The Winter Classic!

On Christmas morning, C and I opened a package that contained a poem written by my mom in the style of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, which detailed a surprise trip to the Winter Classic.  She made me read it aloud and I could almost not make it through the poem because I was speechless as its meaning slowly dawned on me.  I was in shock.  Absolute shock.  C and I just kept looking at each other in disbelief and looking at our family in case this was an elaborate practical joke.

We don’t just love hockey.  We LOVE hockey.  Every night, there is hockey on at our house – even when one of the teams we like isn’t playing, we watch hockey.  When there are no games on, we have the NHL network on and we watch shows about hockey.  When we are in the car, we discuss hockey.  When we are not together, we text each other stories about hockey.  In our closet there are more hockey-related hats, jerseys, t-shirts, and hoodies than is probably acceptable for people of our age, and guess what? – we’re proud of that fact! And as I have written about previously, we spent two-and-a-half seasons seeing games in all 30 arenas.  So in this house, it’s hockey, hockey, and more hockey.  We slip into a deep depression over the summer and count down the days until hockey season starts again.

As far as teams go, we are faithful Maple Leafs fans.  Toronto is our home team, and no matter where we live around the world, we will always cheer for the Maple Leafs over every other team – even other teams whose players we like.

Which brings me to our second favorite teams.  C’s is the Colorado Avalanche because one of his favorite all-time (non-Leafs) player is Joe Sakic.  My second favorite team is the Detroit Red Wings and my reason is very straightforward:  Steve Yzerman.  As an eighth grader, I fell in love with him and devoted myself to the Red Wings as a result.  For my entire ninth grade year - nerd alert! - I wore red Converse high tops with every outfit because they were my "Yzerman" shoes.  Over the years, I began to develop a similar appreciation for another one of their players – Henrik Zetterberg (and I could not have been more thrilled when he was named team captain last January when Nicklas Lidstrom retired).  Zetterberg is currently my very favorite Red Wing and I don't see that fact changing anytime soon.  So except when they play Toronto, I always cheer for Detroit.

One of our favorite games from our arena adventure was when we saw the Avalanche host the Red Wings – C wore his Sakic jersey and I wore my Zetterberg jersey.  There is no love lost between these two teams and I spent the entire time madly clutching C’s hand so I wouldn’t be yelled at for wearing the Red Wings jersey (although it turns out the Avalanche fans were very lovely people and I had nothing to worry about, which C still attributes to me being a girl and I still attribute it to me holding the hand of an Avalanche fan before, during, and after the game).

The reasoning behind the other two teams I love are not difficult to understand.  One is the Los Angeles Kings – everything about them is crowns, which clearly relates to my name, and I had a bunch of their team signs up around my royalty-themed classroom each year.  I’ve followed them for about the past twenty years and what a thrill it was when they won the Cup in 2012!  The other team I support is the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Not only has my dad lived in the area for more than twenty years, but I lived there for about five-and-a-half years.  I freely admit that I only considered myself a casual fan of the Penguins until Sidney Crosby arrived.  As a fan of the game of hockey, I am in awe of his talent.  He is spectacular.  Plain and simple.  And anyone who says otherwise is either not a hockey fan or roots for a team other than the Penguins and therefore dislikes him by default.  Either way, if someone cannot appreciate what he has done for the game and what he brings to the ice every day, I don’t have much respect for his or her thoughts on hockey.  Whether or not you’re a Pens fan, a true hockey fan can respectfully acknowledge greatness when they see it.  There are many skilled players whose talent I can appreciate even if I am not a fan of their team because I love hockey and I love when someone brings grace, athleticism, and astonishing ability to the league.

Needless to say, the 2008 and 2009 Stanley Cup Finals were both exhilarating and excruciating for me!

Before I get to the game, I wanted to write a few words about Detroit.  I honestly cannot say enough good things about Detroit.  The airport was fantastic (I don't often feel this way about airports) but what really impressed me were the people.  From the cab drivers we had to and from the airport, to the Red Wings fans at the hotel, on the bus, at the pre-game party, at the game, and at the airport, to the hotel staff, to the TSA personnel - seriously, everyone was incredible.  Probably the best trip we've ever taken anywhere in terms of the people we met.  The gentleman who sat with us on our flight home was a Detroit native, and he was delightful company, chatting about sports and music and travel like we were old friends.   Even the gate agent who jokingly announced loudly to all of the passengers waiting to board our flight home that anyone wearing a Leafs jersey would have to go to the end of the line (and she made this announcement while looking right at us) smiled and congratulated us on the win when she took our boarding passes.  Every single person we encountered was truly wonderful.  So, thank you, Detroit!!!

On to the Winter Classic…what a way to start the new year!  Three things were very clear to me before the game and proved true on January 1:

      1)    There is no hockey like Original Six hockey.

      2)    There is no hockey like outdoor hockey.

