Winter Classic: Post-Game

We are back home safe and sound and no worse for the wear, despite our post-game transportation adventure (details later).  The most important news is, of course: CAPS WIN!!!!! 


What a massive relief that is!  On top of it, it was a good game overall even though it took the entire first period for the two teams to adjust to the awful ice conditions.  Due to the poor ice it wasn't a fast paced game, but it was a full 60 minutes of hard-hitting hockey between two great teams that have no lover for each other. 


According to the TV announcers, there were about 30,000 Caps fans and 40,000 Pens fans, but I can tell you that doesn't seem accurate.  We were outnumbered at least 2-1 in there.  There was much less outright venom between the fans, though.  That's not to say there were no assholes running around or that it was a pleasant atmosphere, but for the most part the two groups kept to themselves and ignored each other.  To the point that the concession stand lines alternated between Pens fan-only lines and Caps fan-only lines.  All self-segregated.  on the concourse you'd see groups of red and groups of blue/black.  I only saw one couple that was "mixed" and one pair of males that were "mixed."  Beyond that it was all or nothing in the crowd.  This is a departure from every other game I've ever been to, even Nashville vs. Detroit games, where you'll see groups of fans socializing in whatever jerseys.  The fans grouping together allowed me to meet a handful of people who were also Mason alum, and that was really cool since I rarely run into any at home.


Other than saying the game was just amazing, I don't really have much to say about the details of it.  It was a gritty dump-and-chase game due to the ice conditions but these two teams still made it entertaining somehow.  We were worried that it would just fly by but it seemed to move at just the right pace mentally--not too fast, but also not too slow.  Considering how tired we were it could have been a massive bore had the pace of the game not seemed fast enough.

I didn't even get that discouraged when Malkin scored first.  I was confident that the Caps would keep it close and my faith was rewarded when the Caps scored shortly after.  What I didn't expect was that Malkin's goal would be the last for the Pens!!  He did get the puck in the net one more time, but it was waved off for goaltender interference.  Ovechkin also had a goal waved off for the same late in the game, but that was a questionable call since Fleury was out of his crease beside and behind the net, and the puck already in the goal, when the contact occurred.  Good thing they didn't need that point, but it still would have been awesome if Ovi had scored--especially since Crosby was held without a point in the game.

The Pens fans started filing out early, so by the time the game was over it was fairly safe to celebrate without fear of being verbally harassed--and despite their seriously disgusting attitude all night the Pens fans were SILENT on the way out.  It was an amazing feeling to walk out of there with a Caps win in hand since it was such a long walk out!

Little did we know that our adventure was just beginning.  We went straight away to the bus stop and got down there about 11:25.  It started to rain pretty steady so we found cover and waited a bit longer.  Kirby was being very impatient waiting for the bus, so I looked on my phone and discovered that the buses started running at the start of the 3rd period (WTF?!?) and the last bus would leave 45 minutes after the end of the game.  We were still within that point when we got down there, but once it had been 45 minutes since the game ended and no bus had picked us up, we decided to start walking to the T Station. 

We tried using the navigation on our phones but we immediately got lost just a few blocks from the stadium, so we stopped and asked a cop for directions.  She pointed us to the Wood St. station, which is actually 2 stops down from where we got off, but was the closest to us.  I don't know why I didn't think of that, but apparently my city skills are rusty.  So, we cross the bridge and then can't find the station, so I ask another cop for directions.  We go the three additional blocks to the station and get there about 12:15.  We wait almost 30 minutes for a train to arrive, and get on the first one that shows up which services our line/station.  Because of where our station was located (where we parked) we needed to transfer from the one that picked us up to another, smaller train that would take us to our lot. 

