SHOWDOWN TUESDAY

It's a gorgeous day outside, and yes, Spring is finally showing its true colors.  With the temps expected to hover near 85, I can finally proclaim today as "THE DAY".  Yes!  Get your sunglasses ready!

Last night, we hosted a live hockey talk radio broadcast, which took place during the Pittsburgh Penguins/Tampa Bay Lightning playoff game.  The broadcast was produced by the boys over at Hockey This Week radio and I have to say, it was a lot of fun.  There were three radio hosts, all diehard hockey fans who had special guests call in to talk about playoff hockey.  They even interviewed me and I got to talk about the bar, my love for hockey and of course, my team, the Montreal Canadiens.  I gotta say, it's a bit nerve-wracking to get on the air and talk off the cuff, but I enjoyed it and give these guys credit for putting on a good show.  I see us doing a lot of good things with the boys of Hockey This Week in the near future!

One of the things we spoke about was how Third and Long became such destination bar for NHL hockey.  I explained how I noticed that there weren't that many (or any, for that matter) bars devoted to the sport in a city where so many sports vie for people's attention. So we began to focus on NHL hockey since no one else was doing it.  We've grown each year, attracting more and more hockey fans eager to watch their teams, thanks to word of mouth and tools like Facebook and Twitter. As a result, we've become one of the go-to places to watch NHL hockey in NYC.  And I am proud of that.

After a slow start due to the funky weather, things at the bar picked up with many of the folks in the house tuned in for the Pens/Lightning game.

The Tampa Bay Lightning scored a 4-2 victory to force yet another Game 7 this Wednesday (7pm).  In the late game, San Jose eliminated the L.A. Kings to move on to the second round.  If you are a hockey fan, this has been a great playoff run so far!  Tonight, however, is going to be a doozy of a night as we have on tap TWO Game 7's as well as a pivotal Game 6!  See below:

An intense night of hockey is in store, that's for sure. First off: CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI-FINALS start today with Manchester United facing off against Schalke 04 (2:30pm). We're serving up Hometown NY Lager and a hot dog for $5! It's beautiful outside, the windows are wide open, enjoy the day and we'll see you tonight!

Cheers!