Winter Classic Recap
by Killion on Jan 2, 2009 11:12 AM CST
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PrintI'm all rested (kinda) and the only one in the office today so I've got the time to write up more of the experience of the Winter Classic. This is a short intro because I'm going to include a lot of pictures.. All the pictures I took before the game came out pretty dark (shitty camera) and then during the game I didn't take many because it was harder to work a camera with gloves on... The recap is much more about the experience than the game.. because the game itself sucked while the experience was unforgettable..
Please feel free to share your photos or experiences from the event in FanPosts or just in links via the comments section...
Sorry if it takes a while for the page to load.. hope you stick with it... enjoy
The atmoshpere outside the game was electric... you could tell everyone was excited and there was a ton of shit talking going on between fans though all of it was good natured, or as good natured as it can be between these two fan bases. Plenty of "Detroit Sucks" chants starting up randomly
My favorite line came from seeing a guy walking down Sheffield waving a giant red wings fan. A guy up on the concourse area of the bleachers sees him and yells "Hey - Shove that flag up your ass, fucker"... the girl walking with the flag waver remarks "that's like the 6th person who has said that to you".
The line to get into the bleachers had me a bit worried but it moved really quickly... I was also near the marching band that was in the bleachers which is always a nice touch. I know it'd cost money in lost seats - but I don't know why more sporting events don't include bands like this... they always sound amazing and getting me way more excited than whatever shitty songs they play over the PA... Nice Daze sweater too..
I was amazed by the view from my seats. I was in dead center and pretty high up just under the scoreboard. It was far from the ice, but you could still see almost the whole rink - I was expecting much worse and didn't think it'd be this good. The scoreboard having that day's hockey games was a nice touch too..
The bleachers seemed to be way oversold - there was no room to move around once everyone sat down.. Maybe it was just because we were all in winter gear unlike Cubs games in the summer - but it was more packed than I've ever seen a game there before.. I don't think anyone was complaining though because it helped keep us warm. When they guy next to you got up to get a beer or take a piss.. you really felt a lot colder...
The entrances of both teams was a bit much... fog machines and fireworks? I guess it did look pretty badass though
The Anthems were awesome.. for some reason a lot of people in my section were singing along to "O, Canada".. so I gladly joined in along with them... No pictures of our anthem though - but check out the youtube video to get a good feel for how loud it was in the bleachers.... You got chills.. you got pumped.. you got hoarse
Right off the dropping of the puck.. the game looked like it was going to be intense.. Too bad the Hawks didn't keep up the pace they had in the opening minutes. That hit on Cleary was amazing. I was one of the few people who saw it from our section and was the only jackass who jumped up and yelled "HOWWEE LEE SHIT"
Intermissions were a good time to shoot the shit with people in your section - even as the game went on and the hawks looked like poop everyone was still in good spirits.. It was a good time to pose for pictures and have everyone in your section mock the one asshole who showed up in a Blues sweater..
At the end of the game you see once again all the rich people leaving the game early while everyone in the cheaper seats stay til the bitter end... The sun started to come out too which made for some nice pictures..
The post game handshakes were an interesting touch - We all fully expect these teams to meet in the playoffs. Maybe not this year, but soon. We could be seeing the birth of a renewed rivalry, but the Hawks are going to need to play a lot better than they did yesterday to get it off the ground.
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Great pics
I loved watching it from home here in AZ and went nuts when the Red Wing got checked into the Hawks bench! Game ON MF!
To shine a little sunshine up everyone’s behinds, this is the team we will have to overcome to become on of the elite of the NHL, and we got a hand’s on view this week on how to stay composed and work to win. If the Hawks learn and grow from this, we will succeed. If we get down and start to lose confidence, we’ll start sinking. I think that Q behind the bench won’t allow the players to dwell on this week and motivate them to get better and stronger.
"WGN, Channel 9 Cubs Baseball, Excitingly, Importantly, Dramatically Yours." - Jack Brickhouse
good pics.
sounds like you had a good time.
it will be interesting to see how the team responds to these two losses. hopefully they can get things going again when they play calgary on sunday.
---AC 00 00 00 - Believe
sweet
I love seeing pictures like that, reminds me of the pictures I took at the one game playoff between the sox and twins.
Looks like the tickets were worth it.
Whats the story on the police car? Were they using it like the blues brothers?
Yeah.. the guy driving it was dressed up as one of the Blues brothers… they were saying something but I can’t remember what now…
Yeah.. the guy driving it was dressed up as one of the Blues brothers… they were saying something but I can’t remember what now…I had never seen the car before but I can’t imagine it was just a one-time thing. They had a phone number on the car…
Great photos
and might I add that you and SamFels have done a great job with this site.
As others have said, let’s hope the boys learn from this week’s opponent and don’t get down. They have been doing so much better than most expected before the season, I’d hate to see them get into a funk.
