Monday debate: What made you a fan?

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I started watching hockey as a kid in Hartford with the Whalers in the early 80's I have been a fan ever since, when they moved to Raleigh, I tried to be a Rangers fan, which lasted all of about a week. i couldn't ditch the players I had grown to love, and I haven't looked back since. I now live in Kansas, and let me tell you, I am a rare breed out here. Not many hockey fans. I look forward to the season every year, play my NHL on the 360 and live breath and sleep Carolina Hurricanes

I was introduced to hockey when I moved to Grand Rapids, MI from Fort Lauderdale, FL. I was 12 at the time and had only known pro-football. My high school had a team and I was lucky to know some of the players who encouraged me to come to some games. I went to several and got hooked on the speed of play. Unfortunately, I didn't have anyone to "teach" me about it. It wasn't until I went to Michigan State that I was truly "introduced" to the sport by my future husband. He took me to my first college game, where we saw a young Rod Brind'Amour play. I started learning the rules of the game via the Detroit Redwings who were getting back into the playoffs with the help of a young Steve Yzerman. From Michigan, we moved to Norfolk, VA, where my interest held steady with the help of the Admirals. We were still there when the area was trying to get a NHL expansion team....the team was tenatively called the Hampton Roads Hippos!!!! Back to Detroit in late 1997 and the 'Wings championship in '98, followed by a move to North Carolina 18 months later. The Hurricanes were getting settled when we arrived in 1999. The 'Canes quickly became a big part of our lives. We attended multiple games every season, Caniac Carnivals and whatever special events we could attend. Our enjoyment of the game, and team, came in June 2006 when we saw the 'Canes win the Stanley Cup. We can't get enough of this team!! There is something special about their impact on both their fans and community. I know other NHL fans can say the same about their favorite team, which is great!! Maybe it's the sport as a whole, who knows. Whatever it is, I'm glad the sport and the Hurricanes are here with us.

Easy question: Game 5 of the ECQF vs. NJ in 2002

I grew up in the South, a huge sports fanatic- all sports but hockey, that is. A couple of years after moving back to NC, my brother & I attended our 1st hockey game. Neither of us were into hockey at all, but we always said we wanted to go sometime to check it out.

I could write a book about my experience that night, but to make a long story short, O tied the game up near the end of regulation, Weekes made the best series of saves in franchise history in OT, & Big Joe got the winner. I always tell people it was the best game ever to be my 1st hockey game. I bought a t-shirt at The Eye as we left the arena, & I stayed up most of the night learning the rules of the game, our players' names, numbers, & faces, & absolutely everything about the 1st 20 yrs. of Ron Francis' (my new favorite player) career that I missed due to sheer ignorance! I was hooked for life!

I grew up in Indiana and, like most Midwesterners, was a fan of just about every sport. At that time, hockey was something I'd watch when there was no football or basketball on - and quite a bit during the NHL playoffs. I didn't have a favorite team although I followed the Blackhawks a bit.
After moving to the Raleigh area in 1988, I started attending Icecaps games every winter and eventually got in the habit of attending their games at Dorton whenever I could. One of my best friends that I'd go to the games with grew up in Canada and played in the Junior leagues there, so he really helped build my knowledge and excitement for the game.
Now, I am one of the many Canes fans who just love the team and go to games whenever I can. If I'm not there, I'm watching on the hockey package at home, or someplace, on television. I'll watch the Canes rather than a local college basketball game, and I watch a lot more hockey in general than any other winter sport. If someone, years ago, had told me I'd be doing that - I would have told them they were nuts.
Hockey is a great game and maybe the only team sport left where honor and loyalty among teammates and throughout the team organization is still very important. The Canes exemplify that as well as or better than any other NHL team - that's why their fan base is expanding so well around here.
So Luke, what's your story?

My first "serious " relationship was with a High school hockey cheerleader. Left a lasting impression and bonded me to hockey.

