I sat in section 404, which is upper-level and sort of in the corner. It didn't matter that we were high up since hockey doesn't have any bad seats. It's easier to follow the puck from the upper-level than it is on TV. Perhaps HDTV will help the NHL avoid going back to the glowing puck, but I don't think it'll ever be anything more than a niche sport. I'm a psuedo New Jersey Devils fan having grown up 15 minutes from the Meadowlands, but the NHL was never bigger than baseball, football, and basketball among my group of friends. I usually become a fairweather fan in the playoffs if the Devils are doing well. So Friday night I donned a borrowed Brendan "Shanni" Shanahan jersey and became a Red Wings fan. This served me well since the arena seemed to have lots of other Detroit fans and I didn't want to anger the people who got me the tickets. It was a good game until Detroit pulled away in the 3rd for a 4-3 victory. The caps failure to convert a 5-3 power play really hurt.
Some of the game's noteworthy events:
-Chris Chelios firing a puck at us during practice, scaring the $h!t out of me.
-At 2 minutes into the game, I saw the Capitals' "Slapshot" mascot bird and yelled, "You Suck!" to the appreciation of other Red Wings fans.
-The first intermission game between lots of young kids was exciting, with a last-minute goal scored by a kid who ignored his two open teammates on a 3 on 1. I felt pathetic after this because all of them could skate better than me. When I ice skate, I'm just happy to stop when I want to and not fall.
-The 3rd period accidental goal horn, making all of the Caps fans stand and cheer, only it let us yell, "Haha. Sit down!"
-Seeing a goal scored at the 19:59 mark of the 3rd period.
-Sadly watching Yzerman try to turn, only to have it look like his bad knees give out.
-Singing "The Hockey Song" was fun.
-Seeing just how aggressively-stupid Chris Osgood plays. As the guy next to me said, "I think Osgood is trying out for forward." Osgood seemed out of place about 3 times a period, as if I was controlling him using "Manual Goalie" in NHL 95, and playing every puck 6 feet from the goal.
-The back and forth banter between drunk Caps fan in the last row and every Detroit fan willing to chime in (you had to be there of course). Including (with some poetic license):
Caps fan: Your city smells!
Red Wings fan: Oh yeah? How's anacostia?
Caps fan: Detroit sucks!
Red Wings fan: How many stanley cups have you won? Even the Mystics have more banners!
Caps fan: Get out of here!
Red Wings fan: Okay we will, now that we've won. (All the funnier b/c it was said by an older man who had been quiet all game.)
The Metro ride back was pretty bad. Since we weren't in a position to walk to the Metro Center stop after the game, we took Galleryplace/Chinatown with everyone else. It was madness. The cars were incredibly cramped like a very busy rush hour. As we got on, one of my compatriots got her leg caught amongst the passengers as people pushed onboard, requiring a solid elbow push back. I put my arm across the door so nobody else could get on b/c we were totally cramped. However, this father pushed his two kids underneath my arm as they crammed on. It was pretty chaotic and scary. The silliest thing is that 70% of the people who boarded at the MCI Center got off 1-stop later at Metro Center. If they were mostly tourists who didn't know they could walk two blocks down, that's fine, but I bet most of them were locals who should know better and could have made the walk.
Despite the incident on the Metro, it was a great time. Seeing the players up close was my highlight and having my cohorts be happy on the ride back was a very good thing.
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