Postgame Recap: January 15 - Like Father, Like Son

When the 2010-11 schedule first came out, one of the first things I did was check to see when the first Saurday matinee games were.  The reason being, I wanted to know when I could take my son to his first game of the year.

This was not going to be his first Bruins game however.  That special experience happened last season on Halloween when the Bruins shutout the Oilers 2-0. He followed up that game with a tilt against the Flames on March 27 where the Bruins shutout Calgary 5-0.  So basically, my son has never seen the Bruins give up a goal.  At least against Canadian teams.  At least against Canadian teams from Alberta.

Not only do I get to spend some QT with my son, but he genuinely is interested in the play on the ice.  I took him down to section 20 by the glass for warmups and he loved watching the players skate around.

So, with the Penguins in town for the traditional January 1:00 pm start, I felt that this was an opportune time to bring Dana to see his first game of the year.  Not only that, but there was some nice symmetry to this.  My first ever Bruins game was also against Pittsburgh.  That was on March 9, 1985 as the Bruins lost to the Pens 6-5 in overtime at the old Garden.

Let's see how it played out:

Just the facts, Jack (Edwards)

• Regular Season game #42, home game #21
• Boston Bruins (24-12-7, 1st in Northeast Div.) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (27-14-4, 2nd in Atlantic Div.)
• Third meeting of the season between these teams with the Bruins winning the first two, both on the road (7-4 on 11-10 and 4-2 on 1/10)

John Blue Plate Special

Having Dana with me meant that it was probably not the best idea to do the traditional 2 hour pregame at the Fours.  However, my wife had a baby shower downtown at the same time as the game, so it made perfect sense for all of us to drive in together and park at the Government Center Garage.  That was $25 well spent.  We got into town around 11:45 and headed over to the Fours so I could let the staff see Dana (as they hear/ask about him all the time).  We stopped by to see Mike downstairs and headed up to meet Heather and Robin.  It wasn't too crowded, and Dana wanted to be with Jen, so I ordered a quick drink for us.  I had a Captain and diet, Jen had a water and Dana had a big glass of milk.  Of course, I managed to come the one day that they had the buffalo chicken rangoons on the menu and I wasn't going to have a meal there.

Inside, Dana was treated to a hot dog and one of Heather's famous black & gold cookies. I had a bite of his hot dog.  Didn't matter, Dana was happy.

The Couture Corner

Here's the problem with Pittsburgh - they are one of the "hot" teams right now.  The NHL is riding the Sidney Crosby wave as long as it can.  Throw in young stars like Evgeny Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury and how can you not blame them for trying to capitalize on their Q-factor.  But as with anything that's "in", fans tend to flock to it.  And that means a lot of front runners.  And that in turn means loads and loads of Crosby and Malkin sweaters - home, away, 2008 Winter Classic and 2011 Winter Classic.  But not much else.

Well, there was the guy in the late 90s Martin Straka road jersey (no pic, unfortunately) and the guy in the 1992 Mario Lemieux road jersey (same).

And this guy:

1992-2002 Mario Lemieux home

I always liked the style of these.  The shoulders were unique (until the Panthers came along) and the streamlined chest logo was a nice upgrade from the Skating Penguin one.
And the guy wearing this sweater was actually very nice.

So I'll allow it:

The Row 12 Rundown

As mentioned earlier, this was Dana's season debut.  We also had Robin for the last of game of jer 3 game homestand.  But there were a bunch of absences including Tim & Maureen and the Hoyts.  Some people have to work on Saturday afternoons and it is ski season, afterall.

But we did get a special cameo by our friend Tina, who brought a foam Bruins puck for Dana. Thanks Tiner!

Doosh of the Day

This one's easy.  It's not just proper eitiquette, but common sense:  If a row has, say, 24 seats and you're sitting in seat 16, you don't go back to your seat by walking by the people in seats 1-15.  It's not cool.  Even worse is if, say, one of the people is holding a toddler and can't really get out of the way all that easily.

So, to the lady who did this midway through the second period, during play, no less - congrats.  You're the Doosh of the Day.

The Clothes Line

Saturday mantinees usually mean the Bruins break out their alternate sweaters. So I decided to wear mine as well. And Dana wore his Milan Lucic home jersey.  Sadly, this may have been the last time he gets to wear that as it's rapidly becoming tight on him.

The Lobel Prize

The Penguins don't have any former Bruins on their roster.  So no harm, no foul here.

The Home End

After a bunch of exciting games and offensive explosions (4-2, 6-0 and 7-5), the Bruins were due for a letdown game.  Even though Sidney Crosby was out with a concussion, the Penguins managed to get 3 pucks by Tuuka Rask.  Despite landing 46 shots on Fleury, the Bruins could only score twice (in a 13 second span).  And with that, Dana's pefect record is no more.  But for a 2 year old, he did great.  Not only did he make it through the entire game, but he was even up for hitting the Four's afterward, even if it was just to wait for mom.