We got off the train around 1:00 and waited for a while for another train.  It was getting later and colder so I pulled out my phone again to look up the schedule and couldn't find any information about actual stop times, just the same info that we used to plan the trip in the first place.  The same information that said the trains would be running until 2:00 am.  Several out of service trains came by and we figured out that we were probably SOL.  Finally, around 1:45am one of the out of service trains stopped and the driver asked if we needed help.  We told him what was going on and he said that he'd never heard the service was supposed to run until 2:00, and that he was actually supposed to stop at 12:30, but had just taken his last trip.  He wasn't able to give us any other information, like a nearby gas station where we could go and try to stay warm while coming up with a solution, or a number for a cab company. 

At that point we decided to start walking and follow the tracks back to our car.  After a couple blocks we lost the ability to follow the track and it was a dark and deserted, and not very savory, residential neighborhood.  We turned back and then went out to the "main road" by the station, which was also poorly lit and did not have any sidewalks.  I knew if we followed that road it would get us back to our car, but we had no clue how long we had to walk and Kirby was not in agreement as to the direction we needed to walk in the first place.  His phone was completely dead and mine was close so we didn't want to waste phone battery looking online for any more information, but we knew we needed to do something or get somewhere fast. 

As we were sitting there trying to figure out what to do a cop drove by on the main road and Kirby unsuccessfully tried to flag him down.  Immediately after that a cab whipped into the parking lot and let out a full load of Pens fans that apparently couldn't even get to the station where we were.  We ran over to the cab as quickly as possible and asked if he could take us to that station.  He said he wasn't really supposed to, but that he could.  As we rode with him to our station he said the same thing had happened to those fans he has just dropped off, and that there were still a bunch of people downtown that could not get out.  We had been warned by a friend who used to live in Pittsburgh that it has the worst cab service of any major city, and they were not kidding.  The cab driver told us that he was not supposed to be that far out of the city during "peak times" and he said we were lucky he came by because no cab company would have sent anyone out that far to pick us up!!!  The only way those people convinced him to make the trip was by offering him an extra $20.  Over the course of the ride we realized we would have never made it back to our car walking because it was at least 5 miles farther from where we were stranded, even though it was directly down the road I believed it to be on, in the direction I felt we needed to go.  We finally got back to our car at 2:45 am and gave the driver $40 for an $18 fare.  We were just relieved to have gotten a ride at all, and thanking God for sending us an angel in the form of this particular cab driver!!

Our hotel room was about 45 more minutes away, and I could not drive because i was just too tired and my eyes were killing me.  I fell asleep as soon as we got on the interstate.  On our way out of--get this--South Park, we were followed by a cop for a few miles.  We were going a bit over the limit and when Kirby realized it was a cop and slowed down he whipped a U-turn in the middle of the road and went away.  All I can say is that it was fortunate for everyone involved that he did turn around because he would have gotten an earful at that point and we would have ended up in jail. 

Kirby drove us to the hotel, and apparently stopped at a truck stop to find food, since it had been our original plan to stop for food on the way back and eat in the room...and that didn't quite materialize.  We got back to the room at exactly 4:00 am, almost exactly 5 hours after the end of the game.  We were damp, cold, tired and sore.  I put the microwave pizza in the microwave, hopped in the tub to warm up and then basically sleep ate the pizza.  I could barely function but knew that I needed to eat since it had been 15 hours since I ate anything, and if I went to sleep without eating I'd really regret it in the morning.  I told Kirby, "I'd really like to brush my teeth right now, but I can't.  As soon as I lay my head down on this pillow I'll be out."  He said I wasn't kidding, and fell asleep immediately after laying down--he'd never seen anyone fall asleep that fast!

But despite all the trouble we had getting back after the game, it was still preferable (if only marginally) to parking downtown.  We heard from people on the train that they were charging $100 to park anywhere downtown, and we certainly weren't prepared to do that! 

All in, though, it was tons of fun despite our shitty experience with the Port Authority public transit!  It is simply one of those things that just doesn't translate over TV.  You have to see it to believe it.  Being surrounded by that many real hockey fans created an energy that can't be described.  Kirby now wants to go to every Winter Classic from here on out.  We'll see about that...but I can't say I regret going to this one.