We got up at 8am, and prepared for the early practice at Frisco. The boys were on the ice by 10.45am, so they were out early today. We got some great photos and even took some video footage - which we’re not posting online sorry guys - it’s for our personal usage only. We lined up to get the guys we’d missed on our jersey, and were there for a couple of hours. We were surprised that Zubie and Mike both came out the front. Mike signed a player card for me, which was nice. I’m not sure if he remembered me or not, but that’s okay. I have my memories and that’s all that matters. He was still pleasant, but I could see that he really didn’t want to be doing the line. He just wanted to go home. The guys had worked hard on the ice today.

Jere also came out and signed a rookie card for Sam and we got the elusive photo of Sam with his idol - I actually said to Jere, “If we don’t get one, I’ll never hear the end of it!” He just laughed. They smiled and posed, and thankfully I didn’t cut anyone’s head off otherwise I truly would not have heard the end of it all. Jere was truly a gentleman and a very sweet man. Completely underrated as a player as well. He certainly deserves more attention and credit than he receives!

Billy came out and walked the line too which was great. I think I surprised him, I certainly didn’t mean to, but when he came out, I exclaimed, “Billy!” like it was a surprise to see him, which it was, and he kindly signed my jersey. I also got Niklas Hagman, Dave Tippett (thanks to Mark in the PR department who went into the locker room to get it for me) and Mattias Tjarnqvist, and Willie Mitchell. Zubie came out with his hands full, said he’d come back but didn’t - bit of a disappointment - and both Jeremy Stevenson and Janne Niinimaa didn’t bother walking the line they just ducked out the front door. Jeremy I can understand - he had his son with him. Janne was just rude. A shame. So now we have 21 of the 24 we wanted. We saw Rob, and gave him an Aussie gift pack (complete with stuffed Kangaroo, shot glass, keyring [I said to him, “Everyone needs and Australian Keyring!” which made him laugh because I’d said that to Mike.], Caramello Koala, Violet Crumble and of course an Arnott’s Tim Tam. We told Rob that he had to get the team to start calling Jason “Tim Tam” and how we’d given Jason a box and told him that it was our nickname for him). He was like, “You didn’t have to do that!” and I said, “You’ve done so much for us. Now it might not be much in your eyes, but seriously we really appreciate it. This is a token of our appreciation.”

Anyway he went back to work and we continued to wait in the line. After we got Willie, we were done, so we walked to the car to go and get some lunch and Rob was outside for whatever reason. He called out to us and we wandered over and started chatting, and he invited us in and gave us more things to take home - a couple of t-shirts, some pucks, a mini stanley cup, a couple of Mike Posters, two hockey news magazines he’d read, three Stars lanyons, a Stars Russian Doll set, two hats…. and we sat around and talked to the guys in the PR department. Seriously, those guys are just the best. I ended up saying, “Guys, just go clean out your offices. Whatever you don’t want, we’ll take off you!” Rob also gave me an Andy Moog players card, and an autographed pennant by Moog too. He’s now our Goaltending coach, but used to be the Stars Goalie back in the 90s.

I can’t believe there’s only one game left before it’s all over! That makes me so sad. Even Rob commented that I looked a little depressed this afternoon, and I admitted that I got teary watching practice knowing that it was all coming to an end. I don’t want to go back to a lockout. I know what having access to hockey is like now and … man I tell you - you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. I seriously hope that everyone who has NHL hockey appreciates having access to it. Because it’s no freaking fun living so far away and without any access to it. It sucks. Big time!

Now, we’re at Dunn Bros Coffee, and tonight we’re off to Pappasitos for dinner with friends, on Ralph Strangis’ recommendation - apparently the Steak Fajitas are to die for. I’m hoping Chris can make it by then. He’s working late tonight but should be able to meet up at some point tonight. Rhonda is joining us for dinner, and I’m hoping that Jesse will be too. I love hanging out with them. They’re a ton of fun and always make me laugh. I’m going to miss them so much!

I love my friends here. I love Dallas. I love Texas. I love Stars Hockey.

And for once, I’m actually dreading going home.

~ Wendy

We got up at the ungodly hour of 5am, and were unbelieveably on the road to San An by 6am. Filling up with petrol, we then headed on I-35 South all the way to San An. Well… I fell alseep. I was still recovering from my flu… which I’ve now passed on to Sam and apparently Amber I so found out.

