As part of a contingent of exchange students who travelled across the border November 30 to watch the Detroit Red Wings, Daniela Bernet took away more than memories. The law major bagged a puck that landed next to her during the warm up practice at ice level.

That’s not the only reason she liked watching the professional hockey game, in which Detroit prevailed, 5-3, over the Vancouver Canucks.

“I really enjoyed the hockey game, it was a great experience,” Bernet says. “The atmosphere in the Joe Louis Arena was amazing, especially in the last 10 minutes of the game, when five goals were shot.”

Michelle Fitzgerald of exchange student services organized the outing, and says she was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm.

“I was shocked and excited at how many students wanted to go,” she says. “I initially ordered 25 tickets, and in the end there were 73 who went!”

Felicia Havek was proud to cheer on athletes from her native Sweden.

“It was my first real hockey game I went to and seeing a game like that with two really good teams was really cool!” says Havek. “It was really cool to see Detroit Red Wings because there are about seven Swedes playing for that team.”

For Havek and many others, the game was their first. Business student Sam Murch of New Zealand is a relative expert, as Sunday’s game was his second.

“I love the whole experience, it’s so different from any sports day experience at home,” he says. “The atmosphere was something I’d never had before going to a hockey game.”

—Ninthuja Saseetaharan