MY TRIP TO SEE PETER SKUDRA PLAY
The NHL city I live nearest to is Buffalo--home of the Sabres. Checking out the Sabres calender I picked up at my local HSBC bank, I noticed the Sabres were hosting the Vancouver Canucks on January 8th.
"Ooh," I said in my brain. "It would be nice to go to that game, and maybe see Peter Skudra play."
Being poor, I couldn't get tickets to the game myself. I was bumming. Then, my girlfriend came out of the blue and got me tickets as a gift. Knowing my enjoyment of the goaltending stylings of Peter Skudra, she knew I'd enjoy seeing the game. I'd have to rank it as one of the most fantastic gifts I have ever received.
In the days leading up to the game, I was still just hoping Skudra would play. I had a good feeling he would play, as the Buffalo game came on the eve of a conference battle with the Detroit Red Wings. I assumed the Canucks would start Peter in the less important Sabre game, resting Dan Cloutier for the Red Wing game.
On the night before the game, I came home to check my posting on the message board of the Canucks website. I had asked if anyone in the Vancouver area had heard anything about who would start in goal against Buffalo. Much to my surprise and delight, they said Dan Cloutier had taken a leave of absence from the team, and Peter Skudra would start in the game I would be attending. For verification, I found this news story about Cloutier leaving the team.
The time finally came to go to the game, and it was great! While Peter was unable to get revenge against his former team, losing 3-2, it was still quite an experience.
I took some pictures of Peter from my nosebleed seats, and they turned out pretty horribly. Alas.
Here are a couple of other spiffy pictures from the evening, though:
Me ready to go to the game
Skudra making a save on Miro Satan (AP)
My ticket stub, which I used to get within shouting distance of Skudra
Back to Skudra's 2001-02 appearances
Back to main Peter Skudra page