Things started off early on Saturday. Crimson and I arrived downtown about 11:30AM to spend the afternoon checking out the extras the NHL had planned. First up was a failed attempt to browse official All Star merchandise. We couldn't get into the arena store because an early (9AM) Rock n Skate event had the arena and it was closed off to the general public. We'd just have to delay that until later. Next we headed towards the "NHL Memorabilia" area. This was one of the bigger dissapointments of the weekend as it was very small consisting of about 18 small booths. Although they had interesting merchandise, there simply wasn't enough to occupy us for very long. I've seen bigger card shows at local malls. At least the NHL did have the Stanley Cup on hand for pictures. However, since I already had that picture from the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, we passed. Also, some NHL Alumni were on hand for signings but since I'd seen all those guys 2 days earlier at a local bar, it didn't grab my interest. Instead, we waited in line for about 45 minutes for Erik Johnson to sign autographs. It was unfortunate the NHL couldn't get more All Stars or past players to do some more organzied signings.
It might appear at this point that the weekend was a less than stellar experience. Nothing could be further from the truth. My initial gripes were fairly minor and the best was yet to come.
After eating a quick lunch at Chick-Fil-A, we decided to check out the back side of the arena and the area where the red carpet meet-and-greet was to take place later in the afternoon. When we did this we discovered alternate arena access to a store selling All Star merchandise. After a bit of debate, I laid down the credit card and got us both Ilya Kovalchuk All Star jerseys and Crimson an All Star hat. Earlier I had found myself a program and pennant. Continuing from the store, we found the red carpet area and got a feel from where we'd hang out. People were already lining up more than 2 hours in advance of player arrival. We'd wait a little longer before standing in the cold and headed back to the car to deposit some of our goods and change jerseys.
After roaming for a bit more, we headed back to red carpet area to wait on the players. Although we weren't positioned immediately next to the railing, we were only a person or two back. After getting several good pictures of all the mascots, the players began to arrive. Just above every player took a great deal of time signing autograpghs for the large gathering of fans. Crimson was very successful getting about a dozen autographs on her new hat. I was lucky enough to get Chris Osgood and Pavel Datsyuk to sign my Red Wings cap.
With the red carpet festivities over and the Super Skills competition not far off, we headed into the arena for a bite to eat before the ceremonies began. The skills competition was very entertaining. Our seats were great, located on the lower level directly behind one of the goals about 20 rows up. Some of the events were new or retooled this year, most for the better. Many events were better in person although a few required a glance at the big screen to really appreciate the fine motor skills envolved. My personal highlights included Pavel Datsyuk going 4 for 4 on the saucer pass portion of the obstacle course, Kaberle's 4 for 4 on the accuracy competition, the Young Guns game featuring Atlanta's own Tobias Enstrom and the breakway challenge where shooters were encouraged to be creative on breakways against only a goalie. Alexander Ovechkin stole the show from hometown favorite Kovalchuk by attempting to lift the puck in the air, spin in a circle and bat it into the net. A very entertaining way to end a great event and day.
Saturday was only half the fun. Sunday night was the actual All Star Game. We made certain to get there early with camera in hand for the warmup skate and I got several great pictures. All Star Games are always different than regular season contests. As expected, players do everything possible to protect their health for the real season and the playoffs. There is little to no checking, slapshots are avoided, and stick work is reduced to puck handling. Because of this, there is little defense and goalies are hung out to dry. Players will overlook the open long range shot to pass the puck another time in hopes of the pretty pass-pass-pass tap in. That doesn't mean the event is not entertaining. It simply means it is different.
This game actually turned out to be very entertaining. The Western Conference scored first, just 12 seconds in when Rick Nash put the puck in the net. The remainder of the first period was all Eastern Conference with team rattling of 5 straight goals to take a 5-1 lead. Tables turned a bit in the second as the East was held pointless and the West put up a pair to narrow the lead to 5-3. When the third period began the West continued to dominate, eventually tying it 5 minutes in and taking the lead 7-6 with just 9 minutes left. The East managed to respond though, tying the game a couple minutes later. Just when we all thought the game was headed to overtime, former Thrasher, Marc Savard put the game winner in for the East with 20.6 seconds left on the clock. A fantastic finish.
The crowd was very appreciative and cheered hometown boys, Kovalchuk and Hossa every bit of the way. Hossa managed to score one goal to the delight of the fans. Although Kovy didn't get a goal, he certainly had his chances and had an assist on the winning goal. Here's hoping Atlanta's enthusiasm at the event will convince a NHL fan or two outside Atlanta that there are plenty of people here who love hockey.
Below are pictures primarily from the red carpet on Saturday and during warmups Sunday night.
No comments:
Post a Comment