I grew up in southern West Virginia and there was no hockey (that I knew of), so it was just football and basketball. Then, my senior year of high school, a friend had gotten into hockey and I'd go to her house after school to watch the Pens playoff games. That fall was my freshman year at Marshall (and though I love the Canes, my blood will always run Herd green) and it was also the first season for an ECHL team, the Blizzard, in Huntington. I saved up for season tickets and introduced friends from the dorm to the game. I also made friends, thanks to my love of hockey -- striking up conversations with other Pens fans, etc. After graduation, I stayed in West Virginia, but was downsized around January '99. As I considered where to go for work (and I was tired of winters, snow, ice and cold weather, so Charleston, W.Va., would be as far north as I'd go), an opportunity in Raleigh came up. As I said to co-workers, "Are you kidding? They're going to have an NHL team next year! Of course I'm going to Raleigh!" I'll admit, it took a couple of years for me to switch entirely from the Pens to the Canes, but I've gotten inked for the Canes, so I guess you could say I bleed a little red-and-black, too.

Long time Raleigh resident so when I heard of a pro team coming I was thrilled. I was somewhat a hockey fan as I read alot of stuff on hockey in the 1970s with my subscription to SI as a kid Would say my favorite team was the rangers but really did not keep up.

When the canes got here,, I worked so much (like 70 plus hours a week or more) I did not do anything but work. No newspapers, no local news, nothing. Just worked. So I missed the Greensboro games but kept saying "I need to go" When they move to the ESA, I would drive past the arena trying to get home for 3 hours of phone calls and would turn on the game on the radio and listen until I got home. Again, saying I need to go and support.
Family member bought a mini-pack in 2000 and went to my first game against the Avs I think. The minute I walked in, I was hooked. Went to a couple more games that year. Bought full season tickets the next year with family members so I had a reason to leave work. Been a STH since . Go to 35 plus games a year and now when I drive past the RBC and I don'thave tickets, I stop and buy the $10 ticket or if a good game, buy the $60 lower level ticket.

I'm one of those fans that isn't new to the sport. I've known hockey my entire life. I started walking at 9 months old and was wearing double ice blade boots before my first birthday. I, of course, don't remember wearing them. But my parents, who never found a photo they couldn't hold onto forever in the off chance they could bring it out to embarass me, have the evidence.

We lived in a suburb of Edmonton until I was 5 years old, at which point we moved back east. One of the first memories I still have as a kid is my parents taking me to Northland's to see Wayne Gretzky play. Everything is fuzzy that far back. But I remember that game as if it was yesterday.

When we moved back east, we had our own lake in the back of the house about 500 feet away. The kids from miles around would come over every winter day, and parents would shine their car lights onto the ice so we could play until late into the night. When there were no car lights, we played by moonlight. Around the time I was 10, we dug a water catch pond between the house and the lake, mostly to help the water table and our well. But it conveniently was dug large enough and only a couple feet deep to be a great mini rink that would freeze sooner in winter than the big lake did.

Various stints in organized leagues happened over the years, none of which gave the same thrill as being on the open ice of the lake and playing pick-up games for hours upon hours. When we weren't on the ice, we played road hockey. Too many stick blades were worn down to nothing by the asphalt.

I played all the other sports. I always came back to hockey. Nothing required the speed, grace, physicality, and skill quite like the game of hockey. The others were always just easier because you weren't doing things on skates. The ebb and flow of the game, the thrill of rushing down the wing and streaking in on the goalie, deking him out of his jock and having him frantically flailing at the puck as it went past him/her, the feeling of absolutely laying a guy out with a great check.... nothing matches that.... I played varsity volleyball and it wasn't even close to hockey....

When I moved to Raleigh, NC in 1998, one of the major contributing factors to the decision was the fact that there was an NHL team. I got to bookend my magical childhood memories of seeing Gretzky by seeing his last games in Greensboro as part of the Rangers. He wasn't the same player, but it was great just the same.

I went to as many games as possible given work conflicts for the first few years. I introduced dozens of people to the game, taught them all the intricacies of it. It wasn't until the 01/02 playoffs that I fully switched allegiances to the Hurricanes as my team. I was torn by the fact that we were the very kind of team I didn't like (trapping, clutching and grabbing to save our lives, incredibly conservative and defensive). But I got caught up in the emotion inside the arena. The lockout just about drove me nuts craving hockey. I had to have season tickets after going the whole year without.

The finals against the Oilers were a very conflicting time. I bled Oiler blue for so long growing up. I never got to see them win cups in person because we moved before that happened. I had to settle for watching on TV. I was torn, but I definitely had switched to being a Canes fan by this time. Standing at my seat for the entire Game 7, the butterflies as the seconds ticked down, and then seeing the raw emotion on Brindy's face as he put that silver above his head..... wow... it's still fresh... without question, the greatest sporting event moment I've ever witnessed.

