the greatest winning streak in sports is OVER

first, to the St. Louis Blues: hey, you took my advice in the last post about not starting a bunch of fights in last night's game. however, I didn't mean NO fights in the game. also, did not mean to imply you should beat the Blackhawks the other way--by, uh, winning the game.

second: Blackhawks. I did not address you in the prior post to say "please win this game." because I was going to be attending, and your winning the game was implied by my attendance. I THOUGHT WE HAD AN UNDERSTANDING.

everyone else: that's right. after a 13-month* stretch of attending 17 Blackhawks games, in four different cities**, I FINALLY SAW THEM LOSE A GAME. I'm in shock.

this seems like a good image to repost

obviously, I'm being snarky with all this, because I know longtime fans of the Blackhawks (and of virtually any sports team) are used to seeing losses. it's not seeing them lose that bothers me (though it was a sloppy, discouraging game), it's the end of "my" winning streak. SEVENTEEN CONSECUTIVE GAMES, folks. and to lose in game 18? well, actually I prefer it to making it to 19 wins and losing the 20th (I was starting to get invested in the idea of seeing 20 wins in a row).

I had a fine run here, pretending that I was a good-luck charm for the team (hence the "self-congratulatory nonsense" tag I put up when bragging about seeing another win. now I have to reserve that for say, this blog winning something, or someone saying I'm "hot". so...it was a nice tag while it lasted). also, I enjoyed the novelty of a sports blog written by someone who'd never actually seen their favorite team lose. it's a wonder I wasn't much more arrogant. the only upside? I no longer have to spend time in phone calls to my friend who took me to win #1 as he tries to calculate the odds of my attending 12, 13, 16... wins in a row.

this provides a good point to finally get around to writing the story of my first hockey game and the story of my first year as a fan. which I'll get to when the shock wears off. oh, and I'll be at the Blackhawks game IN St. Louis this weekend, hoping to start another winning streak.

*one game in January 2009, then a bunch starting in October 2009. I'll explain the gap sometime...
**one visit each to Pittsburgh, Boston, and Columbus; the rest at the United Center

back from Columbus...

...and my first trip to Nationwide Arena, to see the Blackhawks narrowly win yesterday vs. the Blue Jackets. who knows when I'll get to a game description/photos...but below is a screenshot from a highlight video. I'm glad the Hawks won, because if they hadn't, I'd have had to be happy with the warmup photos I got of Hjalmarsson and Sharp. (believe me, I would have been, but a win is great)

I would like to point out I've seen the Blackhawks 17 times in just over a year--and now, in 4 different cities (home and Pittsburgh, Boston, Columbus), and they've WON EVERY ONE. shouldn't I be waking up to a phone call from the Blackhawks office saying I get free tickets to all those home games I can't afford? or, failing that, getting a wakeup from a Blackhawks player? I'm off to look up recipes for lingonberry pancakes...er, actually, to have coffee and the Timbits (never tried these before) I brought back...as you can see below, you can find those in Columbus. I answered comments on the last few posts and I might try a new post while I watch the morning game vs. Red Wings today.

Blackhawks-Bruins, part 2: Hawks win 5-2

hey, that's not a bad headline (and bonus points for "Could it be
Satan?," regardless of how that name is actually pronounced). this was an exciting game to be at, though very different from Bruins @ Blackhawks last month. since it'll be a few days before I'm at my own computer, no real recap/photos yet. but I will say this: my Boston-area friend (who got me into hockey in the first place), who is also a Bruins & Blackhawks fan, wore his Duncan Keith jersey tonight (Keith is his favorite NHL player) (and loaned me a Hawks away jersey I wore for a while tonight), and I wore my Keith shirt (because I haven't saved up for any jersey yet), and damn if Keith didn't score TWO goals (only his second 2-goal game; the first was 2006) AND get an assist AND become #1 star of the game. (along with Kane and Toews, which just felt like rubbing it in to Boston--"hey, look, ALL our big-stars-with-new-contracts!") I'm not sure he's even scored in a while...but he did it for us! oh, and Blackhawks had to continue their streak of always winning when I see them--every Chicago game, plus Pittsburgh and Boston. (sadly, Boston has lost every game I've seen them play, but two were against the Hawks.) I wanted the Blackhawks to win (though I'd have felt fine if the Bruins won), but didn't want to see the B's lose that badly. as a nice Midwestern girl (uh...) I feel a little guilty.

oh hey, you should read this post at Hockey Gone Wild since it mentions me! and you should read the other posts there because I enjoy that blog quite a bit; if I hadn't ended up a Bruins fan due to the friend mentioned above (and past family connections to the Boston area), HGW might have been enough to convince me...

I have a rather nice list for 2009...

Blackhawks games attended by K of C in 2009:

1/4 vs. Flames BLACKHAWKS WIN
10/14 vs. Oilers BLACKHAWKS WIN
10/26 vs. Wild BLACKHAWKS WIN
10/30 vs. Canadiens BLACKHAWKS WIN
11/9 vs. Kings BLACKHAWKS WIN
11/11 vs. Avalanche BLACKHAWKS WIN
11/13 vs. Maple Leafs BLACKHAWKS WIN
12/1 vs. Blue Jackets BLACKHAWKS WIN
12/5 @ Penguins BLACKHAWKS WIN
12/9 vs. Rangers BLACKHAWKS WIN
12/13 vs. Lightning BLACKHAWKS WIN
12/16 vs. Blues BLACKHAWKS WIN
12/18 vs. Bruins BLACKHAWKS WIN
12/31 vs. Devils BLACKHAWKS WIN

what are the odds? NO, DON'T TRY calculating, I have a friend who does this every time I see another winner and I'm not sure this can be mathematically determined (well, based on a 50-50 chance it can). obviously, I'm a good luck charm, which makes it all the sadder that ticket prices (on Ticket Exchange) skyrocketed late December and I'm effectively priced out of going to games in 2010 (though I do have tickets to a few).

anyway...HAPPY NEW YEAR!