The parking lot in front of the arena was full 90 minutes before game time. In the lot, tailgaters wearing the home team jerseys were enjoying one of the few nice spring evenings the town had experienced. Across the street, at the Penalty Box Bar & Grill, a fan also wearing a jersey was talking to a compadre. “Did we win that first series too quickly?” he asked. “I have always wondered if there is a thing as being too rested.”

Inside the building, the home team general manager looked anxious. “They sure haven’t played us this year like they were a fourth place team,” he said, referring to that night’s opponent. “Every game we played them was a battle until the end.”

Do you know where this scene occurred? Was it in the parking lot outside Joe Louis Arena in Detroit? Or perhaps Bell Centre in Montreal?

Nope. Waterloo.