Last week, my beloved Chicago Blackhawks season ended abruptly, losing to the Phoenix Coyotes in game 6 of the opening round of the Western Conference Playoffs. It was a tough pill to swallow, but thinking about it sort of inspired me for a new idea. A year-in-review for my favorite teams & since the Blackhawks season is the first to end in the year 2012, I see no better time to start than now.
Went to the Blackhawks/Canucks game earlier and it was nothing short of insane. I had never been as close to the ice as I was tonight. It was a fucking phenomenal game, the Blackhawks/Canucks rivalry is one of the best in the NHL. The game was close & beyond intense, with the Blackhawks ultimately winning 2-1 in overtime. The crowd was electric and being at a hockey game is exciting in general, but when you're a mere several rows behind the boards, the energy is palpable. The electric Natonal Anthem, which is always a treat at a Blackhawks game due to their tradition of cheering during the entire song (the crowd was so loud I could barely hear the incomparable Jim Cornelison) got me ready for the game right away. There was a quick punch in the gut for us when the Canucks scored a goal on their first shot, 27 seconds into the game. The first period was bitter sweet as it ended with the Canucks leading, but the Blackhawks had plenty of chances. 2nd period began and the Blackhawks continued to dominate, despite not leading by peppering the Canucks goalie Luongo with shots. Eventually they broke through when Marian Hossa got the puck close to the net and managed to skip it to Patrick Kane for the game-tying goal. The jeers of "LUUUUONGOOOO" echoed through the stands as the United Center faithful LOVE to get on that guy. I was thoroughly entertained. Luongo managed to make a couple nice saves as the Blackhawks had shot after shot and the 2nd period ended with a 1-1 tie. During the 2nd intermission, had a nice little surprise during the shooting contest they have for the fans (they shoot the puck from the face-off circle in the middle of the ice for prizes) and my favorite WWE superstar, WWE champion & Chicago native CM Punk was announced as one of the contestants. 3rd period began and Canucks came out HUNGRY. They quickly closed the shots on goal gap that was heavily on the Blackhawks side, but Corey Crawford turn away each and every attempt. He played lights out. Patrick Kane built upon his great game with a couple hits and proved he wasn't just Derrick Rose on ice skates. The physicality of the game was fantastic. Duncan Keith was on a mission to punish some of the Canucks, with more than one encounters with Burrows & Daniel Sedin as well. Andrew Shaw was all over the ice for the Hawks, taking hits and dishing out a few himself, which is impressive considering he's only 5'10 and 165 lbs. Kevin Bieska & Patrick Sharp could be seen bickering all throughout the game and even Viktor Stalberg got into it a few times with Bieska. After each and every stoppage of play, there was a skirmish, including one with gear flying everywhere and two 10 minute penalties on Duncan Keith & Alexandre Burrows (who is a big pussy punk, by the way) 3rd period ended and the score was still tied 1-1 so you know what that means. OVERTIME. Seriously, this game was amazing. An intense overtime was pretty one-sided with the puck being flicked at Luongo majority of the time. Finally, the newest Blackhawk, Johnny Oduya (who has been a fantastic acquisition for a team that was desperate for some defensive help) who was acquired on the trade deadline a few weeks back slapped a shot towards the net that hit off rookie Andrew Shaw and past LOLongo and a Blackhawks victory was born. Chelsea Dagger began ringing through the arena as all 21,000+ of us jumped out of our seats slapping high fives and dancing/singing along. It truly is a special moment, I adore live sports so much, especially one as unbelievable as this one. I really can't say enough about how satisfying & memorable this game was. I've been to a ton of live games over the past 21 years and this game is right up there as one of the greatest of all-time for me.
Some actor named Rob Lowe took to Twitter yesterday to announce some Earth shattering news. Peyton Manning is going to retire. Lowe, who is apparently good friends with the Colts owner Jim Irsay, said that his "people" have informed him that Manning is going to retire. Regardless if it's true or not (I don't think it is) why would he run to Twitter and tell everyone instead of allowing Manning, a future Hall of Fame inductee when he DOES retire, to announce it to everyone on his own time. Classy move of Lowe to steal the spotlight away. Doing some remedial research on this dude, I've found out that he was in Wayne's World (which I have never seen) and Tommy Boy (a role in which he plays a douche bag, which seems to fit him well) He is also in the television show Parks and Recreation (another one I've never seen and is currently rumored to be on the chopping block) For what it's worth, Peyton's father Archie has said he doesn't think his son will retire. I hope Manning himself comes out soon and announces his intentions soon.
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