I’m attempting to write this post while in the car on the way home from Rochester, MN. We’ll see how this goes – hopefully I won’t get motion sickness and barf on the laptop. Edit: I only wrote half of this post from the car. I might still barf though having just view the NY Rangers game.
My gf and I left Chicago on Friday morning for our trip to Minnesota. We had a brief pit-stop in Madison for lunch and my gf bought a new MacBook at the Apple Store. 5% sales tax FTW! We arrived in the Twin Cities around 6, and after a quick bite and checking in our hotel in downtown St. Paul, we made our way to Tom Reid’s Hockey City Pub which is only a couple blocks from the Xcel Energy Center. Tom Reid played two seasons for the Blackhawks and nine seasons with the North Stars in the late 60s & 70s. He currently serves as the Minnesota Wild’s radio broadcaster. I highly recommend a stop at this bar if you’re ever in the Twin Cities – it’s worth it for the tons of hockey memorabilia on the walls alone, but also a good place for drinks and some food.
Game Twelve: Edmonton Oilers 7, Chicago Blackhawks 4
We arrived at the bar after the Blackhawks/Oilers game had started – the score was 1-1 about halfway through the first period. No sooner had the server taken our drink order, the Oilers scored. And scored. And scored again. I don’t think our drinks had even arrived by the time the carnage was over. At that point I was thinking I would have been better served had I stayed in the hotel & taken a nap. Needless to say I spent the majority of the game swearing between drinking. It was 2-for-1 drinks night at the bar, but even that didn’t help take the pain of watching this game away. Afterward, Tom came by our table and jokingly asked if we needed tissues. He’s a really nice, sweet man – apparently he has a funny story about borrowing Stan Mikita’s car when he was with the Hawks but I forgot to ask him about it. I’ll have to get my brother to tell me it. I don’t have much to say about the game as it was a total shitshow, and really, what more could be said? I do have a few points…
- Much was made prior to the game about how terrible the Oilers have been as of late and are even more terrible on the road. I told my gf that therefore we’d probably lose 5-1. Gee, I was such an optimist.
- Dave Bolland didn't play at all in the third period. As of now, he's on IR - the earliest he can play is this weekend. I have it on good authority he hurt his ribs. As much as that sucks, thank god it wasn't his surgically repaired back. Hopefully he can use this time to get his head back on straight and play the way we all know he can.
- The Hawks had 41 SOG while the Oilers only had 22. The Oil had only *2* shots in the third - and one went in. While I'm glad the shot disparity echoed what it was like for much of last year, that doesn't mean shit when the final score is what it was.
- In all seriousness, you can pin only one of the four goals given up by Turco as a softie. The other three are on the D and the inability to transition. I'm thinking Q pulled him to save him for Saturday night.
- How much does it suck for Corey Crawford to come on in relief at a 4-2 deficit and get saddled with the loss? But since he gave up the fifth tally to Cogliano, that's how the rules go. Still, giving up 2 in 8 shots is nothing to crow home about either.
We hung around at the bar after the game not only to drown our sorrows, but also because my brother and part of the rest of the gang we were going to the game with the following night had just arrived in town and wanted to join us. I had forgotten what it was like to close a bar down at 2am – I’m an old fart now when it comes to that. My brother obviously got the party genes out of the two of us (I got the artsy-nerd genes apparently). We stayed so late at the bar that we missed the Blackhawks entering the hotel – they were staying at the same one our group was lodged at. Not that we could have done anything, we were expressly forbidden to talk or take pictures of the guys by the hotel management. Besides after that nightmare of a game, I’m sure John Scott would have been sicced on us had we tried. Still, it would have been nice to see them all dolled up in their suits. We did see the equipment guys unloading the duffel bags and such which was a moment of excitement. Whee.
Prior to Saturday’s nights game, we spent a little time around St Paul. I took some pictures of an abandoned brewery which is something that excites me probably way more than it should. During my urban exploration my brother got to wish Duncan Keith good luck as he entered an elevator at the hotel and saw several other players in the lobby. One of our group also had the door held open for her by Jonathan Toews who apparently was very nice. I went to Rainbow Foods – ARGH. We pregamed back at Tom Reid’s which was full of Blackhawks & Wild fans with some college football fans sprinkled in for good measure. Photographer and Blogger extraordinaire HockeyBroad was also in town to see the game and joined us for a bit as well. We left the bar shortly before 6 to pick up our tickets at Will Call. I have to say I liked the Xcel Energy Center quite a bit. It’s a smaller arena (then again most arenas compared to the UC are tiny) but has good sightlines and a nice open concourse. They also have an excellent gift shop. I contained myself – we only bought three pucks (a North Stars, 10th anniversary Wild & Minnesota State of Hockey) and I got an awesome Norris Division T-shirt while my gf bought a North Stars one. She grew up in North Central Iowa, so I’m willing to give her a pass for that one.
Game Thirteen: Chicago Blackhawks 3, Minnesota Wild 1
Highlights
I was apprehensive about this game. I had bad luck the other two times I roadtripped for a Blackhawks game. 1) the Hawks won when I went to St. Louis, but I spent the third period in the ER getting stitches. 2) The less said about that trip to Columbus the better. I needed not worry though. Either the Hawks were embarrassed enough the night before to come out and play, or Q threatened their manhood. I care not, the Blackhawks probably played their best complete game in the last couple of weeks. The defense was excellent, there was solid goaltending by TK-421 and we got timely scoring when it mattered.
