I Went to a Hockey Game and Some Synchronicity Broke Out!

The Halifax Forum on Saturday evening, 16 January 2016.

Given my interest in, and experiences with, synchronicity, last night's hockey game was... well, interesting. 

At the last minute this evening I decided to walk to the Halifax Forum, despite a snow storm, to catch a university hockey game between one of my alma maters, the Dalhousie Tigers, and the UPEI Panthers, whom I had never seen play before and knew nothing about this year's team. 

Just before leaving the house I stopped to chat briefly with my room-mate Linda, who had been flipping through channels and come upon Sense and Sensibility with the late Alan Rickman, which she decided to watch (both Linda and I were huge Rickman fans). Indeed, Rickman was on screen for the entire short period of time we were talking. 

I got to the game just in time to watch the warm-ups, and then I grabbed a seat right behind the UPEI bench, which was a great vantage point for picture taking. UPEI filed out onto the ice, skated around, and then after the national anthem the players not starting sat down on the bench. 

Who should sit down on the bench right in front of me when the UPEI Panthers took the ice? Derek Ryckman, a defenceman for the Panthers. As you can see, his uniform number is 2. 

Ryckman on the bench in front of me just before the game started.

Making it even weirder? When I got home, I looked Ryckman up to see where he's from. lt turns out that he hails from Alberta. 

If you put Ryckman's uniform number 2 into play here and take the first two letters from Alberta you get... Al Ryckman. 

Cue the Twilight Zone music. 

Paul Kimball