11/2-11/4: Chicago, IL
It's been, if memory serves, about eight years since I've been to Chicago. This trip has a little more advance planning, as opposed to the poorly-organized but brilliantly-executed road trip of years ago. Naturally, this one is also less fun.
But it does have it's moments. Well, moment. After two short flights, one to Cincinnati, one to Chicago, and a pleasant conversation with a single-serving friend (see Fight Club for that reference), I dropped off my bags at the hotel and went downtown to see the Chicago Blackhawks play the Detroit Red Wings.
The traffic here is insane. In what reasonable city does the afternoon rush hour cause gridlock when going into the city? Anyway, it took almost two hours to get to the arena, so I ended up missing the opening faceoff. I'll live.
The crowd was larger than I expected, given what I've heard about their attendance lately, but there's always more ticket sales when Detroit comes to town. They weren't the loudest bunch, not like Nashville fans, but it didn't have the mortuary silence of a Capitals game, either. Most of the crowd contribution consisted of chanting "Detroit sucks!", and booing every time Chris Chelios* touched the puck
It was a more contested game than I expected, given that the 'Hawks are generally among the league's bottom-feeders.** They scored one in the first period; Rene Borque took advantage of Osgood's poor positioning after a save. And that's where the score stayed, through the rest of that period and all through the second. The Wings kept putting shots on net, but were stopped by the Blackhawks blocking the shots, by Brian Boucher stopping everything else that came through, and everything that got past him ringing off the goal posts.
But they're down two of their best players (Havlat and Handzus) due to injuries, and they just couldn't keep it up. In the third period, the puck trickled out from in front of the net during a scramble, and Zetterberg flipped it over the goalie to score. Shortly thereafter, Lang casually fired a shot over Boucher's shoulder for another goal.
After that, there just wasn't much fight left; the Blackhawks got very few shots on goal after that to even try and tie things up, and the crowd wasn't doing so much chanting. Detroit won, 2-1.
Oh, and if it even bears mentioning, never trust arena food. The original plan was to eat before the game, but the delays in getting there necessitated eating at the United Center. This morning, my intestines justifiably feel betrayed, and are taking it out on me.
*(Chris Chelios was a very popular defenseman for the Blackhawks before he was traded to Detroit. His profile also bears a striking resemblance to the Blackhawks' logo.)
**(Not their fault; their management team sucks.)
But it does have it's moments. Well, moment. After two short flights, one to Cincinnati, one to Chicago, and a pleasant conversation with a single-serving friend (see Fight Club for that reference), I dropped off my bags at the hotel and went downtown to see the Chicago Blackhawks play the Detroit Red Wings.
The traffic here is insane. In what reasonable city does the afternoon rush hour cause gridlock when going into the city? Anyway, it took almost two hours to get to the arena, so I ended up missing the opening faceoff. I'll live.
The crowd was larger than I expected, given what I've heard about their attendance lately, but there's always more ticket sales when Detroit comes to town. They weren't the loudest bunch, not like Nashville fans, but it didn't have the mortuary silence of a Capitals game, either. Most of the crowd contribution consisted of chanting "Detroit sucks!", and booing every time Chris Chelios* touched the puck
It was a more contested game than I expected, given that the 'Hawks are generally among the league's bottom-feeders.** They scored one in the first period; Rene Borque took advantage of Osgood's poor positioning after a save. And that's where the score stayed, through the rest of that period and all through the second. The Wings kept putting shots on net, but were stopped by the Blackhawks blocking the shots, by Brian Boucher stopping everything else that came through, and everything that got past him ringing off the goal posts.
But they're down two of their best players (Havlat and Handzus) due to injuries, and they just couldn't keep it up. In the third period, the puck trickled out from in front of the net during a scramble, and Zetterberg flipped it over the goalie to score. Shortly thereafter, Lang casually fired a shot over Boucher's shoulder for another goal.After that, there just wasn't much fight left; the Blackhawks got very few shots on goal after that to even try and tie things up, and the crowd wasn't doing so much chanting. Detroit won, 2-1.
Oh, and if it even bears mentioning, never trust arena food. The original plan was to eat before the game, but the delays in getting there necessitated eating at the United Center. This morning, my intestines justifiably feel betrayed, and are taking it out on me.
*(Chris Chelios was a very popular defenseman for the Blackhawks before he was traded to Detroit. His profile also bears a striking resemblance to the Blackhawks' logo.)
**(Not their fault; their management team sucks.)
posted by Matt at
10:55 AM
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