- I've always been a Troy Brouwer fan, and was glad to see him break out with a 2 point (1G, 1A) night. You could tell he was relieved - I have some shots of him after he scored and he's grinning ear-to-ear
- Duncan Keith's offensive game has picked up - he also had 1G and 1A and scored 9 points in 4 games to get the NHL's third star of the week. His defense still makes me a little twitchy at times. With Soupy back as of Monday, this should stop. I hope.
- With his empty-netter, Jake Dowell had a three game goal scoring streak. Good for him, you always gotta love when a grinder gets a little recognition.
- No one is harder on Jonathan Toews than Toews himself. He missed a pass and I could hear the FUCK he uttered all the way from row 25. When he missed potting a goal on an open side, you could tell he beat himself up all the way back to the bench. I almost want to tell him not to be so hard on himself, but I think it makes him play even harder. I am so proud he is our captain.
- Nice to see John Madden again even if he was only a Blackhawk for a lone season. I also feel a twang of sympathy for Marty Havlat. I'd never take him over Hossa, but he was my gf's favorite player when he wore the Indian Head
- I felt like belting "It's Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Christmas" when the Wild took the ice. That red/green color scheme is too funny.
- You have to wonder how many shutouts our goaltenders would have if we could clear the zone consistently. I feel bad for TK-421 that his shutout was denied because his team played hot potato with the puck in front of him.
- 6:11 TOI for John Scott at forward. *sigh*
- Ben Smith is really fast - I see good things for this kid. He'll need a little more time in the A to put it all together. Also glad to see Ryan Potulny to get the call up for the injured Bolland. I thought he looked solid in Rockford.
Overall I enjoyed my experience at the Xcel Center. It's a great place to catch a game. There were a surprising number of empty seats, and I'd say the crowd was about a third for the Blackhawks. We had two rows for our group in the 100 level in the end the Hawks shot at twice - a great view. We had some playful banter going on between us and the Wild fans in our area - good times.
No awards for either game as I'm trying to get this post done, but I will give you...
That one's classic Toews-Face
I took this one myself during warmups. What a little goofus.
I'll do a picture spam post of all the photos I took of the trip. But now I'm off to work on getting them all uploaded...
I was apprehensive about this game. I had bad luck the other two times I roadtripped for a Blackhawks game. 1) the Hawks won when I went to St. Louis, but I spent the third period in the ER getting stitches. 2) The less said about that trip to Columbus the better. I needed not worry though. Either the Hawks were embarrassed enough the night before to come out and play, or Q threatened their manhood. I care not, the Blackhawks probably played their best complete game in the last couple of weeks. The defense was excellent, there was solid goaltending by TK-421 and we got timely scoring when it mattered.
- I've always been a Troy Brouwer fan, and was glad to see him break out with a 2 point (1G, 1A) night. You could tell he was relieved - I have some shots of him after he scored and he's grinning ear-to-ear
- Duncan Keith's offensive game has picked up - he also had 1G and 1A and scored 9 points in 4 games to get the NHL's third star of the week. His defense still makes me a little twitchy at times. With Soupy back as of Monday, this should stop. I hope.
- With his empty-netter, Jake Dowell had a three game goal scoring streak. Good for him, you always gotta love when a grinder gets a little recognition.
- No one is harder on Jonathan Toews than Toews himself. He missed a pass and I could hear the FUCK he uttered all the way from row 25. When he missed potting a goal on an open side, you could tell he beat himself up all the way back to the bench. I almost want to tell him not to be so hard on himself, but I think it makes him play even harder. I am so proud he is our captain.
- Nice to see John Madden again even if he was only a Blackhawk for a lone season. I also feel a twang of sympathy for Marty Havlat. I'd never take him over Hossa, but he was my gf's favorite player when he wore the Indian Head
- I felt like belting "It's Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Christmas" when the Wild took the ice. That red/green color scheme is too funny.
- You have to wonder how many shutouts our goaltenders would have if we could clear the zone consistently. I feel bad for TK-421 that his shutout was denied because his team played hot potato with the puck in front of him.
- 6:11 TOI for John Scott at forward. *sigh*
- Ben Smith is really fast - I see good things for this kid. He'll need a little more time in the A to put it all together. Also glad to see Ryan Potulny to get the call up for the injured Bolland. I thought he looked solid in Rockford.
Overall I enjoyed my experience at the Xcel Center. It's a great place to catch a game. There were a surprising number of empty seats, and I'd say the crowd was about a third for the Blackhawks. We had two rows for our group in the 100 level in the end the Hawks shot at twice - a great view. We had some playful banter going on between us and the Wild fans in our area - good times.
No awards for either game as I'm trying to get this post done, but I will give you...
TOEWS-FACES OF THE GAME
That one's classic Toews-Face
I took this one myself during warmups. What a little goofus.
I'll do a picture spam post of all the photos I took of the trip. But now I'm off to work on getting them all uploaded...
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