When you see the game played the right way... and see the flow of that much speed and skill... it's hard not to get hooked... and if you also have played the game, it makes you that much more appreciative of what these guys can do on a thin blade of steel.

Despite being relatively new to the ranks of hockey fan-dom I can see why people all over the country (and world for that matter) have devoted their lives to both playing and cheering on those who do. I moved to Raleigh from Houston in 2005 which was the same year that I fell in love with hockey. I grew up loving football (especially high school) and college basketball but when I saw my very first hockey game during those amazing playoffs, everything else took a back seat. I was immediately hooked and have been ever since. Having the team win the Cup didn't hurt either but even if things had turned out differently I know that it wouldn't have mattered. The speed of the game, the amazing display of skill and the interesting back stories of everyone involved just add to why I am known among my friends as the hockey fanatic. Watching the games on TV and listening to them on the radio are made even more interesting by the announcers who in addition to being knowledgable are generally very funny. The information that they inject into the play-by-play is how I learned what I know about the game. But by far the most important step in my becoming a hockey fan was attending my first Hurricanes' game. It was the 2006-2007 season and they played the Pittsburgh Penguins. I was awed by the effort given on the ice and the fans' reactions in the stands and seeing such a fast paced game in person made me count down the days until I could go back. To this day I still get goosebumps when the lights go down and the team makes its entrance to the roar of the loudest fans in the NHL. Even though I attend school outside the state now, I am still always checking scores, trying to catch a game on the radio and marking my calendar with each nationally televised game so that I don't plan anything else for those 3 1/2 or 4 hours. The contagious energy surrounding the Cup win is what made me a fan and the players, the coaches, the announcers , the other fans and most importantly the game are what keep me as one. The first game of the season can't come soon enough for me!

I remember it well, it was a Thursday and father had just returned from a hard days work. Father was a mason and had settled into the family business at a young age when his father “pappy” died suddenly of dysentery. That left “mammy, my dad’s mom all on to tend to the family duties. My Father was only 12 but stepped into place as the breadwinner in the family as he had basically been an apprentice few a few years. Father always said that pappy told him he figured he only had another year or two left before he was ready to work on his own. With pappy’s passing father was thrust into his duties and married mother several years later. I was born a few harvests after they were married and then my little sister followed. We didn’t take to the family business as quickly as father had but we knew it was inevitable that it was the path laid out for us. I grew up always wanting to rope and tame broncos and my little sister wanted to dance the hooch. She was always incorrigible. She certainly got that from Mother who danced the hooch for father, which is how they met. One month later they wed, and eight months later I graced their home with my “ruckus” as mother used to call it. Anytime I was hungry or had severed a limb mother would tell to “knock off that ruckus!” Father would just laugh and give me a lollipop, which I later realized was a half smoked cigar on a toothpick. I didn’t know no better I was only four at the time. Needless to say we weren’t well off. We didn’t have all the fancy amenities that our neighbors had. We kept a modest home with the bare essentials food, clothing, and things we needed. I never much cared for moving a lot like most people do. In the middle of the night I’d awaken to Fathers shotgun blast outside and mother would grab a bag and shove my clothes into it telling me to “knock off that ruckus and help me pack!” She would always follow by telling me that “we gotta ‘git” that “Johnny Law” is after us again. I never met this “Johnny Law” but I always wanted to ask him why he’d make us move all the time. Once we’d settle into another barn, I assume of some relative, mother and father would calm me and my sister down reminding us that all families had to do this. I suppose she was right, and as I got older I would joke with her that I must’ave missed out on a year worth of sleep getting up in the middle of the night like we always had to do. I never understood that joke, but I’d tell it anyway. Mother would laugh and finish off her medicine. We were so poor she wasn’t able to afford quality medication from the doctor; she had to take off brands in bottles marked with X’s. There was this other brand she must have saved up for to cure her red-eye, as that was the name on the bottle, but it only seemed to make her eyes even MORE red! I’d joke with Mother about that too, but that medication gave mother reason to up and walk out of the house with the shotgun. Father would retrieve her several days later and she’d come home eyes just as red as ever. Life sure was tough back then, but I guess the 1980’s were tough for everybody. Father never seemed to get much masonry done as we were always moving, and as poor as we were we always seemed to have bags marked with “$$$” full of cash. One day I took me a whole dollar from the bag and made my way up to the corner store to get me a chocolate bar and some garbage pail kids cards. Mother and Father still don’t know about that day and I won’t ever tell them or anyone. The cash in the bags always made my fingers red, which is how they always new my little sister had helped herself to some. My little sister story is very funny. She would dance the hooch at night and sleep all day. She would be missing for weeks when we’d have to move in the middle of the night and we’d find her at work. Mother and Father called it work, but we never went inside. She would always be there to meet us when we pulled up to the curb. She likely was embarrassed about us visiting her as she would hurry us along telling us we were cutting into her business.

