Postgame Recap - 11/26: Man, Oh Manitoba

November 21, 1995.

Just over 16 years ago, on a Tuesday night, the Bruins last hosted an NHL franchise hailing from the capital of the Canadian province of Manitoba.  Courtesy of a hat trick by Jozef Stumpel (sorry, Patty!) the B's would go on to defeat the original (at least the NHL version) of the Winnipeg Jets by a score of 5-4 in the first season at the brand new FleetCenter. The Bruins also got goals from Ray Bourque and Chelmsford homie Steve Leach while Medford native Keith Tkachuk (2 goals), Teemu Selanne and Current Blackhawks/Versus/NBC commentator Eddie Olczyk scored for the Jets. The immortal Scott Bales manned the crease for the Bruins while current Edmonton Oiler Nicolai Khabibulin tended the Winnipeg net. Also playing for the Jets in that game was one Shane Doan, currently the only player still with the franchise including their relocation to the Arizona desert in the 1996-7 season.

The Bruins would take a 5-3 decision in Winnipeg on the last day of 1995 with Cam Neely and Ted Donato chipping in with 2 goals a piece against onetime Bruins netminder Tim Cheveldae as Craig Billington got the win.

And that was the end of NHL hockey in Winnipeg.

Until now.

The demise of the Atlanta Thrashers led to the relocation of the team to the middle of Canada and the rebirth of the Winnipeg Jets name.  Though the new team is a completely separate entity from the team currently toiling in obscurity in Glendale (the Coyotes are the official inheritors of the original Jets history, including retired numbers), the fanbase has taken to the new version with a fervor that few other markets can match.  They play in the MTS Centre, the smallest arena in the league, but tickets are pretty much sold out for the entire season and the few that are available can be had for a hefty sum.  The team is not all that great, having been picked by the pundits to finish somewhere near the bottom of the standings, but they had been somewhat hot of late, with a 4-0-1 record coming into the game.

Which brings us to this past Saturday night. A long holiday weekend tilt, the second half of a back to back homestand against the reborn Jets.  Let's see how it played out.

Just the facts, Jack (Edwards)

• Boston Bruins (13-7-1) vs. Winnipeg Jets (9-9-4)
• Bruins riding an 11 game point streak, having lost in a shootout a day earlier to the Detroit Red Wings, halting their 10 game winning streak
• First game against the Jets since they relocated from Atlanta

John Blue Plate Special

I had flown back from Baltimore earlier in the day, having spent the Thanksgiving holiday with my family at my wife's in-laws.  I had missed attending the Detroit game, but thankfully I was able to watch it on the national NBC broadcast (which was great, I may add).

Having got home fairly early, we were able to get home and unpack and get some stuff done around the house.  But because we had to get up at 6:00 am, we were all somewhat exhausted.  My wife and son fell asleep and I relaxed with some NHL network.  Around 3:30, I headed out into town for the game.  A quick jump on the orange line and I was at the Fours, meeting up with Heather.  

The downstairs was pretty much full, as I had expected given the slate of college football games on the schedule.  So we headed upstairs and were able to land a couple of seats at the bar fairly easily.  Perhaps it was residual tryptophan in people's blood streams or the fact that many season ticket holders gave up their seats for the night, but the pregame crowd was lame.  No energy whatsoever.  Saturday night games are special and ever-increasingly rare and here was a game against a Canadian opponent still with some of that new car smell and people could have seemed less excited. Add to that the fact that Heather was feeling a bit under the weather and the whole scene left something to be desired.

With my partner in crime not having much of an appetite, I had carte blanche to order whatever I wanted off the menu. I went with the Bobby Orr, teriyaki style with cheese, peppers and onions.  I dare you to find a better pregame meal in the city.  Good luck, because you won't.

Couture Corner

Nostalgia is big these days.  Reebok, through their purchase of CCM/Koho, has been able to capitalize on this wave by reissuing some of the sweaters worn by many of the defunct and relocated NHL franchises including such teams as the Hartford Whalers, Minnesota North Stars, Quebec Nordiquies and, of course, the original Winnipeg Jets.

I fully expected to see one or two Teemu Selanne and Keith Tkachuk replicas and sure enough, when I walked into the Fours, I was greeted by a blue #13.  But I wanted more.  And thanks to a conversation with fellow 307 resident Cornelius Hardenbergh, the bar was set: Dale Hawerchuk.

Did I find my white whale?

You'd better believe it!

Circa 1982 Dale Hawerchuk Winnipeg Jets away replica

A close cousin to the disco era New York Rangers uniforms of the late 70s, the Jets wore this design from their inception to 1990. Not the greatest look in my book, but simple and effective.

What else did I find?

Atlanta Thrashers Andrew Ladd and Bryan Little home replicas

I almost felt bad for these guys.  Here they were to support the team they had (seemingly) rooted for only to have the franchise move to greener pastures north of the border.  But for whatever sense of sympathy I might have had for them, it was undone by the fact that they chose to purchase these sweaters.  First introduced in 2003 as an alternate, this design became the home sweater in 2006 and survived the Reebok edge revamp the following season.  I don't mind the color of the body; In fact, I kind of like it.  But the asymmetrical sleeve treatment along with the "Atlanta" down the left side just plain sucks.  The hemline striping and the crest are great, but this just screams "small market shenanigans".

