Dan, if you're around ..... how was that cruise???? And whaddya think of our Stanley Cup? I worried that you got so excited when you heard ............ that you may have jumped overboard in a wild state of extreme happiness!

I went to the parade the day after, and it was great!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW, how sweet it is, huh???!!!

My DH has promised to get a 10 or 24 game block of tickets this year! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, I hope your trip was wonderful!

ttt for Dan ...

Bonnie,

I will be honest. It was kind of a strange ending for me. I think that over time I will enjoy this victory even more. I was almost more relieved than overly excited after Game 7 was over. I was thrilled when Williams scored that third goal (and what a stop by Cam) but then felt kind of weird watching the celebration, knowing I could have been there.

My wife and I found a bar showing the game in San Juan and were able to see most of it, but we did have to return to the ship before the trophy presentation. I was really afraid the Oilers would win the series after the way Game 6 went (couldn't see that game - checked scores on the Web). It was unbelievably hard to leave for a cruise two days before a possible Game 7 and turn my ticket over to someone else. If I had been anywhere but out at sea, I would have found a way to return for one evening to go that game. After I returned, missing that game has been on my mind all the time.

I am sure a lot of Canes fans would feel differently, but I would have preferred they win it in Game 6. It seemed kind of anticlimactic too, having Game 5's terrible ending as my last experience, and then missing the last game and all the celebrations. Despite all that disappointment though, I am very excited about the Canes winning of course and came to love the game of hockey even more during this incredible playoff run. There will be a lot of great memories from it, including taking my daughter to Game 2. I will post a few photos on my Web site soon, mostly from Game 5.

I am buying partial season tickets again for next season, going in with a friend. I will be there on opening night too when they raise the banner for sure. I told my wife I am going to grow a beard until I can see them win a Cup in person. I hope they are not like the Maple Leafs, or I will be tripping on it all the time.

Right now, I am catching up on buying all the great souvenirs I missed while away. Unfortunately, The Eye was closed for inventory when I went by today. I picked up a nice plaque at the fairgrounds today that has the front page from the News and Observer's sports page, and I have been on Ebay quite a bit. My mother knows someone whose kids play with Brind'Amours kids at Rod's house, so I am angling for autographs. I really want to get the Game 1 puck signed by him. That was the best game of the playoffs, in my opinion, and there were so many good ones.

I am very excited about next season. I do wish they could have kept Cullen, and I am a little worried about signing Cole right now, but they have made several good moves so far, including picking up another goalie. I hope we can keep Weight or maybe pick up another free agent or two. I think we will be in the mix though and should be one of the top 4-5 teams in the East. I told my wife that if the Canes ever get into the finals again, I don't care where they play or how much it cost - I will not miss a final game again. I am glad you got to go to the parade!!!! It's a lot of fun, isn't it? It is great to have our team on top!!!!!!!!!!!!! First the Sox, then the Heels, then the Canes. I am loving it - I am hoping for another Sox or Heels win soon. Too bad about the finish in the College World Series.

Dan, I'm sorry that you and I had to miss being at the championship game! My best friend/game buddy was given a ticket but I didn't have one so I had to enjoy it on my wide-screen.

I was devastated after Doug Weight was taken out .... couldn't believe it, then game six just made me ill. I feared it was all over as the refs and hockey gods did not seem to be smiling on the 'Canes! But the last game was miraculous (would love to have that on DVD) .... and from the time Brind'Amour came out and took down Torres right away, and Staal stunned Pronger, you knew Laviolette was sending the Oilers a message.

I, too, would have rather had the win in game 6, despite their being in Edmonton. Can you imagine the crowd they'd have had at the airport when they flew in???

The parade was fabulous .... Commodore was such a hoot; the crowd was WILD for Brindy, Erik Cole, Commodore, Gerber (so glad to see that!), Cam Ward, Staal, Hedican. It was beautiful to see ... they were wild for all the team, but for these guys, they ROARED, especially for RODDY! I have never walked so far as we did to get to the parade route from the Fairgrounds parking, but it was worth every minute!!! I was so happy to see 29,999 people there with me. We weren't there early enough to get a souvenir mug from Blue Cross, but my friend has harrassed a guy at Blue Cross until he has promised to bring a dozen to her at her house (lives near her!!!)

I know some make fun of Raleigh as a hockey city, but the fan base is growing, and I think the new style of hockey is made for this area, that people here really appreciat it as they learn more. I believe we'll have the last laugh, don't you??? (In the form of more Cups ... ) I think it's the most exciting sport around ...

Now, we await our Carolina Tar Heels this year .......... I think they're going to be really something. The baseball team almost brought it home for us! I'm so proud of them, and thought it was cool that Roy was in the bleachers supporting them.

Dan, you forgot to tell me how your cruise was? You probably would have enjoyed it more if you weren't missing the hockey festivities, right??? Doesn't it just figure that you'd plan a cruise, then have the Stanley Cup playoffs in your backyard?!!!!

I, too, am very sorry to see Cullen go, and wish we could keep Weight somehow. What do you mean about Erik Cole ... that we may lose him???

Have a good Sunday ........

I think we will re-sign Cole. I just hope it happens soon. As far as the cruise went, yes I would have enjoyed it a whole lot more if we had won Game 5 or if it were after the finals. I actually wanted to do a cruise out of NYC that would have lasted a day longer, but it left mid-week and required using more vacation time. Bad decision - that cruise left 2 days after Game 7! I also mentioned hockey a little too often for my wife. It was very painful and distracting to both worry about the Canes and know I couldn't be here for it if they won. A cruise allows too much time to think. I had more distractions on island days. We had rain almost every day on the cruise but but mostly had good weather. I am not a big cruise fan compared to other travel methods, but it was great to experience what a cruise is like, and I did enjoy most aspects of it. I would do it again. I am glad I worked out a lot more often before the cruise and got my weight down because I gained 10 pounds on the trip. Good food!!! We actually rented a car on St. Martin for the day, and I drove us around the island. On St. Thomas, we were lucky to get in our tour (including 2 hours at a great beach) before the rain. San Juan's historic area is very beautiful. I had lots of good photo ops there, although the ship gets there pretty late in the day. We had a great meal at a nice old restaurant before tracking down the hockey game. It was kind of funny that on the day we were checking in for the cruise, a guy noticed my Hurricanes shirt and talked to me about the finals. Then on Tuesday, he recognized me on the ship and congratulated me on the win. I decided not to wear my "It's Hurricane Season" t-shirt on the cruise. That just didn't seem a good place for it!

Dan, so funny about your t-shirt. No, that wouldn't have been a good idea to wear that particular one where you were! I feel a little sad about Dougie going back to St. Louis, and Cullen now being a Ranger. Oh, well, we were so spoiled to have so many outstanding guys as we finished the season, and I guess Jim R. has to do what he has to do.

I always hear that about the food on cruises, that it's great and that you should expect to gain a couple of pounds PER DAY! I haven't been on one, as I get motion sickness. Just don't want to chance it, but would love to be able to, just once. One friend did one of the Norwegian ones and said it was amazing.

Have a great 4th of July with your family!

I get motion sickness badly too, but luckily planes and boats have never bothered me. I will say though that it feels strange riding on a ship. We had a lot of wind for a couple of days, and really throughout the cruise the ship's rocking motion felt odd. You do get used to it a bit though. The rocking motion is good for sleeping though. I also told my wife it just wouldn't feel right to come back home and eat only one entre per meal. I hope you have a good 4th too. We are taking the kids to the Bulls game and fireworks.