Minor League Malarkey focuses on the goofy world of minor-league hockey; from the characters to the fights to the promotions to the die-hard fans that half-fill the stands.
Before we were married, my wife made two things perfectly clear about our wedding: That is would not take place at center ice during a hockey game or in the presence of Stormtroopers. (As I found out the hard way, that ban extended to Ewoks.)
For other couples, tying the knot or renewing vows in the middle of the rink is a blessed event. So on Valentine's Night 2009, the ECHL Stockton Thunder (an affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers) invited 103 couples to come out between periods and be married (or reaffirmed) by D.J. Walker, an on-air personality for KAT Country 103 and an ordained minister in the state of California.
As you can tell, many of these couples got into the spirit of the thing. Shoot, if someone had told you that you could have worn jeans, sneakers, a referee's shirt and a plush turkey outfit to your nuptials, like you wouldn't have.
My favorite dude in the photo up top: Red jersey, in the middle, wearing a top hat to an on-ice wedding. That's a man who puts on a tie for a steak dinner right there.
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Check out this Flickr gallery of the event. Since this took place in California, we eagerly await the next promotion in the series about two years from now: "Stockton Thunder Amicable Divorce Night," sponsored by either a local gym or a hair restoration center.