Benoit Pouliot Sudbury Wolves home replica

Before Benny was on his way to being a first round bust in Minnesota and Montreal, he was skating for the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League.  Coming off a monster season in junior (he went 29-38-67 with 102 PIMs in 67 games), he was drafted #4 overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.

The Row 11 Rundown

Being a Saturday night, Bill and Carol weren't in attendance, but we had John Barry man seat 11 and Chris was the designated Kasper representative.  Charla and the kids weren't there either.  And Heather had to make an early exit as she wasn't in the best of shape due to illness.

Doosh of the Day

After a brief hiatus, we are back with DoTD.  And this time the award goes to the bitchy girls in row 10 (big surprise) who showed up 5 minutes into the game and decided to enter the section while play was going on in our end of the rink, clearly not paying any attention to the signs imploring ticket holders to wait for the whistle.  Granted, the lack of an usher working at the entrance didn't help, but I also didn't need nor appreciate the bitchy retort when I asked them to grab a seat after their prolonged failure to find their actual seats and sit down so we could see the action on the ice.

The Bob Lobel Prize

When the Bruins acquired Rich Peverley from the Thrashers near the trade deadline last year, the gave up forward Blake Wheeler and defensemen Mark Stuart in return.  And Saturday night marked their first return to the Garden ice since that transaction. 

Wheels had an assist on the first Jets goal, recorded one shot on goal and finished with a -1 rating.

Stu also had one shot on net, but finished a +1 on the night.

In all, neither had a major impact on the game.  No real harm done.

The Home End

Perhaps showing the effects of playing a tough game against the Red Wings a day earlier, the Bruins came out of the gate looking a bit sluggish and it showed with Tim Thomas giving up two goals midway through the first.  But Zdeno Chara potted a power play strike from the right faceoff circle to cut the deficit in half a few minutes later. Chris Kelly struck for second period two goals, the first a shorthanded effort, to give the Bruins the lead before Brad Marchand sealed the victory with an empty netter at the end of regulation.  In doing so, the Bruins were able to extend their point scoring streak to 11, garnering a remarkable 23 out 24 possible points in that span.

Up next: A home and home matchup against Phil Kessel and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Lucky Seven

Ok, ok, I know.  I've slacked off a bit.

Ok, a lot.

But I have an excuse.  For a blog that focuses on finding unique and rare hockey sweaters at Bruins games, this season has been a huge letdown.

Not that it was unexpected, though.  I fully assumed it'd be a lot tougher than in the past, just not this bad. With the Bruins the hottest ticket in town (actually, with the NBA lockout going on, the only ticket in town), the games are pretty much sold out and much like Fenway in 2005, you get a lot of people who pay a significant premium to go to a game just because its the socially in thing to do.  The problem with that, more often than not, is that these are not the die hard fans.  Consequently, you find that these people are the ones with the brand new t shirts with current players names on their backs or if you're lucky, a sweater.  But rarely, if ever, do they wear team apparel older than 2 or 3 years.  And that really, really limits the available selection of photo-worthy shots for this blog.

At the same time, with so many locals buying tickets, fans of the opposing teams are being frozen out.  And that is really taking its toll on my blog productivity.  Simply put, there just hasn't been that much out there for me to write about.  Since I last posted, teams that have huge traveling fanbases such as Toronto and Montreal have come here with only a smattering of their fans in attendance. Granted, those were Thursday night games, but usually the local colleges provide more than enough ex-pat students to make their presence known.  Not this year, however.

At the same time, teams such as San Jose and Los Angeles that are based in the western conference actually have decent fan representation due to their minor league affiliates being based nearby (Worcester and Manchester, respectively).  But there was nothing to be found when Joe Thornton and his crew came to town.

Adding to the insult, I missed the games against Carolina and the Islanders due to scheduling conflicts.  In all probability, I figure that there wasn't much I missed by the way of opponent apparel, though I always wonder if I blew a chance at finding the ever elusive Islanders "Fisherman" sweaters from the 1995-98 seasons.

And hey, while I'm at it, I would be remiss if I did not mention the 2 hour commute from my office in Marlborough to the game versus the Oilers on November 10th.  By all accounts, traffic was an absolute mess throughout the region during the evening rush hour commute, but my decision to exit the Pike at Copley Square and make my way across town via Boylston, Beacon and Bowdoin Streets only further compounded the problem.  By far, it was the worst commute into a game I could ever remember, including a good number of times driving into town in snowstorms.

Now that I've got all that negativity out of my system, let's move on to much more positive things (aka "The Good Stuff").  I'm going to forgo my normal restaurant reviews (rest assured, they'll be back), but I will mention that I ordered the boneless chicken fingers before the game against the Sabres by indicating to Ian behind the bar that I wanted them with the spicy sauce option, specifically avoiding using the traditional nomenclature associated with a certain western New York locale famed for their spicy chicken wings tossed in a hot pepper sauce.

So, without further adieu, onto the show:

Circa 2001 Curtis Joseph Maple Leafs home replica

Just a classy looking sweater.

Circa 2008 Jonathan Cheechoo San Jose home replica

This was literally the only Sharks sweater I saw in the entire building for the San Jose game.

