I have done some spur of the moment, crazy things in my life, and this will surely count as one of them. For those of you who read my blog regularly, you’ll know I used to work for several NHL teams and in the process, made a lot of life-long friends. This week, I jokingly said to one of them, “man, I’d love to go to Saturday’s game.” He said, “I’ve got an extra ticket if you’re serious.” I said yes! So I’ll be headed to Chicago tomorrow morning to meet up with several old friends for the Chicago Blackhawks/Boston Bruins Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Luckily there are direct flights from Charleston to Chicago, so that will make leaving on Saturday morning and returning on Sunday morning feasible.
I was having a very hard time deciding on a hotel for the 1 night I’ll be in Chicago, and didn’t really want to stay at any of the airport hotels. So after a little tweeting I ended up choosing a Hyatt downtown. My friend is a Diamond member (I’m a lowly Platinum) so I’m hoping we get an upgrade, but I know it’s a very, very busy weekend in the city (prices were not cheap) and there may be no upgrades.
I’m incredibly excited to see another Stanley Cup Finals Game, I’ve been to a few over the years but this maybe the best match-up I’ll have seen in person during a finals. So, how do you choose what team to root for when neither team is your favorite team? I looked at the rosters to see how many players I knew or worked with on each team. That was a toss up. So, in the end, I’ve decided to stay neutral and wear an All Star Jersey circa 1999 to the game (ironically, the jersey is singed by Jaromir Jagr (who now plays for Boston) and Tony Amonte (a retired Chicago Blackhawks player) .
A whirlwind 24 hours is on the horizon, but I’m very excited to see old friends and a great game. Chicago is a great city and I’m sure will be a great host.
1995 Stanley Cup – New Jersey Devils Roster
awesome! sounds like a great time!