Canada Plummets USA

If you live in or around Buffalo and have not spent the last week under a rock, you are aware that the World Junior Hockey Championship has been playing at HSBC arena.  My husband and son have went to several games so I decided I should probably take in at least one.  My choice:  Canada vs. USA.

All week the newspapers have been reporting on disparaging remarks on Buffalo and what a ghost town it is.  You cannot walk down Chippewa without being greeted by a group of 10 or more athletic guys wearing the same warm up suits.

Being aware of this, I still hadn't a clue about the fanfare.  We went to the arena and the hype was incredible.  We have spent many evenings utilizing box tickets at HSBC to see everything from Sabres games to concerts and never has it been so alive and LOUD.  The arena was red, majority of the seats willed with Canadian fans in full garb...wrapped in flags, painted faces and of course red and white jerseys.  The crowd never stopped chanting.  Needless to say the arena was jumping.

As a USA fan I was definitely in the minority.  It was the first time I was at a home game, where the home team was booed and the visitors (Canada) were praised.  Anyone who questions Canadian hockey fans needs to go to a World Junior Hockey Championship.  The fans were crazed.  Never have I seen a "wave" executed with such precision and continuity.

We couldn't hear the announcers because the crowd was roaring.  I heard a great deal of C-A-N-A-D-A but also some other chants.  I thought I heard "cannon ball" but my husband swears they were saying "Where's the mall".  More likely the latter.

It was an ugly night for the USA.  We feared a shutout until the last minutes of the 3rd period. At 4-1 and only 5 minutes remaining, we snuck out of the box to our car.  Yes we wanted to beat the traffic with our heads held low ( yes, we are THOSE people).  Even with this incredible loss, it was something to experience and I am happy I went.  Who would have thought the junior hockey fan base was so intense.  Plus the hockey was great fun to watch.

If you can, catch a game.  And to our USA team, better luck in 2012