Well thats how it happened.

I was a casual fan till the 2002 run to the Finals. After that I've been "all the way in".

The players are also great. I've never experienced any ill will towards the fans. Most stop and will interact with the fans in a very friendly manner. Its awesome to shake hands,grab an autograph and ask a question of an on ice hero.

Finally - the atmosphere at the RBC is simply amazing ....I've been to sporting venues all over the country and the RBC has a unique atmosphere. Its not the biggest or most plush arena but overall - its hands down unmatched.

Great thread. I've enjoyed reading all of these, particularly the story about the Nelson Emerson classroom visit.
I've lived in NC my entire life, having grown up outside of Charlotte. The Charlotte Checkers were my introduction to hockey, but it was the Spring of 1996 (I was 11 years old at the time) when I truly became a fan. Multiple things happened in that time to spark my interest.
Near the 1996 NHL trade deadline, Wayne Gretzky was traded to the Blues. I didn't know a damn thing about hockey, but I knew two names: Wayne Gretzky and Brett Hull. I recognized the importance of them being teammates, and started reading about the NHL every day in the Observer and watching some games on ESPN. This culminated with two things that won me over for good, the first being attending a Checkers Riley Cup playoff game (the Checkers went on to win the title that year), and the second being the Detroit/St. Louis playoff series.
For the unfamiliar, the 96 Wings/Blues semifinal series went 7 games, ending with what may have been Steve Yzerman's most famous goal, a blast from the blue line in double overtime to send Detroit to the Conference Finals against Colorado. Now, this is the part where I hate to admit it, but during that series I became a Red Wings fan. Sergei Fedorov was my favorite athlete for many years.
From there it just got downright bizarre, because that very summer after I became a fan, the Whalers announced they were relocating from Hartford. I immediately became a fan, figuring that I would be okay since Detroit and Carolina were in opposite conferences. How surreal it was when Carolina signed Fedorov to that offer sheet during his holdout, and then just downright ridiculous to me when the Canes and Wings met in the 2002 Final. That was the end of my relationship with Detroit, as they broke my heart by beating my home team. Any lingering feelings for Fedorov were erased this past Spring when he came to Washington and had a hand in what was a sickening end of the season for us.
Since moving to Raleigh in 2003 to go to NC State I've embraced the Canes even more than before; being 3 hours closer really makes a huge difference.
One thing I can say without hesitation: When I first watched the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 1996, I never would have ever in a million years dreamed (and I still have trouble believing it) that I would witness in person my favorite team in NORTH CAROLINA winning a game 7 to hoist the Stanley Cup.

I was never much of a sports fan and could never really find out why people even liked sports. Other then watching an ocasional football game and the olympics I never liked sports. My mother used to tell me about how whe used to be a sabres fan, and tell me hoceky was fun, but I never watched it. I knew the Canes existed, but was never interested in them. I became a fan in the spring of 06, during the run to the playoffs. My brother's music teacher was a die-hard fan, so my brother decided to be a fan, and roped me into it. Although he couldn't explain it to me any better than I could to him, we watched game 1 of the conference semi finals when Cam Ward shut out the devils 6-0. We decided that Cam was our favorite player, and by the end of the game, we were Caniacs. Then I went online, and printed out a roster of the team, so I could memorize all the names and numbers, which I did overnight. I read all the storys in the N&O and learned all about Brind'Amour, Cam Ward, Eric Staal-- in the papers I still have to this day still waiting to be framed and put up on the wall in the Canes lounge. I faithfully watched the Canes and listened to them every game throughout the 06 playoffs, asking questions and learning tidbits of hockey knowledge from Chuck Kaiton. Then we beat buffalo, and I totally fell in love with the team, I guess it was my destiny to be a Canes fan. I often watch the videos of me and my brother jumping up and down screaming during game 7 of the stanely cup final. It was huge. Since I wanted to try the tricks I learned watching Erik Cole and Staal I cut down a few trees and made my own hockey sticks to play with. I've since gotten a few goals and more sticks and encourage the kids of the neighborhood to come over and play hockey in my yard every weekend. The summer of 06 was all hockey, including a road trip to Toronto to see the Hockey Hall of Fame. I then also started reading this blog, which I checked often and have since then. Eager to see the next season start, I saw all the games and went to my very first Hurricanes game. Since then, people will hardly ever see me out of a red shirt. I'm proud of my team, and really excited to get this season underway. Now, I could never imagine life without hockey.
GO CANES!!!!