Circa 2006 Dwayne Roloson Edmonton home replica

The Oilers only come into town every other year or so, so we don't get to see Edmonton fans all that much.  But thankfully, there were a few in attendance when the Oil came here.  And this was the first one I saw.  When you think Edmonton, you can't help to think about their classic royal blue and orange color scheme.  But in the 1996-7 season, Edmonton ditched it for a navy and copper one.  And it wasn't half bad.  They kept the striping pattern intact, so there was some connection to their original look.

Also, thins one caught my eye because Roloson is also a fellow UMass Lowell alum, one of the few in the NHL today.

80's Wayne Gretzky Oilers away replica

This one really needs no explanation other than to say that if I hadn't seen at least one of these at the game, I would have been greatly disappointed.

Late 80's Bill Ranford Edmonton home replica

For those not in the know, Ranford started his career with the Bruins but was traded to Edmonton late in the 1988 season for Andy Moog.  And of course, he was the backstop when the Oilers beat the Bruins for the Stanley Cup in 1990.

He was actually re-acquired by the Bruins in 1995 from Edmonton in a trade that sent Mariusz Czerkawsi and Sean Brown to the Oilers.  And strangely enough, both Czerkawski and Brown each had a second stint with the Bruins later in their careers as well.

Ranford's second stint with the Bruins concluded when he was packaged with Rick Tocchet and Adam Oates and sent to the Caps for Jason Alison, Anson Cater and Jim Carrey.

Late 90's Mats Sundin Toronto home replica

2001 Gary Roberts Toronto home replica

Sundin is synonymous with the Maple Leafs of the 90s and 00s.  Roberts was a douchebag.  But damn if those aren't two great looking sweaters.

Circa 1978 Gordie Howe New England Whalers home replica

Every season, I come across one sweater that is so unique, so outstanding that it blows me away.  This is the leader in the clubhouse so far.

At the ripe old age of 49, Mr. Hockey joined the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association from the Houston Aeros.  He also got to play alongside his sons Mark and Marty, hence the use of his full name on the nameplate.

2011 Jonas Enroth Bufalo away, home and alternate replicas

These people were all congregated together during intermission, so I'm figuring they were all family or friends of the Sabres' backup goalie.  I mean, it's the only logical conclusion, right?

2011 Scott Stevens Devils Alternate

Scott Stevens, the longtime Devils captain and defenseman retired after the 2004 season.  So why in the hell would anyone buy a current alternate with his name on it?  This is but one of my pet peeves when it comes to customizing sweaters.

Late 90's Kyle McLaren Bruins alternate replica

When these sweaters first came out in 1996, I thought the were an abomination.  The jagged shoulder yoke and hemline striping, the large "Bruins" patches on the shoulders and "Gentle Ben" bear head crest just made it such a weak attempt at an alternate design.  The colors were great.  I had been longing for a gold Bruins sweater for years, so I was excited when I heard they were finally going to have one for the first time since 1967.  But, man, were these a letdown.

That said, I probably will try to pick one of these up someday off of eBay.

Mid 90's Dominik Hasek Sabres away replica

I love this design.  The current Sabres set is supposed to be a modernized version of this, but it doesn't even come close.  The royal blue and gold trim on the shoulder yoke made this sweater.

Late 80's Andy Brickley Bruins away replica

There's a Bruins season ticket holder at the Garden that has a home Brick replica.  I see him a bunch of times throughout the year.  But this is the first away version that I can recall seeing.

Circa 1991-2 Scott Stevens Devils away replica

Unlike the doofus I mentioned earlier who had the 2011 version, this guy did it right.  This was from back when the Devils still had the green in their color scheme.  Much like that Hasek Sabres replica, the white trim around the shoulder yoke makes the green really pop.  This was a unique look back in the day, but the Devils' switch to black in the 1992-3 season worked out ok in my book.

2011 Patrik Elias Devils alternate replica

For the longest time, the Devils organization (GM Lou Lamoriello, in particular) refused to bring back the original green and red color scheme as an alternate sweater.  Finally, in 2010, the Devils brought them back for St. Paddy's Day.

1991-2 Martin Brodeur Devils away replica

He only wore this rendition during his rookie season.

2009-10 Tyler Seguin Plymouth Whalers home replica

All the traditional Hartford Whalers sweater greatness, but with none of the Nutmeg state suckiness!

Anwhere from 1983 to 1992 Ken Daneyko Devils away replica

As awesome as the Stevens and Brodeur red & green sweaters were, this one beats them.  Ken Daneyko was a lifelong Devil who never got the accolades afforded to some of his more skilled teammates, but ask and Devil fan who was the guy who typified the devils and more often than not, they'll name #3.

2000-1 Geoff Sanderson Columbus away replica

This was seriously the only Blue Jackets customized sweater I found in the entire Garden when Columbus played here.  And it happened to be that of Geoff Sanderson, the onetime Hartford Whaler who was an member of the inaugural 2000-1 Columbus squad.  This was actually a pretty decent sweater design.

Ok, that's it for now.  But I promise I'll be back, and far more often.

Thanks for watching.

