Ride of a Lifetime

One of James’ fondest memories of childhood was attending L.A. Kings games with his dad at The Forum. His dad had season tickets, and introduced him to a sport that he grew to love (slash obsess over) through life. When I met him, he was happy that our team preferences lined up pretty well. We both rooted for the Kings, the Lakers, and UCLA. 

We try to go to as many Kings games as possible, and want to share the same experience and love for the game with our boys.  But trying to take very small kids downtown to the Staples Center is a daunting task (I applaud all of you that have done it,) and the costs add up. Here comes the hockey talk….Last year The Kings invested into a part ownership of an affiliate team in the AHL, the Manchester Monarchs which became the Ontario Reign. Essentially, the AHL is the minor league of the NHL.  

James bought a ticket package so we could go see up and coming hockey players, take the kiddos, and not break the bank.  RIGHT after buying the package, I came up with an idea.  Obviously James loves hockey, and I HAD to have something hockey in the forty days.  I began to gently email the sales guy who sold us the package about an idea I had.  At first, shot down, but I persisted.  We made plans with James’ brother and his wife to attend the game together.  The stars aligned…our sales guy wrote me back (possibly after another desperate email.) James was going to ride the Zamboni between the second and third periods. He has always wanted to ride the Zamboni, and it happened. My phone took better videos, but here’s a shot of James’ ride. Also… big thanks to The Ontario Reign for being awesome.