      3)    There is no hockey like a matchup between my two favorite teams.

We wore these on our flight to Detroit and for the two alumni games at Comerica Park on New Year’s Eve (which also happened to be our 19^th wedding anniversary).  The fact that after twenty-seven years of cheering for him, I finally saw Steve Yzerman play in person was AWESOME.  This was a day to celebrate the history of both teams and the crowd cheered as each player was introduced.  But no player in the stadium received louder or more enthusiastic cheers than Steve Yzerman.  It was so great to be in Detroit to take part in this reception in the city where he captained the team for twenty years.  The electricity in the air was palpable and it is something I will never forget.  So for that day, I proudly wore my Red Wings jersey and C proudly wore his Leafs jersey.  What a delight to witness the joy on the faces of these former players who love the game of hockey.  Chris Chelios scoring a goal and then sliding across the ice on his back?  Priceless.

Wednesday was a different story.  This was the real deal and the outcome of the game actually mattered, so it was Leafs all the way.  My Leafs jersey is Tomas Kaberle's - a former Toronto defenceman I adore.

We started the day by taking a charter bus with fellow attendees from our hotel in Detroit to Ann Arbor, where the game was played at “The Big House” – Michigan Stadium at the University of Michigan.  We had a pre-game party at the field house that included food, drinks, music, and a chance to meet with other fans.  It was a lot of fun and it was clear that the fans of both teams realized that what we were about to experience was bigger than either Detroit or Toronto.  Everyone was in high spirits and basking in a shared adoration of the game.

Our seats were really good – row 21, between the blue line and the goal (which turned out to be the goal used in the shootout, so that worked out perfectly!).  It snowed the entire game and it was cold.  VERY cold.  When I checked my phone, the weather report said it felt like 1°F.  Yikes!  Although we did not witness this ourselves, a couple of people we talked to at the airport the next day told us they saw several people being taken out on stretchers to be treated for hypothermia during the game.  C and I headed over to the stadium around 11:30 and got back to the bus after the game around 6:30, so we endured the brutal temperatures for seven long hours.

Our section was approximately 90% Leafs fans and 10% Red Wings fans and the overall attendance was reported as 105,491.  That is just unbelievable to me!  I have previously written about my feelings regarding rude and disrespectful fans at various sporting events, but as far as I am concerned, the fans at the Winter Classic were phenomenal as they cheered for their team and for the sport itself.

The game…what can I say that hasn’t already been said by people far more eloquent than me?  When Detroit scored with six minutes left in the game, I thought every Leafs fans in our general area was going to have a heart attack.  And then when Zetterberg appeared to have a guaranteed goal within reach, only to be stopped by the buzzer at the halfway point of OT so the teams could switch ends, I thought those same Leafs fans had never been so relieved to hear a buzzer in their entire lives!  And witnessing Zetterberg projected on the big screen when that happened with a huge grin on his face was fantastic (have I mentioned that I love this guy?).  Finally, the game determined by a nail-biting shootout?  The world’s finest writer could not have scripted this any better.

When Bozak scored to win the game, the fans erupted.  I’m not sure I’ve ever before been in the presence of such jubilation!  Even Detroit fans in our section were high-fiving everyone around them, although admittedly this could have been because the end of the game meant everyone could finally get out of the cold!

The finale is what makes hockey superior to other sports – the post-game handshake tradition.  I am very sentimental about stuff like that, and watching the captains, Phaneuf and Zetterberg, shake one another’s hand and then lead their team through the line to shake the hand of each of their opponents was poetic and moving.

As part of the package that was our Christmas gift, we were allowed to go down to ice level after the game.  While we weren’t allowed on the actual playing surface, we were able visit and sit on both team’s benches and take in the majesty of the stadium from the same vantage point as the players.  At that point, we were so caught up in the moment that it didn’t matter that we were so cold I could barely move my fingers in order to take any photos!

We got back on our charter bus around 6:30 and returned to Detroit, freezing and exhausted and happy.  I am not sure we will ever have another fan experience like this one.  Certainly there will be other games, and the Olympics are right around the corner.  We still refuse to delete Canada’s defeat of the US on our DVR almost four years later, and even now, I get chills when I watch Crosby score that gold-medal-winning goal!  Our sweet godson also plays hockey, so we look forward to a lifetime of his practices and games.  But to imagine something that will top this is impossible right now.  However, I’ll let you know how I feel when the Leafs win the Cup.

The Hockey Song, by Stompin’ Tom Connors, which was played during the game (as it has been played at every NHL game I've ever attended) sums everything up simply and perfectly:

“Oh, the good ol' hockey game is the best game you can name,

And the best game you can name is the good ol' hockey game!”

This last picture is not from the event, but rather the airport when when were waiting for our flight home.  It's not been our experience to see snow plows clearing the runways and gate areas!

Happy Tails to you!