Ducks 3, Senators 2
Just got back from Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals from the Honda Center in Anaheim. Let me just say that this had to be the worst hockey environment I’ve ever had around me. However, the overall atmosphere was tremendous and there were plenty of energetic fans who proudly wore their Ducks gear or their ‘I love Teemu Selanne’ t-shirts and Finnish flags. As for my viewing experience from the seats, that’s an entirely different set of dissapointments. On my right were two guys who constantly asked why the refs kept blowing the whistle and proceeded to go on a 10 minute rant about how the refs were simply on a power trip because no one was going to the penalty box, so why would they possibly stop the game. THAT was followed by “How come they haven’t called off sides or icing?”. All I could do was shake my head and make sure that the guy in front of me didn’t whack me with his Fowl Towel.
To my left was a family that in part consisted of two daughters who were sitting on their hands, texting friends and reacting to nothing that was going on on the ice and issued complaints about the lack of face time that Teemu was getting on the big screen. In front of me were three older gentlemen who were more concerned about getting up to grab beer every time they had the chance to get up. The lack of…or make that the NON EXISTANCE of cup holders made it even more fun when they repeatedly spilled beer on themselves and got up in an uproar.
And behind me? Sens fans. :)
The night began with a ridiculously long line for souvenirs and a short but rather neat video presentation of past Stanley Cup Champions on the scoreboard. One of the good things about the Ponda Center is their huge screens on the east and west ends of the arena where they’ll display hockey facts for those who might be lacking in the know department when it comes to things like ice time, post season awards and other stats and figures or just to catch up who plays for their home team.
The Sens got off to a good start and the first period was mostly back and forth action that resulted in the Sens taking over in the second period. The crowd was in a hush as the Ducks continued to stock pile the penalty minutes but then came the third period and the Sens 2-1 lead quickly went to waste and Travis Moen won the game for the Ducks with a late 3rd period goal.
This should be a fun, fast paced series and its a shame that NBC won’t be postponing it for reruns of Scrubs until Game 3.
For Game 2: Heatley and Spezza need to get going. Both seemed out of place and Spezza made some rather bad decisions with the puck. He *did* have an assit but that was more circumstantial than it was due to his assertiveness as Redden shot the puck on the powerplay when Giguere had lost his stick.
On the Ducks side they’ve got to stay out of the box. The Sens will most likely not fail as much as they did during this game but when you have role guys making the big play when things are winding down then it probably won’t matter when all is said and done.
