The red carpets are rolled up and the season is in full swing. It's easy to assume that home openers, giveaways, and debuts are the most exciting times to attend a hockey game live, in person.
The truth is, warmups are the best part.
It's the moment of anticipation - possibly the best part of anything. Also the time when you can bring your poster down to the glass. Reach your hand out to the players in hopes they'll reach back, or even crack the corner of a smile. Connect to the chilly, buzzing energy of a stadium on the brink of action.
Warmups are the reality of what it means to play; a window into the vulnerability of players wrapping their bodies in padding, tape, and colors that we all cling to together. We're all investing pride in the stripes on their arms and the pictures on their chests. And they're watching us, too. Measuring the number of fans .vs foes surrounding the ice. They look for their names on other people's backs and their own families beaming; grinning babies in earmuffs.
Without the choreography of play on the clock we get to watch the rituals and the nerves. The guys who are locked in and the ones who are burning off the jitters. Goalies... probably pouring an entire bottle of water on their head for some reason.
If it sounds like magic, that's because it is. If you've bothered to buy a ticket to a hockey game the start time is earlier than you think. Don't miss warmies. Feel it. Dance along to the hype music. Toast your beer with the person next to you. Be there.