pwhl bell center takeover!!

so. we all know my time management skills are less than ideal, but this time that wasn't even what happened, i SWEARRRR. basically, i got tickets for the montreal victoire vs the boston fleet - specifically, the game that was going to be in the bell center, which is one of the biggest hockey rinks in the world. it has a capacity of 21,000 (ish), and i'd never watched a game there before!

i got the tickets way in advance, planned everything out, invited a friend (shoutout sophia!), perfect. then, during reading week, my dad and i are checking the schedule for the pwhl to see when the next game is, as one does. he points out the montreal vs boston game on march 1st. 

i say, "oh yeah, i'm going to that one!" 

he says, "on march first?"

i check the calendar. it is wednesday, february 26th. march 1st is saturday. i had not necessarily planned on going back to montreal before then. 

i say "...yeah," (sheepishly, of course). my dad sighs. we will have to drive back before the game.

he asks what time the game's at. i say it's at 7 pm. we decide to drive back the day before (friday) anyway.

in typical julia fashion, i stay up too late on friday night (on the phone with my girlfriend) and wake up at noon-ish. i take my time, end up getting dressed and calling my dad around one. he mentions the game. i scroll on instagram. the victoire are posting walk-in fits of their players.

i think, "that's weird - why are the players walking in if the game is at 7? it's way too early for that."

i check the schedule. the game is, in fact, at 2 pm. 

i have no idea how i messed that up.

i get ready as quickly as physically possible, grab my headphones, and hop on a bus. i make it there at 1:50 ish, just in time to find my seat and sit down for the opening faceoff. 

perfect timing.

anyway, the game was incredible. here are some pictures i took!

taken on my way from the metro to the arena - i was very stressed about potentially being late, but very excited.

the crowd was insane. it was almost a sellout, but not quite - 17,324 people, which is still a crazy amount. they were so loud during the player introductions that you could feel the vibrations in the floor.

i was up in the nosebleeds, but still had a great view!

victoire win, as it should be. i am every single boston hockey team's #1 hater. the game went to overtime, which stressed me out, but then laura stacey scored to win it for montreal, and i LOVE laura stacey.

yes, that is THE laura stacey, the queen of one-timers, the overtime hero, on the left, with her hand on my shoulder. on the right is her wife, marie-philip poulin, the goat of women's hockey. and in the middle is cayla barnes, rookie defender for the victoire. i just had to bring this picture back so i could flex - it's from the start of the school year but remains my claim to fame.

took this picture outside of the arena as i left!  it was cool to see the pwhl branding on the nhl building.

anyways! moral of the story - triple check everything, kids. i genuinely think i would've cried for days if i had missed that game. BUT I DIDNT!!! a win is a win.