This past weekend the Puckin Hostile crew, minus our Canadian import, made the trek to tropical and balmy Columbus Ohio to see the Blackhawks face their adopted little brothers, the Blue Jackets. Unlike the paranoid, tin foil hat wearing #PERDS fanbase, the Lumbus fans have been fairly welcoming and accepting of the swarm of Blackhawks fans heading 5 hours east a couple of times a year. I honestly and truly respect them for hanging in there, because some Hawks fans can be fairly intolerable, like maybe #NowDerek.
Shocking, I know, but more on that later.
Saturday morning, two separate Hostile sponsored jalopies packed full of large mostly older, out of shape, men packed up and headed southeast. The #Fatrick family, including @UncleRozsival, squeezed into one vehicle, while I fired up the Hostile-mobile with an old friend, who was also former player/goalie of mine, Andy. Thanks to the unpredictable midwest weather, there was a nice layer of fresh snow coating the grass but, as we would find out later, the snow and cold weather had much more serious effects on other motorists. Not to worry, though, #Fatrick had the Canadian with him in spirit:
As we made it into the hell that is Indiana, we noticed quite a few spin out accidents and it became evident that there was not only snow, but black ice throughout northwest Indiana. Shockingly, I guess hell really CAN freeze over. Once we hit the Rensselaer area, our comfortable 80 mph was quickly reduced to 15 mph, thanks to a gapers block due to the first of multiple serious accidents as a result of the slick roads. This accident was an overturned Target truck. If you look closely to the top right of the picture, you can see the Indiana State Trooper (neon green vest) that mocked me for snapping a picture as we rolled by at 4 mph. Hey, what else are we supposed to do, pay attention to the road?
Luckily, we weren't set back too far by the traffic and shortly hit Indianapolis to pick up Frankie the Fish, aka @Hostile_Derek. After a quick pit stop, we were off to Lumbus. The #Fatrick family was not far behind, but were slowed down by some fast food establishments they could not possibly pass up. From Indy to Lumbus was an interesting two hours. We hit several pockets of heavy snow that ratcheted visibility down to hundreds of feet and then, within seconds, opened up to bright sunny skies. Midwestern weather; UGH!
Once we got to Lumbus, more specifically the Sheridan Capitol Hotel, it was pretty evident that the entire Chicago fanbase has traveled to see the Blackhawks play this game, even though it was a line-up full of 3rd liners vs a team that really didn't have much to play for. Based on what we heard later, the Sheridan was not the only hotel to have check-in lines down the hallways and almost out the door. I guess Blackhawks fans are the only ones this eager to actually get INTO Lumbus.
After a quick half hour break to decompress, we saddled up, grabbed an UBER, and headed over to the Nationwide arena. Pregaming wasn't exactly an easy task, because all the bars around the stadium were packed solid. Packed with red jerseys, that is. The embarrassing Chinese knockoffs were on full display, too.
Nationwide reminded me a lot of the Bridgestone arena in Trashville, in that there was only one entrance, which left everyone to stand out in the unusually cold weather. The arena itself is a really nice building. When you walk in there is a big open area where you can look out over the ice, which is a really nice touch.
The Canadian recapped the mess that was the actual game, but it was not without incident, in the stands. We were up with all the upper balcony heathens, and probably 100 feet from Pat Foley and Steve Konroyd. Our not so little Frankie the Fish got into several shouting matches with opposing fans, which then led to a little pride swallowing when the Hawks eventually choked and lost in OT. Some of the highlights were chirping the CBJ fans about their golf swings, and Derek getting told to, "shut up!" by a 9 year old Jackets fan. Well played, kid. I had to personally run down the aisle and fist bump the kid for that one. For those wondering if Frankie the Fish is just as annoying in person, check these videos out:
Is @Hostile_Derek annoying?......Yes!
Posted by Puckin Hostile on Saturday, April 9, 2016
@PuckinHostile @Patrick_Stankus @atomicfroster #hostileinvadeslumbus pic.twitter.com/EMsTKtpehr
— Zesty Pokka News (@Hostile_Derek) April 10, 2016
I want to give a shout out to the group of Blackhawks fans right in front of us that we celebrated with, for at least the first period. Good times! I also want to thank the Jackets fans for tolerating us. In any other city, punches would have been thrown. I made sure I went down and smoothed things over, after the game, with the groups that were chirping back at us, mainly because I didn't want to have to carry a drunk AND concussed Derek out of the arena. We followed up with some team pics and some pictures with the CBJ Pepsi Power Patrol cheerleaders. As you can see, one of us was sloppy drunk, like a high school girl after her first beer.
Right after these pictures were taken, our third wheel (Andy) saw CBJs player Nick Foligno leaving a postgame fan meetup in the concourse and shouted, "Enjoy working on your golf game". We were promptly asked to leave by security. Whoops.
As you can see below, #Fatrick and @UncleRozsival decided to have a nice romantic candlelight dinner at OH Pizza and Brew, before retiring to their cozy King sized bed for a night of snuggling and spooning, while us remaining clowns decided to head to Dick's Last Resort to meet up with some fans, drink a few beers and have a late dinner. Twitter follower @MichaelWeaselo met us for some hockey chatter before we all retired for the night. Good times.
The trip back home was largely fueled and sponsored by Tim Hortons, because you can't pass up Timmies, I guess.
Until next year, Lumbus!