JEN:
I took it easy my first night in Vegas. I had a couple Pop Rocks Martinis (no joke) at Simon with my buddy Tiffany and Arthur, and then one ridiculously strong Grey Goose and soda with my now close personal friend, Shea Weber. Ok slight bend of the truth. We happened to be at the same place and at two separate tables. As he walked out, we had ourselves a magical moment. I grabbed his arm and we had this deep conversation:
Jen: Hey, Shea Weber!
Shea: Uh...yeah.
Jen: You're incredible. You killed my team in the playoffs.
Shea: Who? Um...oh the Ducks. Yeah.
End scene.
(I usually don't go hockey crazy fan when I see players. This was a vodka-pop rock fueled outburst. One side note, he's a handsome guy. Looks a lot like Nick Hexum from my favorite band, 311.)
After turning in, Tiffany and I decided to hit the pool around 8:30am. Like most of the NHL-ers we're staying at the FABULOUS Palms Place hotel. The pool is small and only for VIPs (at least I keep telling myself that). Right as we walked out to the pool on the 6th floor, we are passed by Twin 1 (or possibly Twin 2, not sure) on his way back into the hotel. Tiffany asked if he was albino. My response was, "No. Just Swedish."
Just next to our lounge chairs was the adorable Twin 1 (or 2) clan inside of a $150 a day cabana. Mrs. Twin 1 (or 2) plus three little munchkins, two of which were dying to get into the water. Being the Nosy Nelly that I am, I was listening to Mrs. Twin 1 (or 2) talk to the lifeguard/poolboy about sunscreen. The best part of the conversation was the lifeguard/poolboy saying, "Your husband has a very thick IRISH accent." She ignored him. I chuckled. As he walked away, I offered my SPF 60 to Mrs. Twin 1 (or 2), but she declined. When Twin 1 (or 2) came back, he played with his two oldest kids in the pool. It was really cute. Only once did a fan come up and go a little nutzo talking to him. He was gracious.
Next up, Dustin Brown and his wife. My pasty Lithuanian skin is no match for the desert sun, so on top of my SPF 60 was my Ducks hat. I will admit, it was a little odd to have Dustin lock eyes on my hat. I should have just pushed him in the pool. For a while, he wore his sunglasses upside-down for no reason. Other than that, he was very quiet and uneventful. The only funny thing that happened was his wife telling Ryan Kesler's wife that "Dustin had a rough night."
Speaking of Kesler, he wins the award for the biggest entourage. There were a couple guys missing teeth with him, but no one I could identify. With those toothless men were their respective wives and friends. The one thing I noticed about Kesler is a tattoo on his arm. It's the Superman symbol with a "R" instead of an "S." Yet, his tattoo wasn't the most memorable. That goes to Michael Grabner - at least I think that was him. He was on a lounge chair next to us and he was tatted out like crazy.
While it was cool to see all those guys, my favorite moment came at the very end of our time at the pool. The absolutely unreal body of the year goes to...30948 year old Nicklas Lidstrom. He put all those 20 year olds to shame. He is incredibly handsome. Yeah, I'd hit that.
The pool was fun, and I have a feeling we'll be back there again tomorrow. Yet, depending on the winners tonight, I doubt we'll see quite as many NHL-ers.