Road Trip Recap, Part III - Seeing Red, The Madhouse on Madison

Previous Recaps: Part I | Part II

Being part of the Original Six brotherhood has some advantages: Logos that have stood the test of time, unparalleled history (both good and bad), a veritable who's who of hockey greats and iconic sweaters.  Sometimes, I take this for granted.  A midweek matchup against Columbus or Nashville just cannot ever come close to the juice one gets when the Bruins take on one of their Original Six brethren.

With the Rangers, Canadiens and Maple Leafs all in the same conference, we get to see those teams two (NYR) or three (MTL, TOR) times a year at home, guaranteed.  But when it comes to the Western Conference siblings, Detroit and Chicago, we might get to see them every other year at best due to NHL scheduling.

As I said earlier in Part i of my recap, Heather and I had first deigned on going to a Bruins/Blackhawks game a couple of seasons ago, but the logistics just didn't work out.  In the 2010 season, the Bruins hosted the Blackhawks at home.  So our next chance for a Windy City showdown was this year.

Fast forward, then, to October 15th as the defending Stanley Cup champions found themselves taking on the Blackhawks as we made our way to our first road trip of the season.  Our first time at the United Center, we were beyond excited for some Saturday night hockey, midwest style.  Let's see how it played out.

You Can't Get There From Here

Oh, but you can.

After we finished up our tour of the Willis (Sears) tower, we didn't have enough time to head back to the hotel, so we decided to go straight to the stadium instead.  We headed over towards the El, but the locals, seeing that we were all decked out in our Black and Gold regalia, suggested that the bus might be better (and quicker) option.  Thanks to the fine folks at the Chicago Transit Authority, we were able to hop on the #20 bus at the corner of Wells and Madison and shoot right over to the United Center.  Unlike my beloved Boston, Chicago is laid out as a grid and the public transportation system is far more reliable, so moving around the city is incredibly easy.

We somehow got off one stop earlier than we should have (we would have been dropped off right outside the Stadium), but it was only a two minute walk and we were able to get some quality camera shots along the way.

A Shared Kinship of Sorts


We arrived before the stadium gates opened which allowed us to mingle a bit with a bunch of the fans who were lined up outside.  There were a bunch of fellow Bruins fans so we exchanged hi-fives and general pleasantries with them as we milled about.

Now, having been to away games in Montreal, Toronto and both eastern New York venues, I've steeled myself a bit when it comes to dealing with opposing fans.  For the most part, the vast majority of people are decent and respectful, but there's always a few bad apples in the bunch.  I've borne the brunt of taunts in the last row of the blue seats at Madison Square Garden as the B's were eviscerated 7-0 by the Rangers on St. Paddy's day.  I've enjoyed been sworn at in French from upset Habs fans as the Bruins took two points in Montreal on St. Paddy's Day. I've suffered the indignity of being taunted by a bunch of 12 year old girls outside the Air Canada Center after Phil Kessel potted the game winner for the Leafs in shootout on my birthday.  And, by far the worst experience was in Long Island as the boys in the spoked B sweaters were handed a beating by the Islanders and the "fans" spewed the most vile and profane comments at us that I'd ever heard at a sporting event.

It goes without saying that I take an overly cautious approach when I engage fans of the other team.  I try to be respectful, reading and reacting rather than being open up front.  If I sense that some people are up for some good natured jousting, I'll go ahead and give it to them, fully expecting something thrown back at me.  But I've also learned not to let my guard down completely.

The old school satin jacket lends major
street cred to one's hockey knowledge

As we waited outside the United Center, random Chicagoans would come us and converse with us.  Perhaps it was our mutual admiration of guys named Esposito, our perceived insights on Theo Espstein or just their instictive good natured midwestern friendliness, but these folks we downright nice to us for the most part. It was weird as much as it was fun.  Us hardened New Englanders are just not used to it.  Everything a stereotypical New Yorker is to us, these guys were the diametric opposite.

We had people come up to us to talk about the old time game from the 60's, sharing cup victory experiences and our respective crops of youngsters on our teams.  It was beyond refreshing to be able to carry out a conversation about hockey with knowledgable fans.  They knew their history as well as a large part of ours and vice versa.

Once the doors opened, Heather and I headed in and took our time walking around the place.  Aside from a few innocuous jeers (to be expected), there was a genuine sense of welcome in the building.  It was fun.  I had a number of Blackhawks fans who can up to me and thanked me (as if I was an ambassador for the B's) for dispatching the Canucks in the Stanley Cup final. I actually had one guy shake my hand when he thanked me.  Apparently, they really hate the Canucks (though I'm winning to bet they hate the Red Wings even more). In turn, I thanked them back for knocking off the Flyers in their moment of ultimate success. In doing so, we sorta kinda bonded.  It was weird, but it also made me realize something: I don't hate these people.  Sure, they are rooting for the other team, but they aren't obnoxious and acting like idiots.  I only hope I can reciprocate the kindness the Chicago fans extended to me.

The Madhouse on Madison

When you can bring the noise
you get to be a bit boastfu

Much like Philadelphia, the arena is on the south side of town; not quite the outskirts, but away from the downtown core of the city.  It is surrounded by parking lots and low rise buildings, a far cry from the neighborhood settings of the Garden or the Bell Center.

