56 replies to this topic

[msweet]

http://sportsradiony...n-center-in-dc/


For the first time I did a home and away. I got to see the Devils lose a game they should have won in Newark on Friday vs the Caps and drove down on Saturday. I had my 3 daughters with me (one goes to college there) and the game in DC was a birthday present for 2 of them.

We took the metro from her campus to the Verizon Center. $2 ride in a very well-organized and clean subway... about 20 minutes including a train transfer.

ok...here's what I saw..

Verizon Center:
Bright building with great site lines and seemingly many more lower level seats than in NJ.. only one row of luxury boxes, meaning better seating above the boxes. There were numerous restaurants in the arena and the food stands around the mezzanine really had character and themes (unlike the Generic City Grill in EWR).. many different kinds of food and lots of shops with Caps merchandise, people selling stuff all over... just a great atmosphere.. There are many video boards with stats that you can see from your seat. The PA address announcer was fantastic and made me realize how lame our guy is. Their mascot is an Eagle and the costume was really poor.. he looked more like a chicken..NJ Devil is way better.

The fans were great. Most dressed in Jerseys.. they are Ovechkin crazy there of course. The chanted at the same time (with chants and timing that only they knew) and there were really into the game.. and it was a complete sell-out... they rooted for their team but were extremely polite to me and my daughters. I sat 4 rows back in-between the blue line and the goal on the end the Devils attacked twice. We were the only Devils' fans for 20 yards in every directions. Fans were helpful and courteous.. even direct us to the best place to sit for warm--ups to watch the Devils.

Warm-Ups:
We were right against the glass to watch warm-ups... best Moments were Andy Greene who smiled at my daughter who was wearing his Jersey... Tedenby who gave 2 of them a big tooth-less smile... I knew that look at my daughters.. time to open up a can of whoop-ass on him. And then there was Marty who skate right by and actually smiled and nodded at us; I knew then he wasn't playing in the game.. he was very relaxed... the best part of the Warm-up was Clarkson who nodded at me and them proceeded to shot the puck into the glass right at me 3 times during warm-ups and slammed the glass at me twice... he looked like a caged animal trying to get at something..lol... his pre-game intensity carried over into the game...more later on this.

The Game:
Well you all saw the game so I'l only add stuff you see from the glass...
Parise: You can see the frustration on his face... he is trying very hard but is squeezing that stick way to hard
Elias: You can see the fear in the other team when he has the puck.. almost a panic.. he plays hockey with his head up and looking far a head.
Salavdor: he had a heck of a game... very physical..really well-positioned
Fayne: Shadowing Ovechkin.. blocked shots every tome he could.. was very physical too
Carter: Great call DeBoer.. he is way better than Pelley
Clarkson: For me the biggest surprise.. I have never been a fan of his..well I am now. He was truly intimidating... he smashed several Caps into the glass right in front of me and you could see how the Caps were avoiding him... his presence and intensity of course were rewarded in the end... Like DeBoer said.. guys that can fight, hit and score are hard to find and you are lucky when you have one.

The best part about all of this is my daughter has 4 more years in DC!

[Quinn01]

I am always happy to read these experiences of members, and fellow Devils fans, at away games. Glad to see that the team respects their fans no matter where they go.

You better watch your daughters there though. hahaha

Funny stuff about Clarkson. I have met him a few times after the games at home and he is a super funny and nice guy.

Ill say it again and again, Elias is one of the most underrated players in the NHL let alone the Devils.

Parise is carrying alot on his shoulders right now. He needs to settle down and do what he does best.

[Scoopscj]

Great write up and read. Thanks. I've always wanted to go there. I just started getting my old arse to different stadiums for NY Giants games. I've made it to FedEx dump, er field 3 times and next year I'll head to the Ravens stadium. I want to visit the Caps place and Boston in the near future. Sounds like a lot of fun.

Scoops

[Colin226]

Sounds about as completely opposite as possible from my recent trip to Philly for the Devils game

Nice write up

[nmigliore]

Tedenby who gave 2 of them a big tooth-less smile... I knew that look at my daughters.. time to open up a can of whoop-ass on him.

Nice writeup, msweet. Love reading these type of experiences.

[nmigliore]

Sounds about as completely opposite as possible from my recent trip to Philly for the Devils game

It's not an apples to apples comparison but I actually had a good time in Philly for a Mets/Phils game a couple summers ago. I suppose it was comforting because our entire row and then some was filled with Mets fans but a lot of the Phils fans I talked to were (surprisingly) not jerky at all and were rather nice.

