by Sarah Turcotte
So, you want to attend an Adirondack Thunder game. It’s not a question, it’s a statement. Even if you have never been to a sporting event once in your entire existence and you despise them, you want to go. Because that’s how I started out. And look where that led me–now in my free time I yell at five grown men to SHOOT THE PUCK. You can do the same, too. Allow me to explain how.
It all starts with picking a game. Fridays and Saturdays are usually the busiest, while Wednesdays and Sundays are typically more downbeat, so pick your poison. Also, if you would like the chances of Thunder winning to increase, pay attention to if the opposing team is higher in the league than them, though at the moment, that would be all of them.
Once you decide on the day, you must choose your seats. Now, this is a very important process. If you’re worried about having the puck flying out of play and hitting you, I would suggest sitting behind one of the goals, since there are nets up in place, lowering your chance of injury- though not reducing it to zero. If you would like to take a chance and sit on one of the sides, you do you. Though, I highly recommend staying clear of section O, unless you are very enthusiastic about insulting the other team, like the majority of the season ticket holders in that area. Ideally, get seats at the end of the row, so you don’t get trapped in the middle and awkwardly have to squeeze between people’s legs and the row in front of you. From my personal experience, I enjoy section E, either the first or fifth row, depending on my mood.
Now that you have tickets, you have to plan. For your outfit, wear whatever you want. Casual? That’s fine. Black and red? Even better. A jersey? Yes. A Viking helmet? Why not. SpongeBob mask? Go ahead. A banana costume? Of course. Anything goes here. Arrival time is something to keep in mind too. Puck drops at 7 p.m., or on Sundays at 3 p.m., but it’s best to get there early to get a good parking spot and watch the players practice, so probably around an hour before. Now, parking is kind of tricky since there really isn’t a designated place. But around Burger King, there are some spots where you just have to pay ten dollars. There is a ‘super secret’ parking lot though, behind the arena; there’s one parking lot that you have to pay for, but the next one is free.
It’s the day. Game day. You’re ready. You’re in your seat. Maybe you’ve grabbed a pretzel or popcorn. Now what? You watch. Though perhaps you’ve run into a small problem: all you see are a bunch of guys on blades gliding across frozen water with sticks in hand, trying to get a rubber disc past what seems like a brick wall. I will tell you, that it is essentially that. But, there is some reason to the madness. Allow me to explain.
For each team, there are three forwards, two defensemen, and a goalie. The forwards are offense, while the defensemen and goalie are, you guessed it, defense. Also, you may notice on the ice some zebras–those are the referees and linesmen, though as you’ll likely find out everyone just refers to them as ‘refs’ in the lovely chants that occur. They’re in charge of calling penalties, offside, breaks of the action brought to you by Jim’s Glass Service, and Queensbury Hotel icings (advertisements not paid in this post). Penalties are sometimes called when a player gets in trouble and has a timeout for typically two minutes, depending on the severity of their actions. Offside is confusing and complicated, so if you’re curious, Google exists. Breaks happen three times throughout the play to shovel snow off the ice and also to fulfill all the sponsorship contracts. Finally, icings occur when a player sends the puck over the red line and to the opposing team’s zone.
If you skipped over all that, I don’t blame you. And if you didn’t understand any of that, I still don’t blame you. With the fast-pace of the game and the energy from the crowd, it’s still enjoyable to watch even if you don’t know the rules. The more you watch, the more you understand, and perhaps you’ll even reach the point where you’re able to recite all the ads without a second thought, like yours truly. During it all, don’t be afraid to dance and follow along with the cheering and chants; just give in. You know you want to.
Congratulations, you now successfully know how to attend an Adirondack Thunder game and hopefully, you’ve already logged onto SeatGeek and purchased your seats or emailed Sean Driscoll and gotten season tickets. And no, unfortunately, I’m not getting paid to write this–I am in fact doing this of my own free will.
In all seriousness, it is a really fun time. The people there, from the spectators to the workers, are all fantastic and provide an excellent experience, despite how the team is playing. Going to these games opened up a lot of opportunities in my life that I never would’ve considered, including an internship along with future career options. It’s a good community to get involved in, with it all revolving around one thing: a love of hockey.
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