And let's face it - this place is downright huge.  It completely dwarfs what we have.  Besides having a capacity of over 22,000 (almost 5,000 more than back home), the United Center has wide concourses, an additional level of premium seats and standing room loactions that ring the building behind the upper balcony seating area.  By the time you are in the back of the 300 level sections, you are pretty far from the ice surface.  But there are no obstructed views and there's plenty of space to move around.  And you're going to need to get up at some point: the seats are crowded as hell. Even someone as short as I am had issues with keeping my knees from banging the seats in front of me.

But the place has a huge drawback: the sound system.  By far the absolute worst one I've experienced at any modern arena I've been to.  We're talking "Charlie Brown teacher" territory.  Barely audible when the crowd was quiet.  And the music was a huge letdown as well.  The organ was pumped through the speakers, rendering it pretty much useless.  And the musical selection was lacking in quality.  Add in the three piece rock band that would play standard hard rock classics from Van Halen and AC/DC during stoppages in play was really pedestrian.  In the grand scheme of things, this is a minor gripe and it honestly didn't detract from my overall experience.

Hey, only 11 more to go

As an added bonus, there is a display case with all six of the Bulls' Larry O'Brien trophies from the NBA championships.  Which is nice, if you're a Bulls fan.  Which I'm not.

I discussed the myriad of food options available  at the United Center in Part I of my recap.  I should also mention that there are a number of standalone bars and lounges scattered all over the building, some of which feature standing areas with views of the ice do you can watch the game while inbibing your favorite tasty libation.  And these are available to all season ticket holders, not just the high rollers in the premium seats.

Shoe shine, sir?

Did I mention they have a shoe shine station as well?

A tremendously tremendous idea

And in one final touch of greatness, all the ushers are supplied with miniature stop signs with a picture of local fan favorite, former player and current national broadcast analyst Ed Olczyk on them for the purpose of stopping people from entering the seating areas while the puck is in play.  And for the most part, the fans stay seated during the game, waiting for the whistle before getting up.  Yet another NHL arena that gets it while the TD Garden continues to show disregard and disrespect for their patrons.

Oh, and they have a bunch of banners hanging from the rafters, as benefitting an arena that is home to two storied franchises.  There are banners for the Hawks four Stanley Cups and the Bulls' six championships as well as banners for retired players for each team.  They also have banners for Phil Jackson and Jerry Krause, the architects behind the Bulls' dynasty.  As a nice touch, the Bulls banners actually have the names of the players on each championship team around the border of their respective banner.  There are also banners for each of the Hawks' various division and conference championships which seems a bit excessive.  And as a whole, the banner designs are rather plain, even boring.  Where the Bruins and Celtics banners are somewhat understated, they do have a simple elegance to them that the United Center ones lack.

Oh Say Can Your Hear


One of the great traditions in all of sports is the signing of the national anthem at Blackhawks games.  I had only seen it on TV and never in person until my trip there.  TV does it no justice at all.  Anthem singer Jim Cornelison is one of the best I've ever heard with a fantastic voice.  But it is the Chicago crowd that makes this one of the best things I've ever witnessed live.  Rather than sing along, the crowd cheers the entire time. And by cheer, I mean make noise, and lots of it.  But it is not disrespectful in any way.  Rather, its just what they do.  And it is amazing. And loud.

What the sound system lacks, the crowd more than makes up for.  I mean, these people can make some serious noise.  They are into the game from the first drop of the puck and don't lose focus at all.  Sure, there are the typical in-game distractions from promotions on the jumbotron, but the hockey is first and foremost. This was a serious hockey crowd.  Now, I'm not sure if they brought their 'A' game because it was a Saturday night and they were playing a fellow Original 6 team who also happened to be the defending Stanley Cup champs, but for that night at least it was a great atmosphere.

And lest I forget, I need to mention the goal horn.  Or goal horns.  Four bugles are mounted underneath the center ice scoreboard and they emit the most wonderful, rich sound when they are played.  The foghorn at the Garden is nice, but this puts it to shame.

Seeing Red

When you have a classic, timeless look like the Blackhawks have, why wouldn't you want to wear one of their sweaters? And ever since the NHL went to the 'white on the road' rule in the 03-04 season, we have been denied the opportunity to see Chicago wear their brilliant red sweaters at the Garden.  Not so when we went on the road.  Simply beautiful.  Even their third/alternate sweaters are pretty good.

I'd say that 90% of the crowd was wearing a hockey sweater of some sort, include those of us in Bruins gear.  And just about all of the remaining 10% was wearing some other sort of team branded clothing. The Chicago fans clearly showed favor for the red sweaters, easily choosing them over the white and black varieties by a 3 to 1 margin.

And with the storied history that they have, there are a bevy of good, if not great players that the fans can choose to pay tribute to with their sweater customization.  Sure, there were plenty of Toews, Kane and Sharp sweaters to be seen in the crowd, but for every two members of the 2010 championship team that I saw on someone's back, there was one of the Hawks' greats to be found:

1991 Jeremy Roenick Campbell Conf. All Star replica	70's Tony Esposito away replica
Early 90's Steve Larmer away replica (w/ current Jonathan Toews throwback)	2003 Theoren Fleury home replica (token waste of money sweater)
Mid 90's Ed Belfour home replica Current Marian Hossa home replica	Mid 60's Glen Hall sweater reproduction
Mid 90's Tony Amonte home replica	Early 90s Jeremy Roenick & Bob Probert home replicas
Stan Mikita home replica	1991-2 Jeremy Roenick NHL 75th Anniversary Throwback

The Game


Ah, yes, there was actually a game played as well.

