9th row, blue line

Thanks to AA and the company he works for, we had great seats for the game at TD Garden against the Toronto Maple Leafs last week, which the Bruins won 4-1 to complete the home-and-home sweep.

Photo by Bro

Just a few highlights:  I picked Ell up at his house and we struck out for AA's in New Hampshire, where we'd be spending the night after the game.  The trip down was uneventful, except for a stop at the NH State Liquor Store where I picked up that bottle of Johnny Walker Green Label that I blogged about already.  I did crack it open once we arrived at AA's, whereupon the bourbon snobs turned up their noses.  But we all had a drink together and piled in the car for the trip down to Boston.
Now I can't remember the name of the pub we went to near the Garden where we waited for Bro to drive up but I can highly recommend their Buffalo Chicken Nachos, which we washed down with some Sam Adams Brick Red.
Once Bro arrived and after we ate some more grub and drank some more beer, we walked on over to the Garden.  Before the game, Bro and I walked around to the various pro shops looking for just the right hat, which of course we didn't find.  Love ya, Bro.
Once in our seats, we settled in for a spirited game.  The Leafs just eventually got worn down by the Bruins depth and style of play.  It's not a good matchup for the young Leafs but we couldn't be happier to be there for a game the Bruins won.  This clip, where the Bruins had the puck in the Leafs' zone for two minutes, exemplifies how the latter stages of the game went.


This took place at the other end of the ice from us but we still had a great view of it and I remember suddenly realizing the Bs had had control for an inordinate length of time. We were on the "right" blue line though for two of the prettier goals that the Bruins scored that night. The seats were so close you could see the play develop right in front of you and the puck being passed right onto the tape and tipped into the goal.
The other "game highlight" for me was catching a t-shirt out of one of those guns during intermission. AA and Bro went out during the break but Ell and I stayed. Once the Ice Girls skated out, I immediately fell in love with one of them and didn't hear anything the announcer said; otherwise, I would've known ahead of time that the t-shirt my sweetheart shot to me was not Bruins SWAG but rather from Chipotle Mexican Grill. It's a nice souvenir nonetheless, as is the ticket stub from the game that has a big picture of Cam Neely holding the Stanley Cup over his head.
After the game, Ell and I road back with AA to his house (Bro went back to his house and his new baby), where we proceeded to stay up all night drinking and listening to tunes in AA's dungeon.