St. Louis Says Hello to Hockey and Good-bye to a Legend

After a long lock-out, the NHL resumed this past weekend which mean that hockey was finally back in St. Louis.  I had mixed emotions going to the game.  Of course, I was glad that the issue was resolved because I love hockey and have missed it but a part of me was still annoyed that the millionaires vs. billionaires saga had really put the "normal" people who pay their salaries on the back burner.  Having said that, I was excited to not only go to the game but to finally have something to watch on TV at night.  LOL

Scott refused to wear any Blues or NHL gear to the game "in protest".  He did, however, somehow manage to still wear blue to the game.  He's such a rebel.

(Side note:  I hate taking pics of myself.  I always have a forced smile and really push my eyes out)

The pregame showed definitely got the crowd fired up.

Here we are with the Bluesiers that we sit by.  Yes, we have the cheap seats and wouldn't trade them for anything.  

The Blues put a spankin' on the Red Wings . . . something that hasn't happened in a long, long time.  Definitely a highlight was seeing Tarasenko score 2 goals in his first ever NHL game.  "Frank the Tank" was on fire.

The score was 6-0.  The number 6 is very important to St. Louisians as it is the number of Hall of Famer Stan Musial.  Sadly, on this very Blues home opener night, Stan the Man passed away.  How fitting that the Blues would score 6 goals.

Scott Trade paid tribute to Stan during the 2nd intermission and then after the game, they left this up on the scoreboard.

When we left, we drove the couple of blocks down to Busch Stadium and the memorial had already begun.  Tons of Cardinals' fans, a lot of them straight from the Blues game, were gathered around Stan's statue and were leaving flowers, balloons, hats, and cards.  It was sad and touching to see so many people show up so quickly to pay respects to him.

 

Blues Playoffs, Game 1

Thursday night was the first night of playoffs.  Scott wasn't able to go so it was a perfect chance for a little Mommy-Kanin time. 

His class read Flat Stanley and each student got their own Flat Stanley.  We have him for a whole month and then we have to create a poster board of his travels.  This was Stanley's first trip.  Not too bad, huh?

We stopped outside at the Al MacInnis statue to take a quick pic.

Unfortunately, we lost that first game but came back and beat the Sharks last night to tie the series 1-1. 

Playoff Hockey is Back in the Lou!

Can I get a "Let's Go Blues"?

Tonight is Game 1 in the St. Louis Blues' quest for Lord Stanley.

On the eve of what should be a Missouri state holiday (St. Louis Cardinals Opening Day), the St. Louis Blues are back in the playoffs.  What a fantastic two days of sports for our town.  I'm taking Kanin to the game tonight since Gaga has to DJ.  He is so exicted and so am I!

Let's Go Blues!

Kanin Plays at Scottrade

Last night Kanin got to live out one of his dreams, playing hockey during an intermission of a St. Louis Blues game. 

I specifically remember the first time Kanin saw other kids out there playing and him saying, "I want to do that some day".  At the time, I didn't realize how or why those kids' teams got "chosen" to play (more on this later) but I always hoped that he would get the chance to do it. 
Here is a picture from that night.  Kanin was 3 years old.

When we arrived at Scottrade, Kanin told us that he thought he was going to throw up because he was so nervous.  Scott told him, "Don't be nervous.  There will only be 18,000 people watching you!"  Really nice, huh?

Here are the boys heading off to their locker room.

While they were down in the locker room area, Kanin got his picture take with Charles Glenn.  Charles Glenn is a very accomplished singer and entertainer and he sings the National Anthem before almost every home game.  He has an amazing voice.

Here we are before the boys had to leave to go down to get dressed.

The St. Peters Spirit Hockey Club, White Team II, took the ice during the first intermission.  There is my #22.

I love this picture of him with the Blues symbol on the ice.

I am so glad that Kanin and his team got to do this.  They were all so excited when they got off of the ice and couldn't believe that they were just out there where the Blues actually play night after night.

Ok, now for the REALITY of these teams "getting to play" on the ice . . .

All of those years ago when Kanin was dreaming about playing at a Blues game, I didn't realize that it wasn't an "invite" to play it was a "pay to play". 