The Bruins came out like they were sleepwalking and the Blackhawks took advantage late in the first period with Brian Bickell scoring to take a 1-0 lead off a horrible turnover by Andrew Ference in the defensive zone.  The Bruins tied it up just over a minute into the second period on a Chris Kelly shorthanded tally, but the Hawks countered just a minute later on a narrow angle wrister from the elusive Patrick Kane that managed to sneak by Thomas' far side.

Chicago continued to pressure the Black and Gold with Tim Thomas stellar play the only reason the B's weren't getting blown out.  Late into the third period, the Bruins began to wake up and the ice started to shift in their favor.  Nathan Horton netted the tying goal about 8 minutes in. The Bruins continued to take the puck to the Chicago net, but Corey Crawford was solid.

In overtime, Rich Peverley had a chance to win it for the B's on a clean breakway off a Chicago turnover, but his backhand shot missed wide and the game went to a shootout.

In the past, this usually signaled a death knell.  The Bruins simply suck in shootouts.  And our (as in Heather and me) track record on road games was equally as poor.  And the Blackhawks three shooters were Kane, Toews and Sharp.  We were screwed.

But somehow, Tim Thomas stopped all three shots while Tyler Seguin beat Crawford through the five hole and the goal stood as the deciding tally as the Bruins actually garnered 2 points for their second win of the season.

In Conclusion


This was by far my favorite road trip, ever. The combination of touring a great city such as Chicago with sampling some of my favorite food and taking in a great hockey environment was unparalleled.  Add in some gorgeous weather, some good friends and a bunch of friendly midwesterners and it was the perfect weekend getaway.  I only wish I had more time there.

Needless to say, I want to go back again.  And soon.

Road Trip Recap - Part II: We're on a Mission for Dogs

Road Trip Recap: Part I

This place has got everything!

I've said it many times before, road trips to sporting events are the perfect excuses to visit places that I want to see.  Even though I'd been to Chicago before, I was absolutely dying to go back for a number of reasons.  Besides seeing an Original Six matchup on a Saturday night, there were a bunch of places (mostly food related) that I had prioritized on my itinerary.

Now, for those who don't know me well, or at least the non-rabid hockey fan side of me, in my spare time I fancy myself a bit of a foodie.  If I'm not grilling, roasting, sauteing or baking food, chances are I'm either watching sports or cooking shows on TV. And lots of No Reservations as well.  Tony Bourdain's show on the Travel Channel is pretty much my favorite show on TV and has been for quite some time now.

It was, in fact, while watching his episode where he went to Chicago, that I was inspired to redouble my efforts to see a Bruins/Blackhawks game there.  In particular, there was one specific restaurant I made it my personal mission to hit up on my trip, come hell or high water.

So, let's take a look back at my epicurean adventure in the Second City.

Friday Night

After working pretty much a full day (I banged out an hour early to avoid traffic on the Pike), I headed straight to Logan for our flight on Southwest. I got there in pretty decent time so I figured I'd park in the economy lot instead of central parking, saving a bit of cash in doing so.  However, I misread the signage (not an uncommon occurrence amongst travelers to the Boston airport) and ended up parking in the expensive ($24 a day) lot.  It was a small consolation, then, that I managed to get a spot right near the elevators to Terminal E.

Terminal E is best known as the international terminal at Logan. During the afternoon/evening, the terminal often slammed with passengers making their ways to a host of foreign destinations such as London, Frankfurt or Amsterdam.  Fortunately, Southwest has it's own separate (domestic) mini-terminal within Terminal E, which means the security lines are usually on the small side.  Heather and I zipped through the line and headed over to the Boston Beer Works to grab a snack and a drink during our wait.  I'm a fan of the Beer Works, having been to their Canal Street and Fenway locations many a time. I ordered a pint of Blueberry Ale, Heather had a Victory Red and we split a cheese pizza as we were not looking at getting a real dinner until 10:00 at the earliest.  The beer was good, the pizza sucked and our bartender/waiter was straight out of central casting as an extra in The Town.

Once we landed at Midway, we hopped a cab into town where we were staying at the Holiday Inn Express at the corner of Wabash and Ontario.  Talk about the world's smallest hotel room!  This thing was a literal shoebox.  But, we weren't here to sit in a room and watch TV all day and it had beds, so we were good.

We then headed out and walked two blocks away to the corner of Grand and State to the Hilton Garden Inn that the rest of the crew was staying in.  It is also the home of one of my favorite restaurants in the entire world - The Weber Grill.

The Weber-Stephen Products company is based in Illinois and has its roots at a Chicago steel fabricator.  When it comes to grilling, Webers are pretty much the only way to go, whether or not you're a gas or charcoal aficionado.  Built well and delivering unparalleled performance, they are well worth the money.  I own 2 Smokey Joes and a Q220 for tailgating and a Genesis E320 for the home.  At the same time, they also put out some wonderful cookbooks, including the two I own: Weber's Big Book of Grilling and Weber's Real Grilling.

