What other way to spend an Indian Summer evening than by heading downtown to watch some top end, high calibre hockey with a bit of high calibre historic politics on the side. Outside it was 20 degrees which surprised a lot of people considering how close to freezing it had been just a week before, but it was heating up in the American Presidential race so the weather I guess followed suit. Had I not been catching the bus and then subway into the heart of the city after work this would have been perfect weather for a cycle home. It was certainly perfect for all them thousands gathered anxiously in Chicago hoping for the good news.

I got down into Toronto’s busy rush hour city before 6 O’Clock and decided to find a pub for grub before heading to the arena. If I could fill my stomach outside the arena it might save me a small fortune when I got into it. $13 after tax (1) for a litre cup of beer inside the Air Canada Centre. They make the Odyssey arena’s prices look like a night out in Prague.

(1) This before/after tax thing is something I am going to rant about in the near future.

The pub I went into is a popular Sports bar in the city. Walk into any day of the year and the T.V. screens including the big ones will be showing various sports from various countries and if there is no live sport on it’ll be sports news or whatever the sports channel happens to have on. Not tonight. Tonight every channel was turned to CNN and nobody was complaining.

This was pre-results coming in so it was all just speculation but I admired how they managed to ramble on for 16 hours before anything official was announced. Come to think of it they have been rambling on like that for nearly twelve months now. The bar was jammed, full of Leafs jersey’s as everyone got a quick pint or two or three in before heading across the road to the arena.

A plate of wings and a pint later I was in the arena searching for my seat. As it turned out my seat was so high up they handed me an oxygen tank at the door entrance they called basecamp before ushering me towards the flight of stairs that would lead me to the heavens. By the time I reached the summit I was walking through heavy snowfall but found my seat in the very back row looking down on the ice like an eagle. An honest jump forward and I truly believe I could have landed at centre ice. Would I have broken through the ice?

I was so far up that the only thing behind me were the standing room only people and the roof. I had to duck down to see the top half of the scoreboard but it didn’t bother me. These tickets were cheap for NHL standards and I could still clearly see the rink (through a telescope) as well as the puck so that was all I required.

The game was a good one. The Leafs dominated the first period but still managed to find themselves three goals down. It is one of the most frustrating things in sports when you play well, deserve a break but the other team get three chances and take them all. That is generally what happened but the Leafs stuck to their game plan and used the rest of the game to claw their way back.

By the time they fell to 4-1 behind I assumed they would roll over into the fetal position and accept whatever punishment was coming there way. This was the Leafs way of doing business in previous seasons and coupled with their over hyped star team and their unrealistic fan base I just couldn’t warm to them at all. This season however they have re-built, they are re-structuring, they are giving young players a shot and under a new coach have an ethos of hard work and never say die attitude. It is certainly admirable even if I’m not going to buy a Leafs jersey anytime soon.

They pulled the game back to 4-4 by the end and so forced overtime. They had guaranteed themselves a point out of a game that after one period you wouldn’t have gave them any hope of getting anything out of. In the end they lost the game in the sudden death overtime period but the fans applauded the team off the ice if only for their effort and entertaining style of hockey.

The atmosphere was what you might call ‘regular season’, it was hardly a wall of noise but because of the crowd size compared to the Odyssey it was pretty noisy at points. They don’t have the chanting you get at a football game and you cant help imagine how loud an enclosed arena of 19,000 people would sound if they had a miniature version of the Kop. You’d pay just to hear that alone. This is the North American culture though and the noise is saved for good big hits and close scoring chances.

It reminds me more of a Gladiators arena. Everyone crammed into this arena that encircles the rink were the players are enclosed into to battle it out. There isn’t chanting of songs just roars of approval or boo’s of disgust.

After the Carolina goal goes in everyone immediately heads for the exit. Unlike the Elite League in the UK there is no handshakes in the regular season and no man of the match awards. The players are off the ice quicker than the fans are out of their seats when a goal goes in. Their attention already onto the next game.

