The Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Columbus Blue Jackets played their first regular season game on October 7, 2000. They played in their first Stanley Cup playoff game last Thursday, in the hostile environment of Joe Louis Arena. It is a high achievement to make the playoffs, but we had to go up against the Stanley Cup champions of 2008 (and many other years), the Detroit Red Wings.

Six of us made the drive up to Detroit for the game, and our seats were on the glass, which is exactly where you want to be for a hockey game. The Detroit fans were, for the most part, civil. I say that because some of the fans were not. We were booed as we walked through the arena to our seats, and I was pelted once during the game. I did my best to make light of it, telling some of our tormenters, "That's not very sportsmanlike...we're just here to play hockey." Some of the Detroit fans said that we should be glad we weren't playing the Chicago Black Hawks -- if you want to see a rude home-team crowd, Chicago's your place.

Detroit hockey fans are serious about their Red Wings. Here's the evidence...




The Red Wings are an old-school hockey team, and as you might expect, there are traditions galore. During the pregame festivities, a giant inflated octopus was lowered to the ice, and a real octopus was thrown from the stands onto the ice. The Legend of the Octopus is a sports tradition dating back to 1952. Go here to read about it.




The game was scoreless at the end of the first period, but the Red Wings started to dominate during the second period, and we lost the game. But some good came out of it. I was able to attend a Stanley Cup playoff game for the first time, and I also learned why hockey is better than golf. Listen to my friend Dan explain that in this short video.