r/icehockey

TL;DR: Naive UK wife wants to buy ice hockey tickets for Canadian husband for surprise birthday trip and is lost. Entirely.
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Hello I am at a loss here and would absolutely love your help please!!

I met someone called Patrick in 2018 with a Canadian accent who played ice hockey. We met in the UK, so this was a niche. 2 weeks ago I married Patrick and he turns 30 in two weeks. Now for the last 8 years all I’ve heard about is Colorado Avalanche. His family moved back from Canada for him to go to university in the UK, where we met!
Side note: I asked why he supported Avalanche. The answer: Apparently there was a goalkeeper called Patrick Roy. As he was a kid and they shared the same name and he wanted to be a goalkeeper the choice was done.

Anyway, that’s the context. This man has made my dreams come true every day for the last 8 years. For his birthday I’m taking him to Nashville in March to watch Avalanche play. (2nd March 2027). I want to make his dreams come true. I bought the pricey plane tickets without realising that the site that is selling the tickets apparently doesn’t have the tickets yet? The whole reason I booked Nashville is for him to finally see their game live rather than him staying up in the UK at all hours of the morning to watch games. As to the place, it’s somewhere he hasn’t been and I thought it would be fun!

So my ask is this. Please help me make sense of the ticketing. UK sporting tickets seem to be wildly different. Is there a certain end you sit at for who you support? Do I have to sign up to be a member of something to buy tickets? I see there’s a presale, do you think this game will sell out and I won’t have a chance? Is there a best place to sit for viewing? I want to buy him great tickets so that he can wear one of the about 10 jerseys he has for the team (2 are the exact same?). The amount of Avs merch we have in our UK home is wild, signed photos on the wall, hats, gym gear, goalkeeper helmet, keychain, the lot. Anyway besides the point, the person I would ask is him but I can’t ask him so please help me!

How should I go about this?

Thank you so much in advance. Even if I get one person reply I’d be so incredibly grateful. I can return them favour with any London dos/ donts/ recommendations!

i dont post on reddit much/at all so apologies in advance if im breaking any rules by posting this here (if i am and someone could sign post me to a better place to put it that would be great).

i (16 female to male) am hopefully joining an ice hockey league this september but im a little worried about the locker room/shower situation considering that i havent had any surgeries and i dont want to out myself as transgender.

the league im joining is co-ed so dont worry about me being somewhere im not supposed to be, i just dont generally tell people that im transgender at all as ive been socially transitioning for five years and see myself as fully male now (despite being too young for surgeries, and only recently starting on testosterone).

i havent played any team sport before and i was wondering what peoples views were on teammates that showered at home/only got changed down to their base layers after games/practices. i obviously cant take my shirt or pants off and cant shower without the whole team realising i have a female body. im also worried that if im lucky enough for there to be shower cubicles that guys will joke around by peering over the sides and out me that way (or just be taller than the walls).

i hope this post doesnt count as political because i dont want to start a discussion about if i should be hiding it i just want to know if my teammates are gonna think im gross for not showering and keeping my sweaty underlayers on until i get home😭😭😭