Back in 2003 I attended the Red Wings vs Blues on March 7th. The Blues lost 7-2 and Brett Hull even scored twice for Detroit. On top of that, there were also many line brawls that broke out towards the end of the game. Little did I know that this would be the last home game I would attend until Tuesday, January 23, 2018. I moved to Phoenix, AZ as a 13 year old because of my mom’s job and then joined the Air Force, who have since stationed me in California and Texas. Now that I have had such a long gap between home games (I have been to two Blues games in Arizona in that time period) I wanted to reflect on the current experience at Scottrade Center and just say how great it really was.
First of all, after watching many, many games on TV over the years and being extremely envious and/or jealous of everyone that constantly gets to be there, let me tell you that if you enjoy going to the Blues games DO NOT TAKE IT FOR GRANTED! It is something that I have been longing to do again for years and I will always remember coming back and getting to experience it again. It is awesome to be in a place where you are among 19,000 other Blues fans and not the only fan or family of fans cheering for the Blues. The excitement, the passion, the goal horn, the roar of the home crowd when we score and win, as a Blues and a hockey fan, there is nothing else like it.
Now, to talk about the game itself for a minute. The Blues came out strong, hungry and really seemed to have changed their mindset after that rough loss to Arizona, a team that should not have outplayed them that badly. They dominated Ottawa in every way. Hutton got the shutout, they controlled every zone, they funneled pucks to the net, the Penalty Kill was great, and they looked like they really knew what the game-plan was for Ottawa and beat them like they should. Adding on to the game experience itself, it was my wife, my four year old son, and almost two year old daughter’s first game they were able to witness at home as well. They loved every second of it, all the way from the pre-game to the post-game experience and everything in between. Not only did they love it, but my daughter was able to get some attention from Berglund, Tarasenko, Bortuzzo, and others during the pre-game and even got a puck tossed to her by Berglund during that time. Then, in the post game I was able to help my son get a stick handed off from Vince Dunn. It made a really awesome night very memorable and just downright magical as far as a couple young Blues fans are concerned. I cannot thank the Blues organization enough for how well of an experience they make the games nor can I thank the players enough for them giving what little time they have during the entirety of the game to interact with the kids and show them how awesome hockey players truly are. They give back to the kids so much and considering the kids are their biggest fans, it is just amazing to see first hand.
Finally, I want to comment on the arena and just say that if you have not been there in a while or as long as I had not been, that you NEED to go! It is still as beautiful as always and as a die hard fan myself, it is just as much of a sanctuary as you see on TV, if not more. All the upgrades, especially that scoreboard, really make the place stand out so well and it has got to be one of the best looking arena’s in the NHL and one of the best places to take in a game. Along with that, the crowd is always buzzing and into the game and you can feel the passion for the Blues as soon as you walk up to the doors of Scottrade and even hear it in everyone’s voices, as the talk is mainly Blues hockey for the rest of the night. I came back, finally, to take in a game and I knew it was going to be a great experience, but I cannot believe how awesome it really was. I speak for myself and my family when I say that I was blown away with excitement just being there and that I cannot wait to go to another game!
Thanks for reading and LET’S GO BLUES!