Interesting discussion on the Score earlier
Basically asking if they are too overhyped putting needless pressure on the team (especially with a squad so young)… essentially putting alot of pressure on them.
I’m a Sox fan, but I think the hype can sometimes hurt the team on the North Side during the playoffs. I wouldn’t see why it would be any different with the Hawks. I know when I was playing hockey I wouldn’t perform as well against rival teams that I knew were supposedly better skillwise.
thanks for the compliment…
Not getting trapped into a losing streak is something the team this year hasn’t really faced. Every team loses a few games in a row in the season but not letting them get too prolonged is something I’m worried about. So far they’ve only lost 3 in a row but it’s happened a few times. I think we’d all like to see them snap this one Sunday though…
the cop car
just a guess…the phone number is the phone number to buy tickets
---AC 00 00 00 - Believe
i’m a detroiter who lives in chicago.
what is it with losing teams and their fans being losers as a result? hawks, cubs..
i know the blackhawks have sucked for entirety of most of your lifespans but this does not justify how lame hawks fans are at games. here we are on new years day playing outside and the only thing hawks fans can chant is “red wings suck”.
in detroit we do not even consider the hawks close rivals like we do colorado mostly due to the history of domination.
basically. pick on somebody your own size otherwise you just look stupid.
DETROIT SUCKS
It’s a tradition to chant “Detroit Sucks” at games no matter how bad or good the Hawks are.. just like our cheering during the anthem and your ritualistic murder and desecration of octopi corpses during the playoffs… deal with it.
by Killion on Jan 3, 2009 5:45 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Trailoftears, fitting name for a former [suburban] Detroiter.
Like others said, the “Detroit Sucks” chant is a tradition, much like your tradition of leaving your shit hole city to infect our own with that special brand of Michigan yuppie/redneck the first chance you get.
Enjoy the last few days of the Wings reign on top. Once that ends, there’s no way that dead city will be able to support the team through any down years. In 15 years, they’ll probably just become a Hawks AHL affiliate anyways.
Detroit sucks, man. Embrace it.
I'm a Blackhawks fan who lives in Syracuse
First of all, welcome to Second City Hockey. I see that you just joined today. I find it a little curious that you joined this site, rather than the Red Wings site, but I’m not here to judge you. We like to talk hockey, so that’s cool. And if you can’t vent on a blog, well then where can you vent?
As chicagokill points out, the “Detroit Sucks” chant is a tradition. In fact, it was prominently featured in a commercial about 9 or 10 years ago although it goes back much farther than that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1BFfTf8MNE
These types of traditions are part of what makes it fun to be a hockey fan. For instance, did you know that Rangers fans still chant “Potvin Sucks” when they play the Islanders, even though Denis Potvin retired a long time ago?
Your point about Colorado is well taken, but please remember that the Hawks and Wings are traditional rivals going back decades. So it is still a special rivalry, and it appears that it may become more prominent again.
I think that if you look at some other posts on this site, you’ll see that we have a tremendous amount of respect for the Red Wings, and recognize that they have obviously been a great team and organization for many years now. Just so you know, they were also pretty bad for a long time (1960’s -1980’s) before this current stretch. Point being, enjoy it while it lasts, because it won’t last forever. If you’re a true fan, you’ll stick with your team through the good and the bad. I’ve been a Hawks fan since the days of my favorite player, Tony Esposito, so I’ve seen the good and the bad with this team. But I have never regretted my choice to be a Hawks fan.
I’m not sure why you brought up the Cubs. While there are many Cubs fans on this site, not everyone is. I am not one – in fact, far from it. If you’d like to vent to Cubs fans, feel free to head on over to Bleed Cubbie Blue. Meanwhile, feel free to talk hockey here all you want.
Go HAWKS!
Hawks/Wings playoffs
I expect the second round, this year.
HOCKEENIGHT.COM...home of FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS and LEAVE IT TO BETTMAN...now with PODCASTING!!!
True Fan
First off, great post. I really, really wanted to go to the game, but had prior commitments (free private flight to and from Vegas) for the New Years weekend. That video of the anthem is awesome…I could only hear a little bit of it towards the end; simply amazing.
Secondly, I can’t say I agree with the one of the quotes above from Edbird. “If you’re a true fan, you’ll stick with your team through the good and the bad.” That may ring true for most sports teams, but not for those owned by Bill Wirtz. About the time when Roenick and Belfour left, my Dad had really had enough. He used to go to 15-20 games a year back in the 60s and loved watching Bobby Hull. From the mid 90s until Wirtz died, we really turned our attention to the minor league team near us (The Quad City Mallards). Of course, we wanted the Hawks to win and would would catch road games on tv when we could, but that was enough for him…and if that was enough for him, it was certainly enough for me during my middle school years.
With that being said, I’m unbelievably happy and pleasantly surprised with everything that has happened the last two seasons. Last year’s second half was an exciting ride up until the very end. I’ve already been to ten games this year and even have turned some of my friends into pretty big Hawk fans.
chicityhockey
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