What should I wear?

I love Google instant. It's the source of a great deal of amusement for me. Today, I was looking for "What Should I Wear to a Hockey Game" to hear some advice from some ill-informed folk. (Mostly courtesy of our friends south of the border ... sorry to my hockey-loving Yankee ladies, I don't mean you guys!)

The majority of the questions were about NHL games ... what should I wear to an NHL game. And people were saying "dress warm, it's cold in there!"

Personally, I have been to four NHL arenas, and two AHL arenas, and not one of them is one I would remotely describe as cold. Not even sitting four rows from the ice at the Air Canada Centre.

I would say the Air Canada Centre is a bit of a different story, and I'll address it first. In my experience, it seems to depend on a couple factors. Are you sitting in the golds or platinums, if yes, is it a week night? On a weeknight, I would not recommend wearing any type of team paraphernalia in the expensive seats. People will know you don't belong. Dress nicely, hair done, makeup done, and do not under any circumstances wear a jersey.

On a Saturday night, I find it more permissible to get away with wearing a jersey in the expensive seats, and by all means, wear it if you're sitting in the greens or purples on any given night. I haven't made up my mind about weeknight jerseys in the reds yet.

Every other arena in the league, I would say a thin hoodie under your jersey or long-sleeve T-shirt would be sufficient, running shoes, ponytail and a hat if you have. (I only have one NHL hat, and it's not the Oilers or Leafs, shockingly ... it's a Chicago Blackhawks lid with some cool appliqué and embroidery that I picked up in heaven .. ermm Royal Sports on Pembina in Winnipeg.)

Typically, I tend to wear jeans to the rink in most situations, with the exception of covering a major event. When I covered the Memorial Cup and Royal Bank Cup games, I wore dress pants, a long-sleeve dress shirt and flip flops or sandals, but for a regular work night at the rink, I found jeans sufficient.

If you're lucky enough to have a team advance in the playoffs and live in a temperate climate, you can often get away with stashing your coat in the car and throwing on a hoodie, vest and running shoes or flip flops, depending on how brave you are.

Note: wearing flip flops in an arena is tricky business. You can come off looking like a dumb girl who doesn't know how cold it is in there. For many years, I did not attempt to pull off this look. However, I found as I integrated myself more into rink culture, I figured, the hockey players do it, and so will I. Mesh-back hat, hoodie, vest, jeans and flops (and sometimes skinny gloves to shoot in if the rink is cold) are my spring/summer hockey go-to uniform.

If you're really hanging out in a cold rink, like in a small town somewhere with natural ice and it's made of wood ... I recommend a pair of mukluks or thinsulate boots, and layer, layer, layer.

And if one more person recommends "jersey, leggings and ugg boots" to these random Yahoo Answers people ... I may gag. Unless you're trying to look like a PB ... which a Hockey Foxx, is not :)