Hershey is way better than chocolate

In making plans to move to Florida from New Hampshire, we knew we'd spend the first night in Chocolatetown, U.S.A., otherwise known as Hershey, Penn. What we didn't plan on, though, was that the Portland Pirates would be playing a pivotal Game 7 against the Hershey Bears in the Eastern Conference finals for the Calder Cup. We decided to attend.

We ordered our tickets somewhere along a New Jersey highway, when I was able to finally get through to the Bears' ticket office. After quickly checking in to our hotel, we made it to the Giant Arena, the Bears' home barn, just in time for the opening faceoff.

After the Pirates scored, I soon found myself jousting verbally with Bears fans near us. Foolishly, they thought I'd back down, but I had no problems taking on the 8,200-plus in attendance.

My goal, that night, was simple. If I could get people yelling at me, at least in one section of the arena, at least they wouldn't boo the Pirates. Egotistical as it may sound, I held my own -- giving back as good as I got, maybe even a little better.

Ultimately, this emotion-packed game ended in a tie, forcing sudden-death overtime. Fans were hoarse and drained, but not nearly as much as the players. I mean, what more could you ask for? It was Game 7, the winner heading to the Calder Cup finals. It was pure hockey heaven.

Early on in OT, Portland's Ryan Getzlaf missed a great scoring opportunity. Minutes later, the Bears won the game, and the right to meet, and later defeat, the Milwaukee Admirals for the Calder Cup, on Eric Fehr's laser from the top of the right faceoff circle.

And as I fully expected to have heapings of humble pie rocketed toward me, something weird happened. Most of the very same fans, who only moments earlier had despised me, were offering their hands and best wishes. I easily returned the favor.

We had just witnessed a thrilling game, perhaps the best that any of us would ever see. I'm sure their reaction was filtered through the Bears' victory, but I'm also pretty certain that they realized that the Pirates, as well as one large, vocal Portland fan, were worthy opponents. Hockey fans, I believe, are one big family.

P.S.: For the record, we did score some autographs from the Hershey players, including Fehr, who happily added a Game 7 game winner notation to Colin's mini goalie stick (shown above). And, no, I wasn't being a hypocrite. After the change of NHL club affiliations, Hershey's 2005-06 Bears had been Portland's 2004-05 Pirates.