Winter Classic Weekend Wrapups

great idea, and great recap! Loved your photos, too. Really like the one of the crowd; all that red!!!

Thanks for the photos—great shots—and your fabulous recap.

Amusingly, every chant of Lets go Caps or Lets go Pens turned into a Lets go ::PCEANPS::.

That was our experience as well. Our section didn’t have any “suck” types of chants for which I was grateful. And no fights near us (there was one altercation resulting in both the Pens and Caps fan being forced to leave but it happened far away). There were a few fans in Flyers’ jerseys and hats which I thought was a hoot: Enemy of my enemy is my friend I guess.

Our son had a Varly WC jersey too. He was whooping it up and kept pointing to his back he was so proud. We went with Green and Knubes. I know it was a big stadium and many more Pens fans than in a usual arena, but I’ve never seen so many #87s in my life—more even than #8s at Verizon—which I found amusing given how often our fanbase is accused of being overly Ovi-centric and encased in a sea of red #8s.

I would have loved to join the gang at Hofbrauhaus. But we have this tradition that we share a quiet New Year’s with another family and the kids drink a little champagne and bang pots and pans at midnight.

Some tense moments with massively inebriated Pens fans before and after the game, but it was all good. Both teams and their fans acquitted themselves well and the script could not have been written better for HBO if they had tried.

Great recap and pictures, Z! I also had a fantastic weekend. We started it early with the NCAA/Hershey Bear double-header on Thursday and were ecstatic to see a Holtby shut out of the Baby Pens. Between games we met some great Caps fans as well as some fun RIT fans in a nearby bar. I was impressed with the Consol Energy Center – nice digs.

On Friday morning we were disappointed to see so few Caps fans at the Alumni Game – which seems to confirm the theory that Ticketmaster might have favored the home team. The other glitch was the poor gate management of the Heinz Field staff in herding 12K fans through one skinny gate into the stadium. We missed the first ten minutes of the game – to include Alan May’s goal.

Friday night we joined the crowd at the Hofbrauhaus. Many props to Kevin Ewoldt for organizing this gathering. Great time! Sorry if my singing offended anyone. Another note – shots from skis should only be shared between people of equal height.

On Saturday we got to Heinz Field on the second boat of the night. I was a little disappointed in the limited beer selection – and the fact that most of the vendors just pour from a can into a plastic cup. Our section (lower portion of 508) was about 50/50 Caps/Pens fans. And, yes, I was one of the fans that has never, ever shouted "red" or "O" during the anthem in the VC, but did it proudly at the WC. Only one offensive Pens fan near us, and someone must have shut him down after the first period because he seemed subdued (or sedated?) after that. My voice still hasn’t come completely back, but it was a worth losing for such a great cause/result!

All in all, it was an awesome trip and I was glad to meet so many fun and enthusiastic Caps fans. Pittsburgh was surprisingly hospitable and I now have a different impression of their fan base.

I’d also add, this was the one and only time I was happy to hear the “RED” and “O” calls during the national anthem. Made me feel like I was back at the VC.

And I’d second your comment about the Pens fans who left early. In fact, one (obnoxiously drunk) Pens fan got so angry at the people leaving he started jeering at them rather than at us.

Amazing weekend.

Sorry I missed you at the tailgate. You had split by the time I got back.

Z, I must’ve just missed you—I was up in Row JJ of 512, well under the roof (thank god).

View was tremendous, and despite the outcome, still a fun game.

Not too much ugliness in the stands, and at one point, Caps and Pens fans joined in chanting “Flyers Suck” in the direction of the Flyers fan sitting next to me. Poor guy should know better than to wear Flyers regalia to a Caps/Pens tilt. And for the Pronger and Briere jerseys on the Ft. Duquesne Bridge before gametime: You deserved whatever was spilled on you.

Did get a few guys walking out in Caps jerseys acting like they won the Cup, and a few Pens fans that took it all a bit too seriously yelling at Caps fans to “go the f*ck home.” Hey geniuses on both sides, (1) It’s a regular season game, and (2) Pittsburgh’s hospitality industry just made enough money off of them to stay afloat for the entire next year. The hotel shuttle driver told me he had the same experience, with mostly good-natured fans save for the occasional asshole.

Breezewood was a shit-show. Still hate Bud Shuster for that joke of an intersection.

Pittsburgh: Surprisingly the Pittsburgh Penguins fans were pretty welcoming. I didn’t receive any abuse at all the entire trip. There were some fans that sparked conversation by asking where we were from and inquired about how Pens fans were treating us, but that was pretty much it. So, I promise to always return the favor. I can (and will) always despise the Penguins as a team but the fan base gained a lot of respect in my eyes. The city itself is also pretty unique. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t very cooperative for exploration. Going to the game we approached downtown via I-376. First you pass through the Fort Pitt tunnel, when you come out on the other side Heinz Field and PNC Park sit on your left and you’re given a spectacular view of the city’s sky line. Great sights and like I said, I wish the weather was better because it’s just a cool and unique city.