Ranch kettles in the kitchen of the Weber Grill

But the company also owns and operates the Weber Grill restaurant.  The premise of the place is that all of the food is cooked not under broilers or cooktops, but on commercial versions of the Weber Ranch Kettle, using real charcoal to add wonderful smokey flavor everything they grill.  I'd been there before, having ordered the BBQ combo plate with brisket, ribs, beans and cornbread.  It was awesome.  It was also a ton of food.  But it was so damn good and the smell of smoke permeating the air only added to the ambiance of the place.

So, we met up with the group and sat down for dinner.  Heather went with the Tuscan brick chicken, a take on the traditional pollo al matttone , served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes that she enjoyed so much that she was contemplating using them as a spa treatment.  I played it somewhat safe, given the late dining hour, going with a half rack of smoked St. Louis style ribs with cornbread and bourbon baked beans.  Being in Chicago, I felt that it was only right to wash it all down with a fine local brew, in this case a Goose Island Matilda, a take on a traditional Belgian pale ale.  It was delicious.

The half rack of St. Louis ribs with cornbread and beans

The ribs were fantastic.  The meat was tender, moist and smokey, literally just about falling off the bones.  The cornbread was the moist, cakey type that I love; not too sweet and full of roasted corn flavor.  But what really makes the meal here are the beans.  As much as I love baked beans (hey, I am a native New Englander, after all). these are some of the best I've ever had.  Loaded with beans, onions and burnt ends (the tips of smoked brisket) in a tangy vinegar and tomato-based sauce, they are to die for.  They have the recipe for them in one of their cookbooks, but I don't ever think I could truly replicate the experience of eating them in that perfect of an environment.

Saturday Morning

Hot Doug's
 The Sausage Superstore & Encased Meat Emporium

As much as I was looking forward to going back to the Weber Grill, there was one place that I was absolutely dying to go to: Hot Doug's.

I first heard about Hot Doug's watching No Reservations.  Bourdain was doing his typical shtick hitting up unpretentious holes in the wall with awesome food (which I love, btw) when he traveled to the Avondale section on the north side of town and found a neighborhood joint.  But this wasn't just any lunch counter. Far from it, in fact.

Chicago is home to some of the biggest names in the cooking world, a veritable who's who of modern gastronomy: Rick Bayless, Grant Achaz and Paul Kahan to name a few.  But I'm going to add Doug Sohn to that list, if he's not there already.

Doug's restaurant is a nondescript brick building on a street corner that has about 15 tables total decked out in bright primary colors and decorated with a variety of kitschy hot dog related paraphernalia and vintage posters. He does one thing and one thing very well: tubular steaks, or as he refers to it "encased meats". In other words, we're talking about hot dogs and sausages.

Doug Sohn, the true sausage king of Chicago

The premise is quite simple: he makes a variety of homemade hot dogs and sausages from scratch, often incorporating many high-end ingredients that you'd expect to find at fancy formal restaurants, and sells them at inexpensive prices.  He has a standard menu of items (with a rotating list of celebrity inspired names) as well as weekly specials featuring the 'game of the week' with game meat (currently wild boar) and the 'celebrity sausage of the week'. The place is only open Monday to Saturday from 10:30 to 4:00.

The city skyline from Navy Pier

Heather and I got up early in the morning to take a quick trip over to Navy Pier.  She wanted to grab a picture of her at the Bob Newhart Statue with Bob decked out in her black and gold scarf.  I had a bit more somber reason. My good friend Dave Gonzalez passed away there in an accident a few years back and I wanted to pay tribute to his memory.  It was a perfect sunny morning and there was a race along the shoreline that was finishing up, but the place was nice and quiet.  I grabbed some pictures of the skyline and the harbor and we hopped a cab back to the Garden Inn to meet up with the Barrys.

Knowing that Hot Doug's was a popular place, we decided that we should probably head out around 9:30 to get there when the place opened.  As it happened, the rest of the 307 crew wanted to make the trek with us as well.  Hey, the more, the merrier.

We got on the red line on the El and headed north to the Belmont stop where we switched over to the #70 bus. We got off at the corner of California and Belmont and made the quarter mile walk down to Hot Doug's.  When we got there around 10:20, the line was about 30 people long.  Fortunately, the sun was out and the building blocked the wind, because it was a good 45 minute wait before we made it inside.

But once we got inside, oh man, it was a revelation.

The menu wall

The first thing you notice is the size of the place - not big at all.  The menu is posted on the wall to your right and you wait in line to place your order with none other than the man himself, Doug.  In the meantime, the waitstaff is clearing tables and setting up seats to accommodate your group in anticipation of your order.  Signs posted make it abundantly clear that patrons are not to grab seats until they place their orders.  And because customers adhere to this, the system works as good, if not better than, any wait service I've ever seen.  I could not believe how efficient it was, really.

Doug is awesome.  A jovial character in his black framed glasses, he greeted us with the sort of genteel banter one would expect by wearing Bruins gear into enemy territory.  But it was all in good fun.

What else is a nice Jewish boy supposed to order?

