It's A Hockey Week In Pittsburgh

This past weekend the city of Pittsburgh was celebrating, not just for New Year's Eve, but also for The Winter Classic. The annual outdoor hockey game came to Pittsburgh this year, and from the minute it was announced I knew I HAD to be there. Well as the event drew closer more and more was being added to surround the Winter Classic and I had to attend as many of those as I could as well. They constructed a rink outside of Heinz Field using the boards from the Mellon Arena. I learned that some of my hockey-playing cousins would have games on this ice and I had wanted to see them all play. However, being the busy holiday season, and blasts of Winter weather I was only able to see my cousin Roman play on this rink (pictured right). The Wilkes-Barre Scranton Baby Pens came to town. They would be played against the Hershey Bears. The WBS Pens are the Pittsburgh Penguins' AHL team and the Hershey Bears are the Washington Capitals' AHL team. That game was held at the Consol Energy Center as a part of a double header; the first game being Robert Morris University vs. RIT (pictured above left).

The next game I attended was the Pens-Caps Alumni Game (pictured above). This star-studded affair quickly became the most wanted ticket in the city. Due to logistical restrictions, only 10,000 tickets were on sale for this event. I was lucky enough to be able to purchase tickets (one of the perks of being unemployed is being able to be on your computer ready for tickets to be on sale at 10am on a Friday).We bought my dad a ticket as part of his Christmas gift, and also my brother Brian and I bought ourselves tickets to go with him. This game was awesome, getting to see Mario Lemieux on the ice was just amazing. The game was just a friendly exhibition, no pads, most guys weren't wearing helmets, and it was very slow paced and full of fun. Hearing Dan Potash interview the guys during the game was fun, these guys are all class acts and really know how to entertain the crowd. Sadly the game ended in a tie, and even though the crowd chanted "SHOOT OUT! SHOOT OUT!" The game had to stay 5-5. This was a truly awesome event to witness, and I'm so glad I was lucky enough to be there.

Then it was finally time for the big game, the reason for all this hoopla, The Winter Classic. When the game was first announced Pittsburghers and other fans expected blizzard like conditions for the game. However leading up to the game the weather called for warmer temperatures and rain. Because of this forecast the game was moved from 1p.m. to 8p.m. making it the first Winter Classic to be played under the lights. In many ways I like this idea more. It would be cool to have a night game outside, the rain would be mostly gone from the forecast, and we could sleep in later before going down to tailgate. We went down to the North Shore area around 2:30 to get a spot in one of the few non-presold lots. After waiting in a bit of traffic for the lots to be opened we got a nice spot near the Clark building. We set up a nice little tailgate area (pictured above left) and spent the afternoon chatting, joking, and eating. Sadly, most of us were feeling under the weather so there wasn't much drinking going on, but a good time was still had. Game time rolled around and we joined the crowds heading into Heinz Field all the way up to our seats located in the bleachers at the closed end of the stadium.

These seats were high up, but offered a very nice view of the ice and jumbo-tron (pictured above). The tickets were purchased in Washington D.C. so we were in a section that was almost full of Capitals' fans. Most seated around us were nice, and there were a few Pens' fans around us too so the section was peaceful and fun. I did not know that Caps' fans rudely interrupted the National Anthem by shouting "RED" during the "rockets red glare" line of the Anthem. I jumped up because I was so startled and I was bothered by they're use of the song to cheer for their team. They shouted along at another part of the song too, but i don't remember, nor care to remember which line it was. I really was bothered by this act, and I know a few other people were too. The game was awesome, it rained off and on during, but it wasn't too bad. We were dressed in enough layers that even if our clothes were soaked on the outside our bodies stayed dry for the most part.

I completely loved my hockey week based around The Winter Classic. I wish it hadn't hurt my already ailing wallet as much as it did, but nonetheless I am very happy with attending the events I did. My empty wallet doesn't compare the memories gained from these games. It was so much fun and I would do it again in a heartbeat.