We got lost looking for Boerne, Amber’s town. It wouldn’t be us if we didn’t get lost! Anyway Amber drove up to the petrol station (or as they say here in Texas, the gas station) and we followed her back to her parents house. It was a gorgeous ranch style house, on a large plot of land. Amber has her own apartment attached to the main house, with her own lounge, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. Her older sister Maegan, and her daughter, live in a two-bedroom apartment about 15-20 meters behind the main house, and her younder sister Dielle lives in the pool house which has also been converted to an apartment. It’s a fantastic set up. They’re renovating the house, and it’s just beautiful. I loved it.

They have a menagerie of animals, about 4 dogs of all shapes and sizes, four cats, fish, and I’m sure there were more but I can’t remember. The three of us went to lunch at Martha’s, which was - according to Amber - an authentic Mexican restaurant. The salsa is to die for - and free with corn chips they make themselves. We got fajitas which were brilliant, and Amber ended up taking a doggie bag. Then back to her place to watch a few episodes of Buffy (we’re all big fans) before meeting Amber’s Mum, and her sister Dielle, and her neice Desi. Then came Maegan, and then Dielle’s best friend Jenna and her husband came over for dinner and then Amber’s Dad came home. We had homemade fried chicken, peas n corn and mashed potatoes for dinner. It was delicious. We sat around the dinner table and talked for hours before Sam and I had to leave at 9pm. We gave everyone hugs - and left a tube of Vegemite with Amber’s mum to use in her gravy.

During the drive home, we got pulled over by a state trooper in Austin. We didn’t see the speed limit had changed, and got clocked doing 72 mph in a 60 zone. Aparently the limit drops by 5 at night. Anyway the Trooper was really nice, and since we did everything right (turned off the car, stayed in it with our seatbelts on and Sam’s license and the car’s pink slips ready), he let us off with a warning. I think he realised that we weren’t used to the signage here. He even had a little chat to us and said he’d never seen an international drivers’ license before. We said we’d never seen an American one before, so he pulled out his license and showed us! We even had a brief discussion on flights and travel times and stuff. Anyway he said to be careful on the road and to keep our eyes on the signs to make sure we’re at the right speed. We thanked him and then Sam turned the car on and drove us off…. without the headlights on. *Palmsmack*

We got home in one piece at 2am.

~ Wendy

Still feeling like crap, I missed saying goodbye to Amber. We didn’t get back to the hotel on Sunday morning until 3am. I took a Nyquil and ended up sleeping in until midday! Amber had to drive back to San Antonio, so both she and Sam tried to wake me up for her to say goodbye but I was dead to the world. I felt ultra bad when I got up because I missed her, but we’re heading to San An. on Monday to spend the day with Amber and her family.

We had showers and headed over to Jesse’s place to carpool to the game. On the way, we were driving down the I-35 South and were just before Reunion Tower when the wind, which was really billowing outside, blew a red SUV that was ahead of us and two lanes over into the median strip and it spun out of control. It then rolled about four times, and landed on it’s roof right in our lane! Sam slammed on the breaks and we stopped about 4 metres away from the car. The lady inside managed to climb out and everyone was fine. There were plenty of people there and a couple had called 911, so we drove around and left as we were running late, but it seriously freaked us both out.

We got to Jesse’s and waited for Rhonda but she was running late due to the I30 being shutdown for some reason. By the time we were parked and walking towards the AAC, Rhonda was pulling into the parking lot so we waited for her and the four of us walked up to the AAC together! We got there just after the guys got onto the ice for warmups, so we stayed and watched the last ten minutes, and then Rhonda headed up to the nosebleeds, while Sam and I went to see Cindi and give her her giftbag before bugging Ralph. I told him I had a bone to pick with him, that he gave me his flu! He said it wasn’t his fault and not to blame him! I said I still loved him though. We wished them a good call and headed for our seats. Hungry, we bought some hotdogs (I love hotdogs!), and then headed for our seats.

