Last Saturday, I had the wonderful opportunity to introduce my grandkids to hockey. My son, Joshua, my two grandkids, Penny (7) and Oliver (almost 3), and I attended what was their first Tulsa Oilers game. Three generations of hockey fans, cheering on the local team.

For me, I’ve been a life-long fan of hockey. I grew up in Western New York, and my favorite teams were the Buffalo Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens. I watched every game on television that I could, but at times the Sabres games were only available on cable television, and we didn’t have cable TV. There was the occasional NBC NHL game of the week, but for the most part, I was able to watch a lot more Toronto Maple Leafs games than anything else.

The Maple Leafs games were broadcast on an over the air channel, CHCH-11 out of Hamilton, Ontario. We could pick up that station clearly with our roof antenna.

Often, I would go to bed at night with my transistor radio tuned to WGR am55, the Sabres flagship station in Buffalo, and I would listen to Ted Darling do the play-by-play. Little did I know back then, that later in life I would become friends with Darling and would actually get to visit with him many times, when he came to Jamestown for P.R. events, or in his broadcast booth at Memorial Auditorium.

My son became a big hockey fan when I was doing the Tulsa Oilers play-by-play in the early 1990s. Joshua was only two years old at the time, but he was able to attend many games, both home and on the road. There were times, especially for the games in Oklahoma City and Wichita, when I didn’t ride the bus with the team, but instead I drove, taking my wife and son along with me.

So, it was a real joy for both of us to share our love of hockey with his two children.

Penny seemed to enjoy the game but was understandably a bit distracted by everything around her at the BOK Center, including the screaming fans, the video board, and the music. Oliver was pretty much the same way, although he didn’t like the “Minute of Madness” when the fans all scream and rattle cow bells. The noise level was a bit much at that point.

I don’t know that either kid understood the game very much, but Penny did get the idea that each team was trying to put the little black puck in the other team’s net, and the goalie was trying his hardest to keep that from happening.

We were excited to be able to see a few goals before we left, however, Tulsa was trailing Lake Tahoe, 2-1 after two periods of play. That’s when we left, but the score remained the same to the end.

When we left, Penny asked, “Who won?”

“The game wasn’t over yet, but Tulsa was losing, 2-1,” Joshua explained.

“Why did we leave if it wasn’t over?” Penny asked.

“It’s late and it would be another hour before the game ended and you both need to get to bed,” Joshua said.

Penny understood and said she really enjoyed the game and wanted to go again. I’m sure if Oliver could talk, he would say the same thing. That makes me happy.

That’s how family memories are made.

TULSA BEACON RADIO

Tune in to “Tulsa Beacon Weekend” radio show every week, featuring interviews with local and national level guests, talking about everything from politics to family issues. My guests this week will be Brandon Tosti, the author of Bright Lights & Long Nights, and Mike Melega, president and general managers of the Tulsa Drillers. The show airs on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. CST on 970am KCFO.