When our coach approached us about playing at a Blues game, all of the parents jumped at the chance.  Of course, then we found the "catch" . . . we had to guarantee that we would buy at least 40 tickets at $45 each.  Scott and I already have season tickets and thought it was kind of ridiculous that for us to participate we had to buy more tickets but, in the end, we did because we wanted him to have the experience.  That part worked out OK because our nephew wanted to go down so he ended up taking our 2 regular seats and we bought 4 (Scott, me, Kanin, and Gracie) with the rest of the group.

The game started at 6:00pm and the boys had to be down there and checked in by 5:00.  They had to take their stuff to the locker room and then walk all the way over to our seats (across on the other side of the arena).  They could watch the opening festivities but had to leave to head back to the locker room 3 minutes after the beginning of the 1st period. 

Once intermission came, they only played for 3 minutes at 15 seconds.  Basically, it took longer to put all of the equipment on than they were out on the ice.

After their little scrimmage, they had to go back out and change and then all of their hockey gear had to be taken out to the car immediately.  There was no storage area to hold it until after the game.  Luckily, Scott thought ahead and we bought a parking garage pass rather than one of the street parking lots so he didn't have to walk as far.

Either way, Scott and Kanin arrived back to our seats with about 5 minutes of the 2nd period left to play and then they did get to watch all of the 3rd.

Yes, it was worth the money and effort it took for him to have the experience of playing on NHL ice but I'm hoping that it will be a one and done kind of thing . . . is that bad?  ha! 

All of My Players Are Retired

If you haven't noticed, I'm a sports girl.  Any sport.  I love playing and I love watching.  I love being a fan.  I love feeling that connection with the players and feeling like I'm going through the ups and down right along with them.  Yes, I wear my heart on my sleeve when it comes to my favorite players.  I can't help it.

It hurts me to say this but I have no one else to cheer for.  All of my players are now retired.  It started back with Ken Griffey, Jr.  I was at that game on Father's Day weekend at Old Busch when Griffey hit is 500th Homerun.  It was such an exciting moment for all fans at the park that day.  Griffey's banter with all of us bleacher bums sealed the deal for me and I became a huge fan. 

Yes, he really is looking at me in this picture.  I think he started to recognize me when the Reds would come to Busch because I would be the idiot yelling at him all game.  He would wave at me and then tell me to sit down.  LOL

Next, was #7 Keith Tkachuk.  This one really broke my heart.  Kanin discovered hockey and skating right around 2 years old.  Here Kanin is 2 (almost 3) for Halloween.  Notice his Little Tykes skates that you wear your tennis shoes and then slip the skates over.  So cute!

Before Gracie came along, we lived in Scott's bachelor condo.  It was crowded and there was no room but there was lots of love.  Kanin would dress up in his hockey gear and he would be "Keese Chachuk", Gaga would be Bill Guerrin, and I would be Dennis Wideman (players for the Blues at the time and Kanin knew all of them).  We would play hockey all through the house.

 Here is a stick that Scott got from Dan Hinote after a game and Kanin got a puck from Tkachuk.  Love their smiles.

You can just imagine our excitement when Kanin got to meet Tkachuk at Night Out with the Blues.  Look at the way that Kanin is looking at him.  I love how excited Scott is, too.

Having all of these family memories of playing "Keese Chachuk", you can imagine our sadness when #7 retired last year.  I took Kanin down to the game.  He signed the farewell banner and then we watched Tkachuk play his last game.  It was very emotional for all of the fans including me.  I am so happy that I was able to experience that night with Kanin.

This week my last player announced his retirement.  Like most Cardinal fans, I was a fan of Jim Edmonds.  Having bleacher seats, I have sat behind him for hundreds of games and yes, most of my pictures of him are of his butt.  LOL

Through countless homeruns and over-the-top, overly-dramatic catches.  100 degree weather, losing streaks, and a World Series win.  I was a #15 fan.  I remember the day my sister-in-law called me and asked,

"Are you ok?" 

"Yes.  Why?"

"The Cardinals traded Emonds to San Diego this morning."

I am not ashamed to admit that I cried.  I was so upset.  I understood, though, it was just part of the game.

This one, though, took A LONG TIME to get over and I admit that I still hold a bit of a grudge.