Section 120, row F, seats 9 and 10. Guess who was in seat 9?! They were great seats actually, and for $110USD each, they should be! But the view was great for the goal end, though you can’t see anything on our side of the rink down the other end - you have to watch it on the Jumbotron. Still I liked them. The first was hard and furious, with two fights - one with Ott (Star) and Ritchie (Flame) and on with Perrott (Star) and Simon (Flame - who gave Mike a huge check in the second and deserved to have his face punched in… buggar!). Only the Flames scored in the first, so at the intermission we were 0-1. Mike got an interference call in the first that was totally bogus and the whole crowd was booing the refs. Seriously the officiating was utter crap in this game.

The second started well with a beautiful shorthanded goal by Niko Kapanen at 1.52 minutes, assisted by Niklas Hagman and Jon Klemm. It really was a special goal. For those not up on their hockey knowledge, a shorthanded goal means that the Stars had a player less than the Flames on the ice, in this instance 4 Stars players to 5 Flames as Mike was in the penalty box for tripping, another totally bogus call! Seriously, the guy dived! At 6.18 into the second, Mike Modano broke the Franchise record for Powerplay goals, and scored his 27th of the season to put the Stars ahead 2-1. His beautiful slapshot was assisted by Antti Miettinen and Sergei Zubov. It was so beautiful. I was jumping up and down and screaming my lungs out (coughing afterwards due to my flu but I didn’t care!). That just made my day! Unfortunately, about 30 seconds later, the Flames evened it up again 2-2. That put a little dampener on my spirits, until 7.15 in the second when Tim Tam - Jason Arnott scored a fantastic, and yet surprising, goal assisted by Stu Barnes and Brenden Morrow.

I didn’t have much of a voice left by the end of the second period. Luckily, no one scored in the third, but there were a few near fights with a number of unsportmanlike calls on both sides. The game finished, 3-2 and was now my favourite game of the ones that we’ve been to. The third period was hard, and physical. It was like a playoff game. The Flames are fighting to keep the lead of the Northwest Division, as they are on 86 pts tied with the Colorado Avalanche, and both Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks are on their tails with 84 pts each. The Flames are playing desperate and passionate hockey, so I was pleased to see the Stars were able to hold them off and take the win in regulation.

Afterwards, we ran up to catch Razor before he disappeared into the afternoon. Ralph was leaving as we got there and he said “I gotta go and do radio!” and we replied, “That’s okay, we’re here to see Razor!” With a grin, we all waved, and Sam and I waited patiently for Razor to finish what he was doing. Then we got him to sign our Ralph & Razor cards, before bidding him a good afternoon and disappearing to meet our friends outside the Old No 7.

We met up with Jesse, Rhonda, Jeff, Julie, Michelle, Jen, Karen, Cindi, Tatjana, Leni, Becky and her friend, and Nathan. We got a group photo out the front, then Julie, Jeff, Jesse, Sam, Rhonda and I went to Hooters for dinner. Yes, I’ve been to Hooters. Apparently they have good wings. We didn’t get the wings. We got their Grilled Chicken Caeser Salad, curly fries and tried the entree of Fried Pickles. It wasn’t the best Salad I’ve had, and the fries were too salty but I liked the Pickles. It was an experience I can now say I’ve had. I might also mention that not only were there a couple of Ice Girls there as well (not working, no), there were also kids running around the place. I can’t believe people take their kids to a restaurant/bar called Hooters. Go figure.

Jesse was playing at Dr Pepper StarCenter at Duncanville, so Rhonda, Sam and I went to meet up with Jose and watch Jesse play. The team he was subbing for was crap. Utter crap. Believe me, our C grade was better than they were. They had no defense. Jess did his best, stopping 35 shots at least, but they lost 5-1. Rhonda and I went into the Star Stuff Store to look around and the guy that worked there saw the autograph on the back of my authentic jersey and asked where I got it. I replied that I had a one-on-one with Mike Modano and he signed it for me. He asked how I got that, if I won it or something - I’m beginning to believe that hardly anyone gets that sort of time with Mike. I said that I had flown from Australia to see the Stars play and they’ve been very good to us so they set us up to have 5 minutes with Mike. The guy said he’d never met Mike but had heard he was a great guy. I said I have nothing but love for that man, and he’s a great guy.

After Jesse’s game, we went back to Jesse’s place and watched hockey. Well… Rhonda, Jess and Sam watched hockey. I fell asleep on Rhonda. Sam dragged me to the car, as we had to drive to San Antonio the next day. All in all… another great day in the wonderful state of Texas!

~ Wendy