She'd been nineteen, and so to be at a major event (hockey or other, though nothing garnered national attention quite like Lord Stanely's Cup) in a major city had been something of a coming-of-age experience... and an experience it had been, boy.

"I was there because I got a ticket as an early birthday present. My parents've always liked to surprise me with one any month outside December, since a birthday close to Christmas is sort of overshadowed. End game in June, good time to travel, so there I was... and I was there." The moderate seriousness fell away in favour of a lopsided little grin, since there wasn't much more to say. As Sam saw it, the most acceptable course of action had been pretty clear-cut. "Being there, when things started to go south it was pretty clear to me that I wasn't going to get out any time soon, so I decided that if I was going to be in it, I was going to be in it, and ought to see what I could do through the duration."

Then, and now, it seemed she'd done something right.

"As long as nobody gets hurt---or otherwise comes to harm---no big. I'm seriously not a hardass, even if I am serious about the rules set out so far. I take it they're all tolerable enough?"