hockey: A trip to the Ice Bowl

Wow, what at trip! The 2008 Winter Classic certainly exceeded my expectations of this much-hyped outdoor hockey game in Buffalo between the Penguins and Sabres. It had it all: winter weather, a packed stadium and, of course, an exciting shootout.
Read on for my impressions of the drive, the stadium, the fans and the game.

The Trip to Buffalo
I woke up at 5:10 a.m. on New Year's day (20 minutes before my alarm went off, preventing me from waking up Mr. Penguin!), and piled on most of my layers (pictured here). Papa Penguin arrived at 6:45 a.m. and we hit the road, stopping for rest stops once in Pa. and once in New York (at Angola, which certainly seemed like the official rest stop of Penguins fans, both before and after the game).

With just some light flurries and a little gusty wind, we arrived in sight of Ralph Wilson Stadium in 3.5 hours--not bad at all! I spotted a sign for $15 parking, so we pulled in, crossed a field and another parking lot and arrived at the at 10:42 a.m.

The Stadium
Ralph Wilson Stadium is not a pretty place. Papa Penguin (who hates Heinz Field) said that it makes you appreciate the home of the Steelers a lot more. Since the gates hadn't opened yet, we walked around a bit, taking a look at the fan experience stuff they had going on outside. Unless we missed something major on the other side of the place, there is nothing around the stadium. It's in the middle of a freaking suburb: a lot of smaller homes with yards and a tiny college campus. I know people tailgate, but how can you have a stadium with virtually no restaurants or bars within walking distance?

Inside didn't get any better. Bleak and outdated, the concrete structure housed just one type of concession stand (at least on the 300 level) with just typical stadium grub. They did offer a soup of the game, which was actually decent and was nice to warm up with before the game started. I didn't go back to the concourse once the game started, but apparently lines for the concession stand and restrooms were a mob scene.

When we headed out to our seats in Section 336, we were a little shocked (and dismayed!) to see metal bleachers. Now we've suffered metal bleachers before, at Heinz Field and Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, but didn't think that a football team in Buffalo, NY, would make their fans suffer through cold winter Bills games freezing their booties on metal seats. And really, a very large potion of the seating throughout the stadium featured the bleachers. Fortunately, a quick drying with napkins took care of the water, and the puddles collected on the concrete actually were more of a problem cold-wise.

We did, though, have a pretty good view of the rink from our seats. I definitely found it strange watching a hockey game from so far away, but I could see all the action.

But honestly...has no one in Buffalo suggested that this place be replaced?

The Fans
For some reason, I hadn't really thought about the fact that this was still a home game for the Buffalo Sabres. I guess because of all the talk here in Pittsburgh about fans getting tickets, and since the game wasn't at HSBC Arena, it felt like more of a neutral site in my mind. I didn't consider that even with thousands of Pens fans making the trip, the rest of the 71,000-plus crowd would far outnumber us Pittsburghers.

But the atmosphere was great. Sabres fans are true hockey fans, and despite some good-natured booing, were quite friendly. We had a bunch of Penguins fans near us, but were pretty mixed in with the Buffalo faithful as well. I had so many people, Sabres fans, Penguins fans and even some Canadians, come up and talk to me (usually to compliment me on my Christmas present, a Winter Classic Crosby jersey).

Thank you, Buffalo, for being so welcoming!

The Weather
I think the weather affected the players on the ice more than all of us in the stands. It snowed lightly most of the game, and the wind didn't really pick up until the end. It made the ice choppy during the game, but in the stands, I felt pretty warm under all of my layers. After all the talk and worry about the weather in Buffalo, the weather on the trip home ended up being the biggest problem.
The Game
Oh yeah, there was a hockey game going on. With choppy ice slowing the puck down and lots of stoppages, the game moved pretty slowly, even though it was enjoyable. The Penguins jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Colby Armstrong knocked in a Sidney Crosby rebound. The Sabres tied it up with a Brian Campbell goal in the second period, in which they dominated play. Goalie Ty Conkin kept the Pens in the game though, and it took overtime and a shootout to put the victory away. Kris Letang (now 4-4 in shootouts) beat Miller before Crosby claimed the victory.

Box score

The Drive Home
We made it to Orchard Park in 3.5 hours; it took seven to get home. After warnings and fears about weather in Buffalo, it was the weather outside of Buffalo that caused problems. We made it back to I-90 in less than 10 minutes--no traffic at all!--and then stopped again in Angola for gas and food. When we got back to the car, the bad snow had already started and wouldn't let up.

The miles and miles of headlights in the slow low, crawling traffic on I-90 and I-79 did show, however, how many Penguins fans really had made the trip up to New York. When we finally took a much needed break at a Sheetz in Grove City, the place was packed with Penguins jerseys. The poor ladies working there--not staffed for such an onslaught so late on New Years night--were baffled. But we made it home safely, and the weather can't overshadow what a great trip we had.

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