I’m ready to see this game, and after the pasting in Colorado the other night, I suspect the Sharks will be ready to play the Blackhawks Wednesday night.
It’s been about six years since I caught a game at the United Center. That one was more interesting than you might have suspected. Hawks-Preds, when Nashville was a very new team. Neither team had much going for it.
I love the Chicago fans. They’re loud and obnoxious, which is another way of saying, ‘passionate’. Alexei Zhamnov was widely perceived as an underachiever by the faithful, and one fan in particular took great delight in bellowing each time #11 in white took a shift, “Zhamnov, get off the ice!” He was unbelievably loud- you could hear his voice echo throughout the lower sections. His eyes and veins in his temples bulged, his face turning red. He meant it, but he was going to have fun with it.
As I recall it, Zhamnov had several lackluster shifts in the first period, making the fan’s call funnier and funnier. He was so agitated when the Russian skated offside, and then shot wide of the net. Then Zhmanov scored a goal. All the fans in rows below looked back at the fan, who had been standing each shift to holler. He shrugged his shoulders and then yelled, “I still want you off the ice Zhamnov!” More laughter.
Then in the second period, Zhamnov scored his second of the night. The man was flabbergasted. He actually broke down laughing in the middle of “I still want you off… bwaahahaha!” Everybody was really having a blast.
Before the period was out, Zhamnov completed the hat trick. Nobody on this side of the arena was throwing a hat. They were looking at this fan, waiting to see if he was eating his. He was incredibly flustered. He waved his hands in a curious disgusted delight, and there were huge laughs.
It seemed to sum up the Hawks that season: A fan can’t even enjoy the misery. Somehow, the team would screw that up, too.
It’s hard to know what to expect from Chicago this time around. It’s still early in the season when hope springs eternal, but Martin Havlat is hurt already. David Koci would get fans out of their seats, but the Sharks don’t have a legitimate heavy to square up with him. That’s probably the only area where the Blackhawks seem to have an edge. Let’s hope the Sharks don’t play down to the competition, and really ring ‘em up!
See you there!
Tags: Alexei Zhamnov, Chicago Blackhawks, David Koci, Martin Havlat, road trip, San Jose Sharks, United Center
