Today was every Oiler fan's dream day! It was Meet and Greet with the Oilers at Rexal Place and my mom and dad gave us 2 tickets to go. Dave's knee was still sore, so being the great mom that I am ;) I took Ben to meet his favorite Oilers. I wasn't too sure how it was going to work or how many people would be there, but I didn't think it would be as busy as it was! It was only open to Season ticket holders, so I didn't think it would be too busy....WRONG!

When we got there, we were allowed in the main entry, but the doors to the arena were still closed, so we waited with hundreds of other fans like a heard of cattle. I picked Ben up because I was afraid of him being trampled! When the doors opened, the mad rush was on. Each Oiler was stationed somewhere around the main concourse and they gave you maps of the arena to find your favorite players. No cameras, no autographs and no special requests were allowed. They had Oiler photographers on site with each Oiler that would take the photos and then they would email them to you.

I asked Ben who he wanted to see the most because I knew I would do anything I could to let him meet his most favorite player and he picked Sam Gagne. He was not too far away and everyone was running upstairs to Taylor Hall, so we booted it over to Sam and ended up being first in line! We waited for about 15 minutes for him to get there and when he did, B's eyes lit up bigger than they did on Christmas morning!! He got his photo taken and talked to him for a second and then we were off to Oiler #2... Jordan Eberle (how he knows his name I have no clue, but that was who he wanted to meet next...)

Jordan Eberle was way up in the nosebleeds and on the opposite end of the arena from Sam Gagne, so the climb was not fun! I kept asking if he was sure he wanted to meet him and he kept saying "yes mom, lets keep going"... We finally got to his line up and it was huge! Some people said that they had been waiting for 1/2 hour, so by judging, I assumed it would be about 1 hour for us.... Ben insisted that he wanted to wait and that is just what we did... for a little over an hour. I was so proud of him! Not once did he complain or get rowdy, he just waited patiently by my side and when it got to be his turn, that smile came back and that whole hour wait was so worth it! I love my little man so much and it was so great to spend this day with him! It amazes me that at 3 he can be so passionate about hockey and the Oilers!

After the 2 photos, we got lunch, did some shopping at the gift shop (he won a $25 gift certificate) and watched the Oilers practice....5 hours later we were on our way home and he still had that great big smile! Loved every second! (except climbing those million stairs to see Jordan Eberle!) ha ha



Mr. B and Sam Gagne



Mr. B and Jordan Eberle (I love how Ben says his name!)



Some of the Oilers at the practice...I brought my little camera, so my photos weren't as good as they could have been. I'm just glad that they had professional photographers for the Oilers shots with Ben!