I was born in Hartford and raised just outside the city in Wethersfield. My dad and I were season ticket holders for 16 years of mostly horrible hockey. We had the good (The Howe's, 86 Adams Division Champs) and we had the bad (Ronnie/Ulfie trade, Pronger and others arrested in a bar brawl in Buffalo when Pronger was only 19).

Overall if was usually a fun night at "The Mall."

We let our season tickets expire for the 1996-1997 season as I would be attending college in NC at Chowan College. Well, in October of my Freshman year, the Whale announced they were moving. Most everyone thought it would be the airplane hanger in Colombus, but it turned out to be Raleigh.

I attended the first game in Greensboro. Some frieds from NY and NJ I went to college with came with me. We all laughed when we got there and the place was empty and surely the emptiest arena I had ever sat in. I never thought it would be successful.

After graduation in 2000, I moved to Rocky Mount and attended 10-20 games per season and this past October I moved to Raleigh.

Well, here we are, 11 years later and I would consider Raleigh a great NHL city. Yes, it would be better if the arena were downtown, but we are becoming know for the rabid fanbase. Players play here and retire here, Sports networks love to broadcast from here because the weather is gorgeous come playoff time.

Although I still wish Hartford had a team (because no matter what Ponytail Pete says, there was MAJOR support), I am very happy to call Raleigh my home and support my hometown Canes!

A child of the 60's, I grew up about 30 miles west of Boston so I was a Bruins fan in the days of Orr, Esposito, etc. We watched the games on a local UHF station out of Boston, and on the nights reception was really good we could actually see the puck! Those great years of Bruins hockey instilled a love of the game that surpassed all other sports.

Sadly, life took me to Alabama, Ohio (before the Jackets), Kansas and Colorado (before the Avs) so my interest in hockey waned.

We moved to Raleigh in 1989, and it was like a dream come true when the Whalers announced their move to Raleigh. My love for the game, which had been smoldering at best was reignited. Hockey in Raleigh, NC; who would have thought it!

The high point of my years in Raleigh was attending Game 7 of the ‘06 finals and seeing Rod and Glen and co. hoist the cup. It is one of those priceless memories that will live in my heart as long as I draw breath on this earth.

While still a diehard Red Sox fan, my heart lives and bleeds Hurricanes red and black. Hockey is the greatest game on earth and it is such a privilege to have an NHL team here. ClaytonCaniac4life, I totally agree that we fans need to be the ambassadors of hockey here, endeavoring to impart our love for the game to those who have never had the chance to enjoy it.

I disagree with all those comments, they are just wrong!

Just try and debate me on that!

I have been watching the great game of hockey for about 50 years now. I grew up in Plattsburgh N.Y. and watched Hockey Night in Canada. For those who remember the voices of Danny Gallivan for the Habs and Foster Hewitt for the Leafs still resonate in the ears. I was a Chicago fan at first, until my mom showed me the error of my ways (moms can do that you know)!! Watching the likes of Beliveau, the Richard brothers, J.C. Tremblay, John Ferguson and on and on was a special thing. We would get to one game a year at the original Forum, when the games started at 8. Talk about feeling great. Seeing your favorite players was a thrill of a lifetime. Moving here 14 years ago and not having an NHL team was hard. The Ice Caps were fun, but not like watching the big time teams. I got season tickets the 'Canes 2nd year in Greensboro (boy do I miss that drive) and have had them ever since. I went from 2 full season to 2 full season and 2 half season to 4 full season tickets. I have had the opportunity to give people tickets to games and get them hooked on the game. Needless to say when we won the cup I was in shock. Not that we won, but seeing it up close and reading the names on it was a thrill that can't be described. Let's do it again and really annoy those who think the area doesn't deserve a team.

