Arena: United Center (1994)

Location: West Loop, Chicago, Illinois

Game Attended: November 12, 2021 vs Arizona Coyotes

Game Result: 2-1 Blackhawks victory

Seat Location: Upstairs Behind the Blackhawks’ Shoot 2x Goal

Overall Impression: Perhaps Underwhelming from Lofty Expectations

“Chicago is….one town that won’t let you down, it’s My Kind of Town!” – Frank Sinatra

This was a trip I’d been waiting for a long time. Episode 22 was supposed to take a much different course, over 600 days ago, in a city hundreds of miles from where I ended up. It was a trip I’d spent hours and sleepless nights with a broken arm dreaming about. A return to Tour hockey, a trip to one of America’s greatest cities, and a continuation of a huge passion project. 

Chicago. The Windy City. The Capital of the Midwest. I couldn’t wait, and my expectations and hopes were sky-high. And I’ll say, I left Chicago very impressed, entertained, and eager to return. But perhaps for everything but the hockey. 

Boston Drew joined me for yet another trip, and honestly it was just a fun weekend all around. Save perhaps the driving snow and winds during our tour of Wrigley Field (likely five stars in its own right, but that’s a story for another day). We spent two days exploring the city, taking in the familiar sights: “L” trains clacking on the overhead tracks of the Loop, seeing tourists and locals alike snap pictures at Millenium Park’s “Bean” sculpture, watching a passing tour boat or two on the Chicago River. 

We ate great local food! Forgive us both, Chicago diehards, but as much as we like deep dish pizza, it doesn’t like either of us back, so we elected for other local fare. We walked to a legendary Chicago chain, Portillo’s, for local red hots. I’m a ketchup guy but I eschewed my preferred style to eat like the locals, with pretty much every other condiment and a pickle spear to match. Perhaps weird, but still tasty. 

The Italian beef sandwich at Slugger’s in Wrigleyville, however, was fantastic! And the batting cages weren’t too shabby either. 

We drank local, enjoying the Goose Island taproom not a few blocks off the L near the United Center. Pretty cool venue in an otherwise industrial neighborhood that reminded me much of South Philadelphia near the stadiums. Not a lot going on around United Center either, but the city as a whole is fantastic!

And then we headed into the Madhouse on Madison. A place filled with stories of rabid fans cheering on their Blackhawks and Bulls. But I think we got a triple dose of bad luck with the game we picked that dulled the United Center experience a bit. 

First, we’re still in the pandemic phase. Fan attendance is largely down across the board in pro sports, and the NHL is no exception. (To date, the Blackhawks are averaging 18,814 fans per game, their lowest level since 2008 and about 15% off average levels.) No doubt, some people are still staying away from crowds and trying to stay healthy. But I felt no discomfort in being at an indoor game unmasked.

Secondly, the Blackhawks have been in the news lately for shall we say, less than favorable reasons. To say the conduct of Brad Aldrich and Blackhawks leadership was wrong would be a gross understatement. Perhaps it didn’t directly lead to fans not attending the games, but the thought at least came to mind. I hope all involved learned a valuable lesson, and I sincerely hope that Kyle Beach and all victims of abuse and misconduct find peace and happiness as they move forward.

And thirdly, both of these teams just absolutely suck! The Blackhawks still have two core pieces from their “dynasty” in captain Jonathan Toews and sniper Patrick Kane (ugh), and exciting new pieces like defenseman Seth Jones, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, and young forwards Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dach. But they’ve gotten off to a horrible start to the season, firing coach Jeremy Colliton in the process. And the Coyotes are REALLY bad, though it was fun to watch former Flyer defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere again. He’s definitely in my top-four favorite defenders of all time, and I miss me some Ghost Bear game winners!

The game was largely underwhelming, with the teams spending the first frame largely turning the puck over and dumping and chasing. The Hawks finally lit the lamp in the second and again in the third so it was fun to celebrate a few goals with “Chelsea Dagger”, perhaps the NHL’s best goal song. 

And the fans were good but not the legendary Chicago fans I’d hoped to see. The pregame tradition of screaming and cheering through Jim Cornelison’s national anthem was much hyped by friends and fans and it did not disappoint. Even with only 90% attendance, Chicago fans gave it their best to celebrate their country. 

And speaking of celebrating their country, the Blackhawks held Military Appreciation Night to celebrate Veterans’ Day weekend. During the first intermission, 80 celebrated veterans were honored on the ice, a group that included Purple Heart recipients, Vietnam paratroopers, and even two vets battling and winning fights with cancer. I applaud the Blackhawks for their respect of our veterans, and to all veterans for their sacrifices and service to our country!

And while United Center largely lacked any unique features or displays, it did have a pretty cool statue of some guy who was a decent basketball player in Chicago. Pretty cool as a die hard Tar Heel basketball fan to “take a picture” with MJ!

Don’t get me wrong. United Center is pretty nice. It was clean, it was easy to navigate. It was well-lit. Fans were polite and friendly to us as visitors. But nothing really blew me away. I’d love to come back and visit Chicago; it’s a fantastic city I’d love to explore more. And I’d love to come back to United Center when the Hawks are more competitive to really experience the fervor of the fans. It’s a great city to spend some time and see a game in!

But for the love of God, couldn’t they have turned up the temperature about ten degrees?!?

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