Hey, Hey, Hockeytown!

At the beginning of the year, I made a list of ten things I want to do this year. One of those things was to attend a Detroit Red Wings game. Detroit calls itself Hockeytown, and even has a Hockeytown Cafe. The chant of, "hey, hey, hockeytown!" is known to everyone in this area. But for some reason I've never made it down to a game. This weekend I fixed that.

Sarah, Sara, Matt (Sara's husband) and I walked from Sara and Matt's house Friday evening to Greektown (a section of Detroit), where we took the People Mover to Joe Louis Arena. The streets were cold - the windchill was -5. But we warmed up on the People Mover where we were packed as tightly as possible. I spent the short ride under some man's armpit. At least it was warm there. And he comforted me with the information that he had recently showered. Here's Sarah packed in the People Mover:

 Let me just start by saying the hockey crowd is not the same as the baseball crowd. I've been to many Tigers games, and am really comfortable at those games. The baseball crowd is loud but friendly. The hockey crowd is loud and intimidating. And BIG. Because we had to go through metal detectors to get in the arena, people cleaned their pockets out at the door. The knife laying on the ground outside the door that someone had to abandon wasn't comforting.

Once in my seat, I intended to stay there, eat my nachos, and lay low. A guy a few rows behind me had one of the loudest voices I've ever heard and he yelled nonstop. All we heard from him was:

CRASH THE CAGE!

YOU'RE AT HOME!

CHECK HIM!

CHECK EVERYONE!
SWEEP THE LEG!

K, maybe he didn't yell that last one but I wish he would have. A few times his cheering was so loud and jarring, people yelled back at him, "Shut the *bleep* up!" Eventually though, everyone started to find him amusing and joined him in the yelling.

About halfway through the game, I started to feel comfortable and enjoy myself. The nice thing about Joe Louis Arena is that it's fairly small so there's no bad seats. The bad thing about Joe Louis Arena is that it's fairly small so leaving was a slow, arduous process. A mass of tightly packed bodies slowly shuffling toward the exit. Not my favorite.

I ended up loving the game and the experience overall. And I would definitely go again. The energy, the pace, the enthusiasm. The Red Wings won against St. Louis, including a hat trick from Zetterberg, which was super fun to see. Here are some pictures from the event:

Mass of bodies trying to leave

What's your favorite sport to see in person?