How do you beat the heat? Road trip to see playoff hockey

An over-and-back road trip on a Monday night was pretty much an insane plan.

But such are the times we live in.

Mike Jones is the husband of my wife's cousin. His family loves hockey. Capital L. As much as fans do where you can play hockey outdoors in the winter. Which other than one week in February 2021, is not what we do in Texas.

He asked me at our family Thanksgiving last fall if I had ever been to a playoff hockey game? No, I had not. I had been to three hockey games in my life.

Well, he said, plan to go this season if the Dallas Stars make it.

The Stars were in the playoffs in 2020 but fans were not permitted. The team missed the playoffs last year.

So this was a big deal in Big D.

The Stars made the playoffs and Mike was true to his word: Wanna go to a game?

She's up for the trip

We had two options - Game 3 on Saturday vs. the Calgary Flames or Game 4 on Monday. Normally, that would be a no-brainer, but Saturday was a work night, with election results to secure. So it had to be Monday.

Which would mean a long day both at the office and at school Tuesday.

It was our daughter Aubrey, a high school senior, who wanted to go with me.

She saw her first hockey game just this year on a school trip. She loved it. The raucous crowd, the fast pace, meeting the Beer Popes and, she admitted, the fights.

Oh, and one other thing. His name is Tyler Seguin. He plays right wing.

He may be good, he may be an average player. But he is cute. Which matters in hockey, where some guys don't have all their teeth.

This also was a chance for some good dad-daughter time amid the busyness of dad's life and her final school days. She has a lot on her plate but this was an opportunity not to miss.

Thrillin' and chillin'

We talked most of the way on the drive over. About movies and also what we like to read. She surprised me by saying one of her favorite books was "A Thousand Splendid Suns " by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini, who also wrote "The Kite Runner."

Wow, that certainly tops the last book I read, a Jack Reacher novel titled "A Thousand Splendid Punches."

She also likes true crime, which I do, too, and she played for me an excerpt of a podcast about JonBenet Ramsey, the child beauty queen who was killed in her home in 1996. The case remains unsolved, and it fascinates her.

Aubrey also played music, and I again was pleased with her good taste and following dad's influences.

We were using her Bluetooth device, and sometimes, when we hit traffic at Weatherford, a nearby vehicle stole the song. It always was Tejano.

In Fort Worth, she decided I needed to listen to a little Pitbull, which actually made for good music for maneuvering in traffic. But suddenly, Mr. Bull was singing in Spanish.

Of course, his name is Armando Christian Pérez and his parents immigrated from Cuba. But it was funny to break from rap to a cumbia.

As it was when Bruno Mars also changed languages.

We wondered if the passing motorists were likewise being interrupted by us and wondering why an old white guy like me was jamming to Mr. Bull and Mr. Mars.

"I think you'd like each other," she said of me and Pitbull. We at least could talk about the best barbers.

She also is a fan of the rock band Greta Van Fleet, which features the higher pitch male vocals that were popular in the '70s and '80s. Like "Magic Power" by Triumph.

So I asked her to play "What's Up" by Four Non Blondes. These are four women, but the songs compare nicely. I think she added it to her playlist, another score for dad.

Jersey girl

Her other contribution to all this was making sure we downloaded our tickets and parking pass correctly into her wallet.

Dad still is old school and likes to print those, complaining at every event there is no ticket to present, be torn and kept as a keepsake. And proof I actually have seen the Pauls (McCartney, Overstreet, Rodgers and Simon) and Ringo and Robert Plant and Pink Floyd (twice) and Garth and all the others.

We were advised to bring a pullover, which was ludicrous on a day it was 103 degrees. But on hot days, Mike said the AC can be cranked up at the arena.

I wondered if this one event, with all the electricity it gobbled, would cause ERCOT to shut down.

On the scoreboard, fans were asked questions related to fire safety.

Such as, how do you put out Flames? Win four games.

We had great seats, not rink side, where you can't see, but at the edge of the second level, where you can see it all. Micah Parsons, the Dallas Cowboys defensive star, was sitting across from us. In a box, of course.

The energy was ramped up for the Stanley Cup playoffs and everyone wore Stars gear, mostly the team's green jersey. Some were for sale for more than $200.

Aubrey really wanted a jersey, and tried on a kid's large. It fit and cost only $80. She offered to pay half.

How could a dad refuse?

Can't win 'em all, Tyler

Alas, the Stars lost.

They gave up a goal during a two-player deficit due to penalties and another on a penalty shot. The goalkeeper played well, giving up only one good goal on 53 shots taken by Calgary, which is a lot in hockey. It means your offense isn't controlling the game. They call it puck possession. We didn't see much of that.

The last goal in a 4-1 loss was an open net in the final minute. Kind of like insult to injury.

All this did not sit well with Stars fans. The problem with hockey is that "puck" sounds like a few other choice words that cannot be printed here.

On the bright side, Seguin scored the Stars' only goal and dedicated it to Aubrey when he blew kisses her way.

Well, that is how it went out on social media.

Aubrey's job was to keep me awake on the way home. I woke her when I stopped for $4.19 gas — which arrived in Abilene the next day — and one of those fake coffee drinks.

I considered a Red Bull and more Pitbull, but while she slept again, I listened to classic pop, rock and soul.

On her playlist.

She woke again when we were back in the Big A.

The Stars didn't win, but I certainly did with a date with my daughter.

Tyler Seguin, you got shut down twice.

Greg Jaklewicz is editor of the Abilene Reporter-News and general columnist. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.

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This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: How do you beat the heat? Road trip to see playoff hockey