Weather: Although the weather wasn’t ideal and as I said ruined any opportunity to roam about, I think it ended up being a blessing in disguise for the NHL and it’s fans. The rain that moved into the area forced the NHL to delay the start of the Winter Classic from 1pm to 8pm. When thinking about TV ratings, the 8pm start was pretty much ideal. New Year’s Day has always been known for College Football Bowl Games and Football always draws a larger audience then hockey in the US. However, by the time 8 o’clock rolled around and the puck dropped around 8:15, there was only 1 Bowl game left, the Fiesta Bowl featuring Oklahoma and Connecticut. That opened the door for the Michigan area to turn it’s attention to the Winter Classic after the 1pm start of Michigan St. Bowl game. Penn State’s game was also over and national attention grabbers Florida and Alabama were also through. This all led up to a prime time showdown between the NHL’s two biggest stars. At the start of the game it was fairly mild, but around the first intermission the temperature dropped but hey, that’s what we signed up for. The rain came back late in the second and lasted for most of the third but it only added to the experience in my opinion.

Match-up: When the NHL announced that the Caps and Pens would compete in this year’s Winter Classic I was both ecstatic and irritated. I don’t think Pittsburgh should’ve been given a second Classic with 23 other opponents waiting. However, this match-up makes the most sense now considering the NHL’s TV contract with NBC ends after this season and the fact that the Pitt./DC rivalry has reached new levels with both of the team’s stars in their prime. The NHL’s first mistake was placing Pittsburgh in the first Winter Classic against Buffalo. I think Buffalo was chosen as the site because of the guaranteed cold weather on any New Year’s Day. But Pittsburgh as an opponent doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I think the NBC wanted the NHL to make it an all-American affair which the NHL should not have allowed. I think a team like Toronto would’ve been a better match-up for the 2008 Classic because it included both a Canadian and an American team, the game would be inter-division and the two cities are separated by some 90 miles. Just my two cents. But now, the Caps and Pens have been a guaranteed “classic” game for the last 3 years. So it does make sense. By the way, the 2011 Winter Classic was the most watched regular season game in the last 36 years.

Heinz Field: All 3 major venues in Pittsburgh are 10 years old or younger. PNC Park and Heinz Field both opened in 2001 and the Penguins’ new home Consol Energy Center opened in October. Like Buffalo, the city doesn’t have a historic site like Wrigley Field or Fenway Park so the obvious venue was Heinz Field. The stadium itself is really nice, for an event that had an attendance of 68,111 the lines at the concession stands and restrooms were non-existent, very fan friendly. Unlike a baseball field a football field is symmetrical. That means that fans on the East and West side of the stadium are the same distance from the action and the same goes for the fans in the North and South ends of the stadium. This provides every fan with an equal experience. At Fenway Park some fans sat 400+ feet from the action in center field while some sat 50 feet away behind home plate. The sight lines were great, I brought my binoculars but I didn’t need them and I was in sec. 512 row H, there couldn’t have been a bad seat in the house.

Memories: While the obvious memories are there, such as John Erskine and Mike Rupp fighting in the 1st and Mike Knuble’s game tying goal and Marc-Andre Fleury’s gaffe that resulted in Eric Fehr’s go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal. There were two moments that made the game really special to me as a Caps fan. The first was the loud roar of “RED” during the National Anthem, that was the first sign that Caps fans made the trip to Pittsburgh. The other was Fehr’s second goal which was on a breakaway in the 3rd period. That was a moment when everyone was filled with anticipation. Pens fans were hoping Fleury would make a big save like he did on Ovechkin early in the 2nd and Caps fans were hoping for an insurance goal by one of their unsung heroes. We got the latter. I found it to be a special moment as a Caps fans. My dad and I joined an estimated 20,000 other Caps fans with a standing ovation. 20,000 fans… that’s roughly the amount the Verizon Center holds. Just 4 years ago the Caps ranked 27th in the league in attendance with an average of 13,929 fans every home game, hardly ever selling a game out and here we are standing some 20,000 strong in the heart of our most hated rival’s hometown. It was a moment I hope meant a turning point for this franchise and this city. It was a moment of camaraderie between fans like this fan base had never experienced before. Perhaps this event was a true test that the Washington area passed to show it’s colors as a hockey town.

I don’t have time for a full write-up, but yeah, what an awesome time. I was on the Caps-sponsored travel package that included a bus ride up and back (and a free hotel room once the game was postponed), which I highly recommend for any similar trips in the future. Our seats were in Section 118, which was a pretty great view. Photos are at this link. Here are 3 favorites:

I wrote my wrap-up at my blog – my pictures weren’t as cool as the ones above. Love reading everyone else’s wrap-ups. http://folliesandfoilbles.blogspot.com/