Of course, there was 1 jackass who was taunting me as I was leaving.

[adam85491]

i'm not enticed to visit other arenas. it will never be as good an experience as at the rock, by the nature of being on the road.

to each their own

[hurricane1091]

I'd like to go to DC. I don't think it would compare to The Rock though. Obviously the first time there it's going to be a little more exciting though. Not being with the home crowd just sucks, I've done it enough at philly.

Edited by hurricane1091, 14 November 2011 - 02:27 AM.

[mmajeski06]

Sounds like a great time!

Hopefully fhe Devils are @ Columbus next season, so I can make it in for the game.

[Onddeck]

niiiice Clarkson is the man. haha im glad you had this experience, its great to read it!

[DaneykoIsGod]

Thanks for the writeup! It's always cool to read stuff like this, especially the observations on how opposing players react to certain guys on the team. Ever since the Mike Richards story, I knew Elias was more respected around the league than many of us may have previously realized, and reading something like this further cements it. And it can be easy to lose sight of how physical the game is from our living room couches, so it's cool to hear how players might try to tread lightly around a raving lunatic like Clarkson.

Awesome stuff!

[njdevsftw]

Enjoyable read, thanks!

[EdgeControl]

Thanks for the writeup! It's always cool to read stuff like this, especially the observations on how opposing players react to certain guys on the team. Ever since the Mike Richards story, I knew Elias was more respected around the league than many of us may have previously realized, and reading something like this further cements it. And it can be easy to lose sight of how physical the game is from our living room couches, so it's cool to hear how players might try to tread lightly around a raving lunatic like Clarkson.

Awesome stuff!

Elias in his prime was one of the slickest players in the game. he could turn on a dime in an instant and not lose sight of the game or the puck still love that guys game!

what I'd like to know is how intimadating did Ovie look up close??!! he was a missle out there and we actually looked scared at times. he's one big dude to be skating and hitting like he does

[DevilMinder]

Nice write up, any observations on Larsson?

[jim777]

Awesome read, thanks Msweet!

[Dead]

Nice! Glad you had a nice time down there. For the most part when i went the fans were nice, except one drink fool that security came to check out.

[third man in]

Good stuff. I was there up in section 423 and there were quite a few NJD fans around us, had some fun exchanging chants up there. Always nice to see a road win. This was my third visit to the Verizon center and I'll definitely be back again.

[msweet]

Nice write up, any observations on Larsson?

I actually do.... I didn't post on it because the whole Larsson thing, well I could write a story on that... this kid is going to be a star... when he is 22, watch out

He is one cool customer... since he plays on the right side, he was right in front of me for 2 periods... he's one of those guys that doesn't seem like he's skating fast but since he is so smooth he just skates by people. His rush into the O-zone in the 3rd with the puck was hopefully a taste of things to come... what is most remarkable is his ability under pressure to make a pass into an area no one is looking and right to another Devil out of trouble... he of course passes ot the other team once or twice a game but hopefully that will go away.

A Caps fan right in front of me actually turned to me and said who is that number 5, he looks so young?... When I told him Larsson and 18 he was like, "wow, he's gonna be a great one."

[EdgeControl]

I actually do.... I didn't post on it because the whole Larsson thing, well I could write a story on that... this kid is going to be a star... when he is 22, watch out

He is one cool customer... since he plays on the right side, he was right in front of me for 2 periods... he's one of those guys that doesn't seem like he's skating fast but since he is so smooth he just skates by people. His rush into the O-zone in the 3rd with the puck was hopefully a taste of things to come... what is most remarkable is his ability under pressure to make a pass into an area no one is looking and right to another Devil out of trouble... he of course passes ot the other team once or twice a game but hopefully that will go away.

A Caps fan right in front of me actually turned to me and said who is that number 5, he looks so young?... When I told him Larsson and 18 he was like, "wow, he's gonna be a great one."

He brought the puck out from behind the net with Ovie right behind him and was able to keep seperation from ovechkin that was impressive

[devlman]

Thanks for the writeup! It's always cool to read stuff like this, especially the observations on how opposing players react to certain guys on the team. Ever since the Mike Richards story, I knew Elias was more respected around the league than many of us may have previously realized, and reading something like this further cements it. And it can be easy to lose sight of how physical the game is from our living room couches, so it's cool to hear how players might try to tread lightly around a raving lunatic like Clarkson.

Awesome stuff!

What's the mike Richards story on him?

Nice write up msweet