NHL Winter Classic

As you well know, I attended this game with the now legendary Reese, my mom and IDK my BFF Rollo. The first outdoor NHL game in the good old US of A didn't disappoint. In fact, it turned out to be everything I could have imagined, and more!

The weather was precisely how I dreamed it to be: moderate to heavy snowfall at times, cloudy and very cold. The crowd was impressive - 70,000+ strong - complete with Buffalo fans who never acted like assholes, but made all of us Pens fans know that we certainly aren't welcome here. Speaking of Pens fans, there was a large gathering of them that I got to Hi-5's and hugs from while on our way into the parking lot. During this ruckus (and believe me, it was RUCKUS) one brave Buffalo fan draped a Sabres flag over the front of the Vibe. He was quickly met with a chant of "THIS GUY SUCKS! THIS GUY SUCKS!" I love being in enemy territory. Sidney looked like he was a god among men. His play was so inspired and filled with raw energy that he appeared give life to his otherwise freezing teammates. What made it one of the best games I've ever seen was the fact that it went into a shootout. This was the first shootout I've ever witnessed live. I can tell you that I was pretty concerned about the Pens' fate after Conklin let in the first goal of the shootout, but as Rollo and I prepared the chant of "MVP! MVP!" for the final shooter, we knew we were in good hands. Crosby wouldn't let us down.

The good things aside, there were some crappy parts of the whole trip. First off, Ralph Wilson Stadium must be the Mellon Arena of the NFL. It should be torn down and forgotten in its entirety. The seating was awful, featuring LONG rows of bleacher seats that were small and uncomfortable. Our seats were in the very middle of a long row, not easy to get to! Another crumby thing was that their awful stadium had overpriced beers! At $7.50 for a cup of Guinness, the only good part about it was that, thanks to the weather, it could only get colder. Then comes lake effect snow. 4+ inches of snow and a 4.5 hour drive can quickly turn into 12 hours at the helm of the Vibe. Nasty stuff. We counted 11 wrecks, one of which was a combo Uhaul-while-towing-a-passenger-car. Nice work, that one was.

I'd go again if they had one next year, even if the Pens weren't involved.