Game One at the Garage

I had the pleasure of attending Game One of the Canucks/Blues series with my friend Dan on Wednesday night. The atmosphere was amazing, and the result - obviously - outstanding.

I had only been to two playoff games in my life before this year, both of them losses. My older brother took me to one of the early home losses to the Calgary Flames in 1994, and Dan and I watched the Canucks get swept by the Avalanche in Game Four of their 2001 series. On both occasions I had a blast regardless of the score, but obviously I was hoping for a better result this time around!

The pregame atmosphere was electric, with 18,000 fans vigorously waving their towels that the Canucks kindly, provided to us - thus saving me the trouble of digging up my chocolate-frosted-malt-stained towel from 1994.


The fourth line got started the game, and they brought a great level of intensity all night. Johnson was a beast on the penalty kill, and Rypien and Hordichuk hammered the Blues throughout the game. But the kid in the McDonalds jersey did nothing all night, and I think that Alan Vigneault should think long and hard about letting him back on the ice.

St. Louis' patented "Olympic Rings formation" failed to penetrate the Canucks defense.


Naturally, everyone went crazy out on the street after the big win. I have absolutely no idea who the guys on either side of me are. But I got the distinct impression that they are fans of the local sports team.


And, of course, the night ended with some good, ol' fashioned running down the middle of the street and high-fiving people in cars. Good times!