By Saturday morning after the Thursday Thanksgiving feast, the turkey frame and whatever else had been reduced to turkey-flavored stock. I left the stock in the fridge for the fat to separate, and Amy, Sorenne and I went to Wichita, Kansas for an adventure weekend – a hockey game.

From what I can figure, there’s the National Hockey League (NHL, the pros), the American Hockey League (AHL, farm teams to the NHL), and then feeder semi-pro leagues like the Central Hockey League, where the Wichita Thunder ply their trade. 18 of the 22-member roster hails from Canada.

The game was reasonably entertaining, although the intensity level varied dramatically.

Aspects of a hockey game in Wichita:

• in honor of the birthday of late, great guitarist Jimi Hendrix, the Star Spangled Banner was performed Hendrix-style by a local dude;

• the brand-new In Trust arena in downtown Wichita was an outstanding venue, with sparkling restrooms and excellent handwashing facilities;

• there is a dance squad associated with the team called the Lampton Lightening, sponsored by Lampton Welding, and they performed after the second period (left);

• even though it is Manvember – the month of November is supposed to represent manliness at its peak, so no shaving – there were more bad moustaches on the players than the cast of a 1970s porn movie; and,

• not a single fight. I was expecting Slap Shot style goon hockey. It wasn’t bad. Wichita beat first-place Colorado 5-3.

Tonight, it’s turkey stock stew.