Being in Chicago, there was no way I wasn't ordering a traditional Chicago style dog, a grilled all beef Vienna frank served on a poppy seed bun topped with onions, neon green relish, mustard, celery salt and a pickle spear.  At $2.00, it was beyond a bargain and tasted like pure Chicago-style comfort food.  I also ordered one of the specials of the week: a curry pork sausage topped spinach raita and crumbled blue cheese and drizzled with honey. Damn, it was fantastic.  The sausage was juicy and well seasoned, with the raita adding a creamy, but light vegetal touch and the honey adding a bit of sweetness. The addition of blue cheese was just gilding the lily.  I was blown away. As for a beverage, being the nice little mensch that I am, there was no way I was going to pass up a can of Dr. Brown's, in this case the diet black cherry (hey, I needed something to offset the damage I was doing with the food).

Counterclockwise: Chicken & spinach chicken sausage,
Thuringer sausage, Curry Pork sausage with spinach
 raita, blue cheese & honey, Chicago Dog, duck fat fries

Heather went with the Norm Crosby: A homemade Thuringer style sausage made with beef, pork and garlic.  She also had one of the other specials: a chicken sausage made with mozzarella and spinach.  She held off on the smoked  provolone and pesto aioli, however, choosing to go the naked route.  She loved it.

Tim and Maureen went with the Thuringer sausages as well and Tricia had the chicken and spinach sausage.  I think they enjoyed them greatly.  Paula and Patty were the lone tube steak holdouts, but they provided good company nonetheless.

But the piece de resistance were the duck fat fries.

Yep, you read that right, fries cooked in duck fat.

The legendary duck fat fries

One of Doug's signature offerings, the fries have reached legendary status along with his famed (or infamous) foie gras and sauternes duck sausage.  He only makes them on Fridays and Saturdays, so when we started to plan our trip in the summer, we knew we were going be able to get them.  For a mere $3.50 you get a heaping mound of fresh cut, perfectly crisp shoestring fries that were not greasy but oh so good.  Sadly, we only put a small dent in the basket as we were pretty stuffed from the meaty goodness the preceeded them.

I can honestly say that this is now one of my favorite dining establishments, ever.  I had high expectations to begin with, but this place blew them out of the water.  Just a fun time all around. I will make it a mission heneforth to return sometime (hopefully in the not too distant future).  Kudos to Doug and his staff, you rock.

Saturday Night

Our culinary exploits continued later in the day as we made our way into the United Center.  Having got to the stadium fairly early, we were afforded the opportunity to take an extended tour of the lower bowl and concourses to peruse the many concession offerings available to us.  Still somewhat full from the bounty at Hot Doug's, I wasn't in dire need of further sustenance, especially considering we had postgame plans for dinner anyways.

It wasn't even a quarter of the way around from gate 2 on Madison when it became readily apparent that this was not the TD Banknorth Garden.  Perhaps it's because the concessions are handled by Levy Restaurants and not Delaware North, but the food variety and quality puts just about anything and everything they serve back home to shame.  Besides a huge number of stand alone bars and lounges spread throughout the arena, there is a variety of food stands that sell everything from standard stadium food (burgers, fries, etc.) to Italian beef sandwiches, carved turkey and roast beef, ribeye steak and pork chop sandwiches and on and on.  Granted, you'll pay a bit for some of the offerings, but given the quality (the stuff looked damn good) and variety, fans would be hard pressed to not at least consider buying stuff like this back on Causeway Street.

Needing a little something to tide me over, nonetheless, I looked around for something along the lines of an appetizer, but I really didn't want fries or a pretzel or anything that I could get anywhere else.  Then I found exactly what I was in search of at the Sweet Baby Rays barbecue stand: fried mac and cheese triangles.

I've seen a bunch of bar menus that have had deep fried mac & cheese balls (a take on the popular arancini), but never have I seen it offered at a sporting venue.  I knew I had to try them.  Battered and deep fried, they were perfectly crisp on the outside and gooey and cheesey on the inside.  I shared them with the crew as we took in warmups from behind the Bruins bench and they were universally loved by all.  They went so fast, I wasn't even able to get a photo of them.

After the game, we made our way back towards the hotels and headed over to Pizzeria Due.  Part of the Unos chain, it was recommended to me by a number of friends who have lived in Chicago.  There was no way I was going to Chicago this time without grabbing some deep dish pizza.  It was around 11:00 and I was starving.  I ordered up a personal barbecue chicken for me and the rest of the crew went with two pies, a plain cheese and a sausage. I also went with a Goose Island 312, a light wheat ale that was perfect with such a heavy meal.

The BBQ chicken pizza at Due

It was everything I had hoped for.  Cheese on top of more cheese, tangy sauce, caramelized onions and tender chicken inside a tender crust.  Everybody seemed to throughly enjoy the food.  I managed to have a bit of the tomato sauce on one of the other pies and it was some of the best I've ever tasted.

Was it the fanciest meal I've had? No.  Was it the best pizza I've had? Nope (Todd English's Figs holds that honor for the time being). But it was exactly what I was looking for and it made me happy.

In all, I fulfilled my mission to hit all the places I had intended on going to, but Chicago being the food Mecca that it is, I was left wanting more.  And dammit, I'm making sure I'm going to get back there, and soon.

Next Up: Part III - Seeing Red, the Madhouse on Madison