I was expecting WHL, but it was more like NFL. The play was intense, the battles for the ball were vicious, there were plenty of spectacular plays. The players played the game like their very lives depended on it. You can just tell that everyone from the owner, all the way down to the equipment guy, puts 1000% into the product.
The attendance for the game was 18,700. Many of these attendees were benefactors of the Roughnecks free ticket offer, but what a brilliant idea. I'm just one person, but I can tell you that I definitely WILL be back for multiple games by season's end. I'm pretty sure the price ranges from the low twenties to the low fifties for tickets, but they are freaking worth it.
Anybody else wanna go?
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