I work at an eye doctor's office. We have a lot of patients and this one called me and said he had 2 tickets to the game and if I wanted them. Of course I did, and to top it off, he wouldn't accept any money. 2 $60 seats for free. This happens pretty regularly to me here.
My wife and I met our friends at the Arena Club inside the stadium for the buffet dinner I mentioned here. Parking was fast and easy as my friends had a parking pass. The arena is first class with people there to help you with anything you need. Cool side note, one of my friends met Ronnie Francis.
The Salmon was good, as was the pork loin and the cous cous. The bacon wrapped chicken was nothing spectacular (how can you screw up 2 meats!) and I found the ravioli to be pedestrian. However, none of the above prevented me from stuffing my face, and at $30 a head, you better believe I got my money's worth. They also had these cute mini éclairs which were tasty. However, after tip, it wasn't worth the $85!!!!
The seats in the lower level were very good and we were surrounded by Canes fans. There was a small but vocal NY Ranger contingent in the upper level. One thing that was evident was the lack of atmosphere in the crowd. I have been there many times and you could feel the excitement. But tonight...nothin'. There was a lot of people there, but they didn't seem into the game. I would say as flat as their team looked.
The Rangers played well for the most part, as you saw, but in the 2nd and 3rd, there were a lot of adventures in the back end. I had the nervous feeling; not quite to the Montreal level, but it was there at 3-1 and definitely at 3-2. But God bless grandpa! I saw Backman make a nice D play, but he also took a lot of penalties. I can't say I took a lot of notice of Shoe either.
Both sides didn't seem to be finishing their checks.
The refs missed quite a few calls (again or should I say still) but that interference perpetrated against Rozy was ridiculous.
There are still a lot of fans here that think that if their player falls down it is a penalty. But there are also some very knowledgeable fans here as well.
And now for the not so nice....Behind me were several fans that had their beer muscles. Hurling profanities left and right. I could let it go for awhile, but eventually I asked the guy behind me could he stop with the profanity. Then came the snide comments said in a lower voice, but loud enough to make sure I heard. "I don't see how Rangers fans can like a guy in Avery that beats his wife" What? He's married? The vulgarities continued and I turned around again and said, "Ok, I get it. Avery is a dick. Yell all you want, but I am trying to watch the game with my wife and she doesn't appreciate your language." His reply: "Shell get over it."
...
I stared at the man, getting angrier, feeling my wife's hand on my knee squeeze tighter. I already knew that I could take the 2 guys behind me, but did I really want to do this. Will I get sued, will I go to jail...all thoughts I am systematically going through in my head. Before I could say anything he said, "Calm down."
And I did. He didn't say another word the rest of the game. I don't get angry very often. And I didn't really think I would've had to hit him. He either came to his senses and realized what an ass he was being or he didn't want to get embarrassed in public.
After the win, friends and I exited the parking lot in under 10 minutes and then I was home. A good night and a good win.
By the way, we got a great picture of Callahan in the sin bin which I will post later.
20% is very generous for a buffet.
