The playoffs actually start tonight for some teams, but the Bruins have until tomorrow night, so technically I'm getting this in under the wire. My allergies are hitting me hard, so please forgive any incoherence. This will be a picture-driven post.
Starting with our parking lot at the T stop.
For non-locals, 617 is Boston's area code. Good omen, right?
The trip into town was uneventful, but we arrived at the Garden amid a sea of green. The Celtics matinee had gone into overtime, and was just letting out. Who knew there were so many Celtics fans around? I don't know anyone who professes love of basketball, but clearly there are thousands of them. We found a place to stand and watch the majority flow past before trying to make our way inside. The Pro Shop was so crowded that we didn't stay long, but we did see a few things of interest.
Like ...
Goldfinger!
I saw the Celtics one first, and it looks like you're channeling the Jolly Green Giant (which, if that's your thing, I'm not judging). But this? Really?
Of course, there was also the snuggie-knock-off:
It's a blanket with sleeves! Because of course it is.
Somehow we were able to restrain ourselves, and left without buying. There was a bit of a wait before they opened the doors, which was hard the more excited I got. I mean, they opened the sliding-glass panels, turned on the escalators ... and then it was half an hour before they let us go up. Honestly, don't tease!
A guy near us had the right sneakers for the occasion:
Practically everyone had Bruins-wear on, of course. It was a friendly feeling.
Watched over by Milan Lucic on the nearest pillar.
Finally, finally they let us in. Got a program, and they also were handing out free gifts, to the first so many people, I guess, since on the way home some people were asking others what was in the box. And what was in the box?
A helmet-shaped bank, which considering that the Garden is officially the TD Garden, after TD Bank, makes sense.
Cute, right?
Once we were in, my friend went to use the ladies room, and thus had the possibly unique experience of being the only person in an arena ladies room, while I stopped to get a pretzel and Coke. The woman who rang me up had the same name as mine! That's not a usual experience, either.
Fortified, we made our way to the area of the rink nearest our seats. The nice man told us to go straight ahead, all the way down to the glass, and as my friend said, I could get used to hearing that!
I mentioned that the basketball game went into OT. Pity the poor bull gang, having to make the parquet-to-ice switch-over so quickly. (The process
looks like this, if you're curious.) We got to our seats to find that the process was almost complete ... almost.
Across the ice, preparations were made for the teams to come out for warm-ups. You know, a security guard here, a puck pyramid there.
And here they ... wait.
"Congratulations, you're a famous NHL player, making a ton of money to play the game you love, and about to take the ice to the cheers of thousands. Now wait for the Zamboni."
How much fun do you think the Zamboni driver had with that?
Chara talks to
Naoko from NESN.
I didn't notice yesterday but they're
in the background of the Alfredsson-headband photo, too.
Now, can anyone tell me what this costume is meant to be?
It isn't hockey-related, I'm sure of that. Some sort of cartoon?
Fun fact: A few seconds after I took this photo, one of the Ottawa players banged his stick on the glass right by the kid. I'm sure it was a coincidence, right?
Before the game, they gave out some awards, and my boy Patrice won two of them. Ahhh, respect for a great player, makes me so happy.
More photos:
Adam McQuaid without a mullet:
Marchand mouthing off to the Senators bench:
Chara, being so tall he needs to toe-in to stay balanced:
Lucic fights, across the ice, my focus not so good--my camera's focus, I mean:
Marchand being escorted away from trouble:
Between periods, we got to see kids playing!
Tuukka:
Chara is not actually two feet taller than the referee, aka, perspective is funny:
Though he does have to bend over to talk to Peverley
Loooooch:
Bergeron, working so quickly that he is rarely in focus:
Chara and Seidenberg, synchronized skating NHL-style:
Seids lined up right by us for many faceoffs. These were particularly good seats if your favorite player happened to play defense. (Bergeron's a forward. Distance is my excuse for poor focus!)
And I hope that I will still be going to games at 101:
Here, Marchy looks like he's mouthing off (again), but instead it's that perspective thing (again):
The Senator was skating by, not at him.
Finally, two puzzlers. Sign in the stands:
35 lbs. and the Bruins logo? Anyone?
And, bad photo, but these pants? Really?
Not the white-tights legs, though those are ... also interesting, but the black and gold plaid? Really?
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