The Blackhawks clinched a 5-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes earlier tonight in which all four lines scored goals. Rookie Antti Raanta won each of the past two games in the first two starts of his NHL career. Chicago finished off its seven game road trip spanning two weeks with six consecutive wins.
After Chicago dominated the majority of the third period, the "let's go 'Hawks!" chants became deafening with about two and a half minutes left in the game. The crowd erupted when Marian Hossa potted an empty-netter with 45 seconds left to seal the victory. Thousands of red sweaters smiled and cheered as they exited the arena and went home.
Did I mention this game took place in Phoenix?
As a transplant fan, I have conflicting reactions when I try to fully rationalize the sheer magnitude of the Blackhawks' fan base. The only game I've been to in recent memory took place in Nassau Coliseum two years ago. All jokes about Islander fans aside, I estimate about a third of the attendees were in support of the road team. I cheered with those who were near me1 and eventually Patrick Sharp came through with the overtime winner.
Last year I returned to Chicago for a basketball game with WRSU with a different kid who also happens to be a big Islanders fan.2 We flew in on Friday and had a full weekend with the game not taking place until Saturday afternoon. Luckily for us, the Hawks were hosting San Jose on Friday night in what was set to be a tight contest between Western Conference powerhouses. Unluckily for us, we were both very poor college students3 who could very much not afford 80 dollar tickets. We settled for watching the game in a bar whose name I can't remember in the city around other fans. The bartender rang a bell each of the four times when the Blackhawks cued the Dagger and I, along with everyone else came away happy with the 4-1 victory.
Watching that game, in that city, surrounded by like-minded fans, was an awesome4 experience. I haven't really ever felt that way, considering I've never been to any Chicago sports game at home. I had it a little bit at some Rutgers home games, but I always felt like the fans were divided by their professional allegiances rather than united by the college program.5 I can only imagine what it would have been like to join the other 21,824 in attendance at the UC that night.
The Blackhawks in the current hockey landscape have developed a national brand. There is always a large contingent of Chicago fans at every road arena, and, sometimes, that group fully overpowers the local crowd turning into what feels like another home game. I feel very lucky to call myself a member of such a committed faction of supporters outside the Windy City. I'd like to think that we make every road game, back-to-back and circus trip just a little bit easier, and we've been rewarded for our efforts so far with two championships in four years, with hopefully more to come soon.
1. 'Near' in this case is subjective, considering the closest people were several rows away. Again, this is Nassau Coliseum we're talking about.↩
2. I was sports director of the WRSU, the students radio station at Rutgers. We were there for a men's basketball game at DePaul in what was then a matchup between two Big East cellar-dwellers. God that game was boring.↩
3. As opposed to now, when I'm a very poor college graduate.↩
4. I don't use this word lightly in this situation. I was actually filled with the emotion called 'awe.'↩
5. One particularly cold night game against USF I happened to be wearing a Chicago Bears coat. A girl further down in my row decided that rather than enjoy the atmosphere in the student section she would yell angrily at me about the Bears who were playing the Eagles that week. She was mean.↩
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