I remember it clearly. I was watching the evening news one spring evening in 2002 and heard 'the Carolina Hurricanes are going to the Stanley Cup finals against the Detroit Red Wings.' I'd never watched an NHL game start to finish in my life at that point. But even I knew how important those words were--"Carolina Hurricanes," Stanley Cup finals," and "Detroit Red Wings." I started watching the games on TV, got completely hooked by the skill/speed/strength/grace of the game. Now, I'm a STH.

To say my knowledge of and love for hockey has exploded in these 6 short years is a gross understatement.

I had never been to a hockey game, nor did i know anything about hockey, when a guy asked me out and said he was a season ticket holder.... he asked if i'd like to go to a game. The reason i had never gone was because i just couldn't justify the cost of the ticket, seemed like a lot of money for a game! So i went..... that was the first playoff game of the Stanley cup run in 2006. And needless to say, I kept going with him until the very end. Although we're not together any more, I made some sacrifices and scraped up the money and have become a full season ticket holder, sitting third row. I haven't missed a game......and don't plan on ever missing one. I think if i were in a coma, they'd have to have the game playing in the background!! LOL. 41 days until the first game...........not that i'm counting.

Born and raised in Chatham county, I grew up a huge fan of Tarheel basketball, major league baseball and the Washington Redskins. My first real exposure to hockey was the amazing run to the gold by the US in the 1980 Olympics, but that interest soon faded.

After moving back to Raleigh from Charlotte, my wife and I did attend a few Icecaps games with friends. The game was great, but due to lack of air conditioning in Dorton Arena, it was often difficult to follow the action through the fog coming off the ice. So we once again lost interest.

Finally, I did begin to follow the Canes when they moved to Raleigh, but didn't actually attend a game. I did enjoy listening to the Canes players who visited with Chopper on his morning show on 96 Rock. Chopper's enthusiasm, and the down to earth attitude of the guest players got me to following the Canes in the paper and the occasional game on TV. But the 2001 playoff series against the Devils is what really made me a fan of the Canes and the NHL. Watching their valiant comeback effort under the leadership of Brind'Amour after losing Shane Willis and Ronnie Francis really hit a strong chord in my heart for the Canes. And watching the crowd give the players a standing ovation in the final game literally brought a tear to my eyes.

When the Canes had their big ticket drive leading into the 2001-02 season I decided to buy two season tickets for my wife and me to use, as well as to share with our employees as a perk. After the first month of the season my wife, a total non sports person, fell in love with the game and the players as quickly as I did. There's just nothing like watching hockey in person to get you hooked. Unfortunately for our employees, the use of the tickets became a rare occurrence. After the joy and disappointment of the run to the finals, we added two more seats for the following season. We have been faithful fans, seldom missing a game ever since. The thrill of being in the RBC to watch our boys raise the cup on the night of our 24th wedding anniversary is one of my life's greatest moments (no disrespect to my wife), and certainly the greatest sports moment I can remember. I can say with certainty that we'll be fans for life. I can't wait for this season to start so I can get my fix in after this much too long summer.

Unlike most fans, there wasn't a single defining moment for me where i became the rabid canes fan i am today. i am a crazy sports nut, but all teams that i pull for became that way over a period of time. the canes are no exception.. i moved here in 99 from chicago when the canes were playing their first season in the ESA. i attended a few games those first two seasons, and watched a few on tv (we didnt have 60+ games on FSS like we do now!) and while i was interested, i didnt feel any connection yet.. fast forward to the '02 cup run.. watching an underdog 3 seed with 35 wins topple the devils, the maple leafs.. and that game 1 win against detroit, i got very excited about the team. i continued to follow the team through the next 3 years through bad times, went to several games, organized group outings and bought my first pieces of canes gear. then, i knew we had something special going as early as october in the 05/06 season, and i was officially hooked. that season was so special and probably produced a ton of first time fans, but for me that season was sort of my little push over the edge from fan to super fan. in 07/08 i went to more games than i ever have (16) and plan to go to at least that many for the upcoming season. go canes!