Which is why I was so excited that the Cardinals announced, on my birthday(yay!), that they had signed Jim Edmonds to a minor league deal.  This week when he announced his retirement it did make me sad that I would never get to see Edmonds play again but I am so happy that he will retire as a Cardinal.  That's the way it should be.

So, all of my players are gone.  Of course, I will always cheer for the Cardinals and Blues but I just don't have that one special rooting interest anymore.  No favorite player.

Unless  you count . . .

and let's face it, he's my guy for a whole other set of reasons.  Yes, Hottie Scottie knows about my slight (ha ha) crush on Cam Janssen.

Goodbye, #7

Friday night was a sad night for the Westerhold family and a sad night for St. Louis.  Kanin's favorite player, my favorite player and Scott's current favorite player (nobody beats Al MacInnis in his book) decided to retire since the Blues did not make the playoffs.

Scott had to dj so I took Kanin down there.  They had a "Thanks for the Memories" sign that Kanin and I got to sign.

They announced Keith Tkachuk last and he got a 2-3 minute standing ovation.  Then, Charles Glen dedicated the National Anthem to #7.  At this point, I was already in tears.

I didn't take my good camera because I was afraid that cameras wouldn't be allowed and I didn't want to have to walk it all the way back to the car.  Of course, though, cameras were allowed so I had to end up taking pics with my phone.

Here are the last few seconds of the game.

After the game, Tkachuk brought his kids out on the ice and they all skated around and waved to the crowd.  His mom and dad came in from Boston and he acknowledged them.  He then proceeded to tell everyone how much he and his family loved St. Louis and that they were definitely staying in STL and making it their permanent home.

Ever since Kanin has been little, about 18 months old, he has always pretended to be Keith Tkachuk when playing hockey.  He can't really pronounce his name so it comes out "Keise Tachuk" and it is the cutest thing ever. 

I told Kanin that Tkachuk is now going to help out with his son's hockey team so maybe if he works hard enough maybe he will get to play for his team someday.  Who knows?  It could happen.

DJ King

This picture was take in 2007 when Kanin was 4. (It's not very good quality. I will try to find it and scan).


This picture was taken in 2010 when Kanin was 6.

2010 St. Louis Blues Winter Carnival

This year the Blues started a Winter Carnival for season ticket holders. Since Scott had to dj, I decided to take Kanin down to check it out. Here are a few of my favorite pics:

Kanin in front of the zamboni, Olympia. He really wanted to get on it but they weren't letting people sit on it.


Here is Kanin sitting in the penalty box. We used to call the "Naughty Spot" the Penalty Box when he was younger.


They had one of those games where there are 2 bungee cords. Emily, our neighbor, was on the other side pulling the opposite way and trying to make a basket into her goal. Since she outweighs Kanin, he kept getting pulled backwards before he could get close to the goal. On the last attempt, she just stood on the other side and let him pull her backwards so he could make a goal.

For a hockey player, he did pretty good shooting baskets.

Here Kanin is with a St. Louis Blue, Mike Weaver. This game was kind of the same concept as the basketball game. There are 2 people and you are supposed to take these velcro strips and see how far you can run down with them. In the meantime, though, the person next to you is attached to the other part of the bungee cord. When one person runs out far, the other person gets sucked back to the wall.

St. Louis Blue, Eric Brewer, was at this station. Kanin wanted to stop at every shoot or stick-and puck game. I kept thinking that he could do those games in our driveway but that is what he wanted to do, so we did it.

Kanin with Eric Brewer

DJ King. To be a fighter, he is a super nice guy. When Kanin was about 3 years old we got our picture taken with DJ. He and Kanin were posing like they were fighting. I will try to pull out that pic and put these side by side in a future entry.

Aww, Mommy's moment. I wanted to get my picture taken with Cam Janssen so badly. He is a fighter, too. He is a super tough guy on the ice but a down-to-Earth, nice guy off the ice. What can I say? I like the tough guys. LOL

Kanin wanted to get his picture taken with Louie. Sorry to say, it is nothing like getting your picture taken with Fredbird.

We had a great night together. It was fun to get to do something with just the two of us. That doesn't happen very often.