Thursday, April 29, 2010

EUPHORIA!

We hosted a viewing party for Game 7 of the NHL playoff series between the Washington Capitals and the Montreal Canadiens. This was such an important game that I even postponed Pub Trivia for it. That's how intense I knew this game was going to be and as expected, we got a great turnout for it.

Going into last night's game, everyone expected the #1 seeded Capitals to reign supreme on home ice and put away the pesky #8 seed Canadiens. However, the fans of the bleu-blanc-rouge still turned up, feeling optimistic about their chances and they didn't go home disappointed.





The game was intense from the start and the whole bar was locked into the game, hanging on every shot, save and fore check. When Montreal went on a power play and scored just before the end of the first period, the Habs fans in attendance erupted with joy. I even jumped up and down for a bit, yet at the same time, still worried about what was to come: the second period. In the games that the Caps had won in the series, they went on a scoring binge in the second period. So anything was possible.

Yours truly broke out the mojo for the game...

The second period came and while the Caps kept trying to put the puck in the net, the strong goaltending of Montreal's Jaroslav Halak kept the team in the game and the Caps off of the scoreboard. When the Canadiens scored again to make it 2-0, the crowd could sense an upset in the making. Even when Washington scored in the 3rd to make it 2-1, there was a sense of achievement in the air for Canadiens fans and when the clock finally struck 0:00, the Habs fans (myself included) went crazy, while the Caps fans in the house stood around, stunned at what just took place: perhaps the biggest choke job in NHL history. No #8 seed had ever come back from a 3-1 series deficit to win a series... until now. Simply incredible.




Next up for the Canadiens: a date with the defending champions, Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday. Stay tuned. As for the Capitals, a date with the golf course to sort out what happened.

TONIGHT: Thirsty Thursdays, featuring $4 domestic drafts (5-10pm).


That's it. That's all I got.