Where Hockey Meets Shenanigans

There are two kinds of Michigan nights: the ones you forget, and the ones loud enough to rattle your ribcage. Monday, November 24 was one of the latter. We headed out for our second annual showdown between the Sudbury Blueberry Bulldogs (yes, those Bulldogs from Shoresy) and the Detroit Red Wings Alumni — and this time, I actually stayed until the final buzzer. Last year I had to bail early because Ellie was not about that hockey-arena sensory overload life. Growth, witches. We love to see it.

The girls were buzzing all day. Evie practically vibrated with excitement, counting down the hours until she could see “hockey with Mommy, Daddy, Sissy, Gramma, and Grumpy.” The second we turned onto the street with the parking garage, she squealed so loudly she startled herself. Ellie, meanwhile, was happily along for the ride…because her people were there. That’s her whole checklist for joy.

Skates on Ice & Shoresy on Screen

We slipped into the arena right before pregame. First out: the Bulldogs, greeted by a crowd yelling their favorite characters’ names like it was a sacred rite. Then came the Red Wings Alumni — an absolute lineup of legends: Daniel Cleary, Darren McCarty, Drew Miller, Justin Abdelkader, Kirk Maltby, Dino Ciccarelli, Mickey Redmond, Red Berenson, Danny DeKeyser, Derian Hatcher, Jimmy Howard, Mike Knuble, Joe Kocur, John Ogrodnick, Ian White, Jason Williams, Jason Woolley, Eddie Mio, Pat Nagle, Jiří Fischer, and Ryan Barnes.

Before puck drop, the arena played a short video of the Bulldogs in the locker room. Shoresy himself (Jared Keeso) read “reviews” from last year and roasted his own team into a charity challenge: every Red Wings goal = $500 donated by the Bulldogs. And if the Wings hit 10? The Bulldogs had to do a shirtless lap.

Final score? Fourteen.

Tarps off, boys. The crowd lost its mind.

There was also a mascot this year — a giant big-headed Shoresy (pictured) that made all of us crack up, especially when he rode the zamboni like he was born for it.

Chaos, Comedy, & Nostalgia

Of course, we got the traditional staged fight—a Bulldog versus McCarty, because some traditions are sacred and must never die.

Jared Keeso also brought up a joke he told at the Letterkenny Live show back on March 10, 2020 at the Masonic Temple. I was at that show but couldn’t hear a damn thing over the crowd (Millennials: we’ve been shouting instead of processing since 1981). That performance was literally the day before the world shut down.

During intermission, Shoresy traded his jersey for ref stripes to officiate the Plymouth Bulldogs kids league, which somehow made the universe feel perfectly balanced. We even got a sneak peek at some Shoresy bloopers from the latest season.

Merch, Memories, & My Kids Being Ferals

I really wanted merch, but holy hell was it expensive. What I really wanted was the alumni jersey — classic Red Wings red, but with a Bulldogs patch on the arm and Bulldogs-colored elbow stripes. Whoever designed that: you deserve a raise and maybe a small kingdom.

We did make it onto the jumbotron exactly once, during one of Evie’s repetitive-cycle moments—kissing Ellie, then kissing me, then kissing Grandma…then starting the whole loop again like a tiny affectionate NPC with a glitch. Peak childhood. Peak us.

Final Thoughts

It was loud, chaotic, nostalgic, ridiculous, and absolutely perfect. Travel doesn’t always mean a far-flung city or a museum or a coast. Sometimes it’s a Monday night in an arena with sticky floors, your kids wrapped in throw blankets, your mom cackling beside you, and fourteen goals that led to one very cold lap and a giant check handed over for charity — $7,000 raised for a good cause.

Honestly? That’s a kind of magic, too.