My night out at the UC (United Center for you out-of-towners) was not, in fact, to see the circus, as the Bulls were in Washington getting paraded around by the Wizards (heh heh).
I went to see the Hawks, the Mighty? Blaaaaaackhawks.. catchy little tune they play over there.
The night started out with a long, cold walk from the Blue line Medical Center stop, past Malcolm Ten College, to the concrete-deco palace known around these parts as the quietest place to watch a sporting event. After heading to the 300 level, the choices for food and drink were mind numbing. Do I choose Bud/Bud Light/Bud Select and nachos from the food concessions closest to my section run by Arnesha, or the same selection one section over run by Showanda? How far will $40 go on $5.50/beers? How far does this hallway go?
Pregame
Commitment, pride, toughness. I can't tell you how many times these words were up on the big screen during a seemingly 10 minute video-orgy. All the old players from the 50's and 60's were featured, as well as a select list of more recent players that I grew up watching. Denis Savard (of course, he's the head coach now), a quick glance of Dirk Graham, and that's pretty much it. What happened to the players who gave the franchise its greatest teams and best moments in the last 40 years? Where is Jeremy Roenick, Doug Wilson, Eddie Belfour, or even Mike Keenan? The guys who got you to the Stanley Cup finals. What about the savior Tony Amonte?
First Period
I'm pissed because I wanted to see Martin Havlat play, but he was out with his groin on a date at Gibsons. Buffalo scores pretty quickly and easily. Bang-bang play around the net as Hecht scores, from Pominville. Khabibulin looks like a rented mule on the play (see photo). The Hawks dump-and-dump offense is not working against the speedy Sabres team. I'm guessing this won't be a good night for the home team.
Then, the greatest thing I've ever seen at a hockey game came with 13:05 left in the 1st period. The Ice Crew, skating shovel-girls come out. I'm talking about the skinniest, bending-overest girls wearing short skirts and high socks making their way around the boards and nets shoveling as much ice-fur as they could during the timeout (not a TV timeout, cuz Hawks games aren't on TV). And I'm spent. The Ice Crew then comes out again, like 3 more times before the end of the first period. Apparently, there was a lot of ice-fur to be scooped.
Second Period
Snoozer. More Ice Crew. More ridiculous penalties. Like, a Sabre defenseman takes a slapshot from the point, nailing his forward in the leg in front of the net. The forward goes down, puck goes out to the point again, another pass, a shot from the slot nails the forward who is just returning to his skates after the first shot. This one nails him in the chest, I think, and he goes down like a pile of bricks. Ref calls cross checking on the Hawks, apparently based on the initial shot from the point that nailed the guy in the leg. Me no understand.
Third Period
Ice Crew video scrapbook and behind the scenes dressing room stuff. Noice. Two words. Maxim Afinogenov. This guy can play, and he showed with a nifty, patient, leaning wrister past Khabibulin early in the 3rd. With 50 seconds left in the game the Hawks score, giving the 8000 in attendance, 50 seconds of hope.
Summary
Hawks lose 2-1. The Hawks have zero, skilled players right now. I haven't seen Martin Havlat play, but I suspect he is their only weapon. The Hawks outshoot the Sabres 35-29, but all of their shots simply peppered the goalie. They are missing the short passing game in the offensive zone that Buffalo most obviously has, which makes their 31-9 record understandable. The Hawks are lucky to be near .500 halfway thru the season. At least I saw one good hockey team, which made my half price ticket almost seem worth it.
I went to see the Hawks, the Mighty? Blaaaaaackhawks.. catchy little tune they play over there.
The night started out with a long, cold walk from the Blue line Medical Center stop, past Malcolm Ten College, to the concrete-deco palace known around these parts as the quietest place to watch a sporting event. After heading to the 300 level, the choices for food and drink were mind numbing. Do I choose Bud/Bud Light/Bud Select and nachos from the food concessions closest to my section run by Arnesha, or the same selection one section over run by Showanda? How far will $40 go on $5.50/beers? How far does this hallway go?
Pregame
Commitment, pride, toughness. I can't tell you how many times these words were up on the big screen during a seemingly 10 minute video-orgy. All the old players from the 50's and 60's were featured, as well as a select list of more recent players that I grew up watching. Denis Savard (of course, he's the head coach now), a quick glance of Dirk Graham, and that's pretty much it. What happened to the players who gave the franchise its greatest teams and best moments in the last 40 years? Where is Jeremy Roenick, Doug Wilson, Eddie Belfour, or even Mike Keenan? The guys who got you to the Stanley Cup finals. What about the savior Tony Amonte?
First Period
I'm pissed because I wanted to see Martin Havlat play, but he was out with his groin on a date at Gibsons. Buffalo scores pretty quickly and easily. Bang-bang play around the net as Hecht scores, from Pominville. Khabibulin looks like a rented mule on the play (see photo). The Hawks dump-and-dump offense is not working against the speedy Sabres team. I'm guessing this won't be a good night for the home team.
Then, the greatest thing I've ever seen at a hockey game came with 13:05 left in the 1st period. The Ice Crew, skating shovel-girls come out. I'm talking about the skinniest, bending-overest girls wearing short skirts and high socks making their way around the boards and nets shoveling as much ice-fur as they could during the timeout (not a TV timeout, cuz Hawks games aren't on TV). And I'm spent. The Ice Crew then comes out again, like 3 more times before the end of the first period. Apparently, there was a lot of ice-fur to be scooped.
Second Period
Snoozer. More Ice Crew. More ridiculous penalties. Like, a Sabre defenseman takes a slapshot from the point, nailing his forward in the leg in front of the net. The forward goes down, puck goes out to the point again, another pass, a shot from the slot nails the forward who is just returning to his skates after the first shot. This one nails him in the chest, I think, and he goes down like a pile of bricks. Ref calls cross checking on the Hawks, apparently based on the initial shot from the point that nailed the guy in the leg. Me no understand.
Third Period
Ice Crew video scrapbook and behind the scenes dressing room stuff. Noice. Two words. Maxim Afinogenov. This guy can play, and he showed with a nifty, patient, leaning wrister past Khabibulin early in the 3rd. With 50 seconds left in the game the Hawks score, giving the 8000 in attendance, 50 seconds of hope.
Summary
Hawks lose 2-1. The Hawks have zero, skilled players right now. I haven't seen Martin Havlat play, but I suspect he is their only weapon. The Hawks outshoot the Sabres 35-29, but all of their shots simply peppered the goalie. They are missing the short passing game in the offensive zone that Buffalo most obviously has, which makes their 31-9 record understandable. The Hawks are lucky to be near .500 halfway thru the season. At least I saw one good hockey team, which made my half price ticket almost seem worth it.
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