For Andrew's Christmas present, I got him tickets to a Blackhawks game in Chicago versus the Red Wings. If you know nothing about the NHL, you need to know that these two teams are arch rivals.
Here's some Wiki info:
I doubt that most NHL fans would get their info from Wikipedia but you have to remember who's writing this.
So the Friday after Christmas we drove up to "The Miami of Canada" (Ha! I Love Wikipedia!) to attend our first NHL game. We were soooo excited.
We had awesome seats for being in the upper level. We were in the front row and right by the Don Julio bar. Very very cool! We even arrived an hour early just so we could check everything out.
So you can see our view from our seats but I just wanted to remind you how awesome the lens on my camera is. That's the goalie! Now that's a ZOOM!
Hey it's Patrick Kane!
Now I would like to know how you get to be a Zamboni kid? Owning a jersey is obviously a requirement.
A special message before the game is to watch for flying pucks. Guess who sponsored it? A dentist who does Dental Implants! Genius.
The United Center is quite an arena. They really know how to pump you up during the starting line up.
It was like watching a movie on the jumbotron. Jeez!
Blackhawks + Red Wings = Boat loads of red jerseys
I said Toews was cute once and Andrew continued to refer to him the rest of the night as "That guy you find attractive". :-)
Star Spangled Banner Time!
This place is full of traditions. The Blackhawks have a National Anthem tradition where the crowd cheers, screams and claps during the ENTIRE singing of the National Anthem. The permanent singer is Jim Cornelison and I've linked his name to a great interview with him. They also bring out members of the USO to stand with him on the ice while he sings. It's really an intense experience. We've seen it on TV so many times but nothing matches being there in person.
Just like any professional sports team, there are partially dressed girls involved. We weren't really sure what they were doing. They had shovels. I was wearing my winter coat INSIDE so I'm sure they had to be freezing.
Within the first few minutes of the game, we got to see a fight. Awesome! Throw down those gloves and sticks! It's fightin' time!
They were shoving each other into the glass. It was crazy!
The refs broke it up eventually. Boo! :)
GOAL!!! The first time they scored they played Chelsea Dagger by the Fratellis. I didn't get a video of it myself but I did find someone else's. They were sitting at the very top of the United Center. Wow. That's high up there.
Don't think we didn't get out of there without buying something! I tried to convince Andrew to buy a styrofoam cowboy hat.
He went with something much more appropriate and wearable. Excellent choice, my man!
We also picked up something for Tommy. A slightly cushy hockey stick, puck, and his favorite, a BALL!
Awww, look at the happy couple enjoying their first NHL experience. (I didn't have any Blackhawks attire so I stole the hat I got Andrew for Christmas.)
We ate a dinner of champions at the game. Hot dogs and beer!
While we were eating, I noticed that they have one of the TV's above the concession stand turned to the CW network. I guess they've got something for everyone.
We went to the United Center bar after the game and drank more beer. We had a super fun time just the two of us. We know it's important to take time for ourselves now that we're parents but we did miss Tommy a lot.
He really enjoyed the gift we brought him. Future hockey player in the making! :-)
Oh and one last note... Guess what the mascot's name is?
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