Happy New Year! Our New Year's plans were a bit more exciting this year than in years past. (That's not too hard to top, though, since we're such homebodies.) We didn't go out NY Eve, but we did celebrate NY day by heading up to Pittsburgh to catch the CAPS play the Penguins in the NHL Winter Classic, an outdoor hockey game.
We bought our tickets a few months ago. Though we paid for the day trip (up and back on Saturday), it turned into an overnight one because of the weather. The game, which was originally slated to begin at 1, didn't start until almost 8:30 because of the rain. (Go figure that it was 50 something degrees that day when all of December has been record lows!) The beauty of the later start time is that the game would be played under lights, we got a free hotel stay (at the Sheraton!), and we didn't have to leave at the crack of dawn Saturday morning (original departure time 5:30). Needless to say, we quickly adjusted to the new time.
Our bus arrived at Heinz Stadium a little after 5. The place was packed already! Neither one of us could imagine driving in that mess. What a nightmare it would have been! The bus dropped us off, and then we wandered around the stadium for a little while, taking in the sights (or at least the endless numbers of people). There were quite a few CAPS fans there, so it's not as if we were completely surrounded by the enemy. Of course, it was Pittsburgh, and the Penguins fans reminded us of that.
Satisfied that we had seen everything there was to be seen outside Heinz, we ventured in. Scott stopped in a few shops to see if there was a picture or a frame that we might buy to mount our tickets in, but he was unsuccessful. That also meant that we had that much more time to kill before the game. We found our seats (awesome seats-- Section 131, Row AA, CAPS side), and then took in more of the stadium (translation: we checked out the food stations).
Finally, it was approaching pre-game time, so we made our way to our seats. Much to our surprise, there were seat cushions provided, along with some tickets and NHL player cards. At least we'd be comfortable for the game.
The game was a good one, though it didn't start off that way. The Penguins were dominating, and when they scored first, well, we didn't think the rest of the game would turn out favorably. Finally, though, the CAPS woke up. They answered Pittsburgh's goal with two more in the second period. Then, in the third, they sealed the deal with a third. The CAPS win was the first for the visiting team since the Winter Classic started up again a few years ago. Needless to say, all the CAPS fans were elated by the win. The Penguins fans, well, they were less than gracious. (Those seat cushions I mentioned? Well, the Penguins fans sitting behind us took mine and that of another CAPS fan in our row. The must have picked them up when we stood up to cheer for the third goal. How rude!)
All in all, we had a great time. My only regret is that I didn't charge the camera battery, so I couldn't take as many pictures as I would have liked. Oh well. We still managed to get a few shots in. Go CAPS!
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