Thankfully the area provides a parachute for those in the heavens to save us a three hour trek down to sea-level again. The great thing about the ACC is that it is joined onto the train station. You don’t need to go outside to get your train home. My train home wasn’t for 30 minutes after getting into the station so I decided to kill that time by going to the stations pub for a cold beer and a look at what was going on in the election.

The station was crammed because of the game and the pub was busy also. Everyone was glued to the T.v. as the real action was now well underway in the election. In fact it was more than underway, it was almost over — the results were coming in thick and fast. Obama had a slick lead and by the time I left the bar to get my train, McCain was going to need about 70% of what was left to take the victory.

By the time I got home around an hour later and turned on the computer for a quick look before going to bed the headlines on BBC and CNN already had headlines claiming that McCain had conceded defeat and that Obama was the first Black President of America. I couldn’t help but wonder if those bars I stood in earlier in the night with them people watching history unfold either side of a Leafs game were now a scene of wild cheering and celebrating?

It has been quite the week for the Black man. Lewis Hamilton became the first Black formula one World Champion and now Obama has won his crown. It will be interesting now to see what happens when Obama begins to put his money were his mouth is on his lofty promises of change. That remains to be seen and while he isn’t likely to walk on water and is likely to make a few mistakes in the coming years he is without a doubt an upgrade on the present for America and the hope he appears to have given the nation is there to see on all news broadcasts with people celebrating in the streets. Let’s just hope things haven’t deteriorated further by the time George Bush finally relinquishes his grip on the Presidency of the Western World by the time Obama officially takes command in a few months time.

An historic day for the world: I actually have a healthy respect for the Toronto Maple Leafs this season!

Below is a box score from the game for future reference.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS 4 v 5 CAROLINA HURRICANES (OT)
Tuesday 4th November 2008, Air Canada Centre, Toronto (19,266).

First Period:
1. Carolina, Ruutu 4 (Larose) 2:20
2. Carolina, Seidenberg 1 (Corvo, Whitney) 5:06 (pp)
3. Carolina, Larose 4 (Babchuk, Melichar) 8:53
4. Toronto, Hagman 4 (Kulemin, Grabovski) 13:52
5. Carolina, Bayda 3 (Whitney) 18:50
Second Period:
6. Toronto, Grabovski 4 (Hagman, Kulemin) 3:40 (pp)
7. Toronto, Van Ryn 3 (Antropov, Stajan) 14:43
Third Period:
8. Toronto, Grabovski 5 (Kaberle, Kubina) 1:29
Overtime:
9. Carolina, Wallin 1 (Ruutu, Samsonov) 1:52

Penalty Minutes:
Toronto: Blake 2, Kubina 2.
Carolina: Larose 2, Babchuk 2, Gleason 2.

Shots on Goal: Toronto 15 16 11 0 - 42, Carolina 14 5 3 2 - 24.
Powerplay: Toronto 1-3, Carolina 1-2.
Stars: 1. Wallin CAR, 2. Grabovski TOR, 3. Ward CAR.
Referees: Dennis LaRue, Justin StPierre. Linesemen: Scott Cherrey, Steve Miller.

Teams:

Toronto: Toskala, Schenn, Finger, Kaberle, Van Ryn, Stralman, Kubina, White, Hagman, Steen, Stajan, Moore, Mayers, Ponikarovsky, Mitchell, Kulemin, Blake, Antropov, Grabovski.
Scratched: Colaiacovo, Forgren, Hollweg.

Carolina: Ward, Seidenberg, Gleason, Wallin, Melichar, Babchuk, Corvo, E.Staal, R.Whitney, Samsonov, Ruutu, Brind’Amour, Bayda, Walker, Brookbank, Dwyer, Eaves, Larose, Helminen.
Scratched: Pitkanen, Cullen, B.Sutter.

Category: My Journal » American Presidency Campaign, Barak Obama, Hockey Box Score, Politics, Toronto Maple Leafs |

............................................................................................................................................................................