...The Ecstasy

Last week I received a phone call from Sara Bailey of the Chicago Blackhawks. She reminded me that I entered the American Family Insurance Player Bench VIP Sweepstakes. She then told me that I had won the first seats every given away in the promotion. So I called up Paul and we went to the game last night to see the Blackhawks take on the Predators.

Before the game we looked for a bite to eat, so we walked down Madison to The Beer Bistro. Having never been there we didn't know what to expect. And apart from the chicken nachos (which were ok but not great) the place was fabulous. A long list of beers with several on tap with some pretty good sandwiches. And they had a free bus back to the United Center, and considering it was 34 degrees and several blocks (1.1 miles) this was a pleasant surprise.

When we got to the United Center we grabbed our cameras and headed inside. We went to our seats, and all they had for us was two folding chairs

But when we looked forward we saw...
And when we looked to the right we saw... And when we looked to the left we saw...
That's right our seats we not only right on the glass, but in between the benches and right on the Red Line!!! We were closer to the action than the backup goalies who sit on stools behind the benches. It was totally awesome. Sitting there even shift changes were exciting. The speed, size and skill of the players was unbelievable. Plus in the third period, they put us on the jumbotron and announced that I had won the contest. We barely looked at the scoreboard as it hurt our necks.

But we also noticed the little things. Steve Sullivan of the Preds is quite a gentleman. Here he is holding open the door for his teammates. As I was so close this was the best picture I could get of this (if you look close you can see Paul's reflection in the glass). We also got close up with Linesman Ryan Galloway. I tried to take some pictures of the game, but since it was going so fast the pictures either missed the action or blurred. My solution was to point the camera to the far circle and push the button once the players crossed the blue line. So here are some of the shots.



Martin Havlet started his breakaway to seal the game right in front of us.
And when the Hawks won they came off the ice right at us.
A great night out.