Winter Classic Weekend 2011

Winter Classic 2011, Caps win 3-1

Well ... I almost wonder if there's a better way, to bring in a new year, than the weekend I just had in Pittsburgh.

Our journey starts on New Year's Eve.  A quick 4.5 hour drive to Pittsburgh with Kim and Melissa is a great time ... there was no texting done, just twittering.  We've gotten to the hotel and it's time for the festivities to begin.  First order of business ... head to Heinz Field to pick up my media credential, as the Asst. Director of Hockey Operations for the FaceOff Hockey Show.  At this point of the trip, a huge thanks needs to head out to ScottyWazz ... who not only hooked me up with getting all the credential request forms filled out, but also took the time to correct my picture.  Making me a happy kid to see my actual face on one of these things ... it's been years.  With that taken care of and my media gift picked up, it was time to take in the Little Caps game going on outside of Heinz Field.  This was the moment all hell would break loose, for this was when the decision to move the Winter Classic to 8pm on New Year's Day came out ... subsequently followed by a mass text that just read "Hotel Bar at 7pm ... we have plenty of time to sober up tomorrow."  The NHL has just given us a window to have an amazing New Year's Eve.

New Year's Eve in Pittsburgh was great ... there were Caps fans everywhere, but that's most likely attributed to the fact that we're the out-of-towners.  Dinner was scheduled for 9pm at Nakama Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar.  We hit up Mario's for a quick drink or two, started a huge USA chant when the World Junior team scored, and rolled to dinner.  While waiting for our table, Brent Johnson came into the restaurant.  Johnny is an absolutely amazing person.  He took the time to come over to our table, say hi, talk for a bit, and allowed the Caps fans to show our appreciation for him.  Even though he's a Penguins player now, we still love Johnny for everything he did in a Caps uniform, and we even offered to take Fleury out so he could play in the Winter Classic.  He wouldn't take us up on that offer though lol.  Dinner was great ... a bit of sushi, shrimp, and steak for me along with a "Let's Go Caps" chant every time the cook would slap the spatula on the grill three times.  After dinner we headed to Fin McCool's to prepare for the ball dropping.  In an evil twist of fate, I would bring in 2011 smelling like smoke ... since apparently it's still cool to smoke in bars in Pittsburgh.  My lack of ability to breathe would not stop me from participating in another "Let's Go Caps" chant with a minute remaining in 2010.  It wasn't smart for the DJ to turn down the music ... not with Ilan there.  Caps fans ringing in the new year, chanting in a south side Pittsburgh bar ... it can't get better than this.

The fog, and the plot, thicken

New Year's Day was dreary when we got up ... all except for seeing Marc, sans shirt but wearing aviators and a set a Capitals Winter Classic Mardi Gras beads.  Talk of tailgating starts as soon as people awake from the night before.  Mimosas and New York style bagels are the way to start off the day, and after a bit of a nap a full fledged Capitals tailgate will occur in the parking lots of Heinz Field.  Even though we were surrounded by Penguins fans, the pregame festivities went off without a hitch.

I left the group and headed for the press box to take up residence for the game.  The box was huge and the view of the field was amazing.  There was a buzz of anticipation in the air and the night time Winter Classic was just as fantastic as everyone could have imagined.  The lights of Heinz Field lit up the night sky and there was a white hockey rink in the middle of the field.  The coolest part of the press box (aside from getting fed and filled up on Pepsi) was listening to the NHL stat spotter throughout the game.  Every shot was recorded with a "shot, #__", every save, blocked shot, and even faceoff wins.  Sitting in there and "talking" with listeners via twitter was cool, but I needed to get out ... needed some fresh air.  I packed up between the 2nd and 3rd and made my way outside ... to brave the elements and take in the experience.  The 3rd period was a bit rainy but I don't think that alone killed off anyone's enthusiasm for the game ... no, the killing was left up to Eric Fehr.  Two goals on the night from Eric Fehr and a stellar goaltending effort out of Semyon Varlamov staked the Washington Capitals to a 3-1 Winter Classic victory.  The Caps are now 1-0 in outdoor games that I've attended in my lifetime.



I took some things away from the weekend:
1.  I truly have a great group of friends.
2.  Pittsburgh is a smaller city than I expected, but the people were amazing.  Most every Penguins fan I met was really nice and actually were thankful that Capitals fans came up to make the game an amazing experience for everyone involved.
3.  It only takes a select few people to be assholes though, and I love the "at least we have a Cup" retort.  I'm sorry Pens fans ... be sad that your team lost the Winter Classic and move on.  Congrats on winning Cups, however New Years Day 2011 wasn't your day.  It was a day for Caps fans all over the world.
4.  Caps fans came to Pittsburgh in numbers and were beating dat beat up all over town.

Thank you to all that were involved in this past weekend.  It was an amazing way to open up 2011, and I can only hope the year gets better from here.  There's a lot for the rest of the year to live up to, but it's even been a bit better since getting home.  I can't wait for Wednesday to come ... the final installment of Caps/Pens 24/7 should be a great culmination to this month of hockey celebration.