Planet USA defeated the Canadian All-Stars 5-4 in a shootout Monday to break the Canadians lengthy winning streak. Planet USA also took the skills competition, but you either saw all of that on the tube or read about it elsewhere, so this article will focus on my weekend in Manchester!
Missed my first home Crunch game of the season
Roo and I left early Saturday for the six hour trip to Manchester, NH. It had been some time since we had been out of town and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to relax and see some great hockey. From what I hear, I did not miss much in Syracuse Saturday night. A Crunch loss and Chris Ferraro out for six weeks....yikes! We did not do much after the long trip. The Hilton, where we would be staying was very nice, large, clean rooms, free breakfast, free dinner on weekdays...can't beat that! We ventured on the town to find some dinner and found the city easy to maneuver around, but packed with hockey fans, and it took four restaurant tries to find a place without an hour or more wait. Pizza Uno ended up being the eatery and was not bad at all (or we were just really hungry!).
Sunday Morning, Coming Down
The Hilton was serving my favorite breakfast (any breakfast that is free), so down we went to check out the bountiful buffet. Top notch! We sat a table over from some Bridgeport fans, one of whom, for whatever reason, decided to comment to her table mates about our Syracuse shirts and how bad they felt our team was. I gave the track pants-stretching beast my best " I can hear you talking about us, you tard!" stare, but it did not dissuade her. Her gal pal eventually told her "Stop it, I am in good with their booster club!" I thought, Yes, don't stop talking about us because it is freakin' rude, stop talking about it because I might tell Kathy you spoke poorly of Syracuse and you will be on the outs with our booster club! Dumb ass!
After breakfast, off to the Budweiser plant for a tour, which included generous samples of the King of Beers and its Bacardi line! I recommend this tour if you are ever in Southern New Hampshire. The huge plant, and the team of Clydesdales are a site to behold. Roo asked about "Ice", the Dalmatian we saw there a few years back on a prior tour. The guide said she had retired and was living with one of the employees. Is that like when you are a kid and they tell you that your dog went to live on a farm where he can run and play all day? Gosh, I hope not!.
The Skills Competition
Night had us making our way to the Verizon Wireless Arena for the Skills Competition. The arena is amazing! Absolutely stunning! I have never been in a sports facility so clean. Even with the packed house, it was easy to get around, with the wide hallways and efficient set up.
Our seat were third row from the ice, in the Planet USA corner. Could not ask for better seats! Many of the AHL team's mascots provided entertainment throughout the weekend. ( Why don't we send Al to these things? Anybody know?) The best mascot by far was San Antonio's "T-Bone"
T- Bone was hilarious! He entertained the fans with his crazy antics and embarrassed a fan in our section so bad, that when T-bone turned his back to him, the fan made a motion as though he was going to take off his pants! I am not sure where he was going with that, but perhaps that is what is meant by "Bum-Steer".
Our very own Alexander Svitov did very well in the skills completion, scoring on his one on one opportunity!
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He seemed to enjoy having Russian
teammates to speak with, like Binghamton's Anton Volchenkov and Manchester's Denis Grebeshkov.
Next to that is a shot of Svitov on the big screen, getting introduced to
the crowd.
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The Post Game Party
The party afterwards was also top notch! Three rooms, three different bands and tons of food! We spent most of our time in "The Beatles" room. The band, Beatle Juice, was good, but our local Beatles cover band "The Fab Five" would put them to shame. We sat at a table and soon a couple of older ladies came over and asked "Is there anyone sitting here?" After hearing them talk about hot flashes and menopause for half an hour, I wished I had told them the seats were taken!. We prayed for the band to start to drown them out. Next to join us were a couple of Providence Bruins fans. I thought "How's Scoville doing for you?" would be a good ice breaker. The gentleman burst out laughing and said, "Next question". Apparently Scoville is the same. So bad in fact, they rarely play him, according to the Bruins fans.
Among the celebrities at the event was Willie O' Ree. O' Ree was the first African-American to play in the NHL. Now pushing 70 years old, he proved he could still party with the best of them, dressed to the nines and dancing with several of the young ladies in attendance.
We ran into WestcottsNo1Fan at the party, the only other Syracuse fan I saw there, with the exception of Howard and Vance, who were catching up with Crunch inaugural Captain, Dane Jackson. Howard gave us a wave. After talking with WestcottsNo1Fan, we proceeded to the giant dessert table in the middle of the floor. It was an unbelievable smorgasbord of cakes, pies and candies! My 1492 gift shirt from the Crunch came in handy that night, as the form fitting sleeve cuffs gave me a decisive advantage over the many jersey wearers who ended up with their sleeves covered with frosting!
We did not see many players around, but did run into Jason Spezza on the way out and had him sign a puck. He was mobbed by fans, but still took the time to give autographs and talk with the crowd.
Valentine's Day
Monday saw another hearty breakfast and then a tour of Stonyfield Farms. What could have been a nice tour of a yogurt making plant became more of a headache than anything else. A mother and her two young children joined us on the tour and her boy would not shut up the entire time. Apparently he needed an interpreter as well, as his mother felt the need to repeat everything the tour guide said immediately after, as he could not pay attention the first time it was said. I thought the poor guide was going to push him into a yogurt vat. At least the samples after were good!. Gotta love organic yogurt!
The game itself? Not bad as All-Star games go. More defense and less scoring than you would expect. Svitov played very well, getting an assist and throwing the only check of the game! He seemed to appreciate my support, pointing to my Crunch jersey and giving an approving look. Another highlight was getting to meet Allison, a former Crunch season ticket holder, who drove from her new home in Virginia to check out the events. Later that night, saw her again on the local news, as they did a short interview with her about her impressions of the game.
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All in all
It was a great weekend! Manchester really knows how to put on an event. Their fans really support the Monarchs and are terrific hosts. The city is very clean and easy to get around. I highly recommend a trip out there if you get the chance! The Homewood Suites Hilton is a great place to stay as well. They take care of every need quickly and with a smile.
* all photos by Dave McCormick. Copyright 2005
