A Ghoulish Good Time: Predators vs Ducks

This is my 2nd year going to Nashville for the Halloween game. They really do it up in Nashville. There are tons of people in costumes and it’s a good time. This year I pulled out the old “beat up hockey player” costume and added some ghost paint and a sign to be the “Ghost of hockey past.”



A close up of my sign. I have the logos for the Thrashers, the Nordiques and the Whalers on there.



Another reason I was there was that the Ducks were in town and they are the favorite team of my buddy Kerry. George’s wife recently gave birth to a set of twins so I made him this sign.



I was cheering for the Preds though, so I made this sign as well.



Corry Perry clearing pucks from the net. The Nashville crowd had a lot of hate for Perry since he speared Pekka in the playoffs.

Very excited to see the Finnish Flash! The oldest guy on the team and still one of the best. He's also kicked ass for my fantasy team, the Cherokee County Cougars. Go C3!



Hiller in net seeing some shots.



Teemu close up!



George does a lot of stretching during warm ups. He does stretching on the ice, then skates around doing a lot of twists. I guess you have to limber up before beating someone's ass.



Money shot! Look at that smile.



Beleskey gets some stretching in.



George took a puck to the face during practice, so his face was pretty banged up.



Cam Fowler waiting to take some shots.



Teemu takes some shots...and they all go in because he is awesome.



That kid looks pretty excited about seeing Corey Perry.



Swarm the goalie.



This was the most awesome night ever for pucks. Teemu tossed me a puck. My friend actually caught it because he was taller. We kind of caught it together. He gave it to me. I told him that if George through me a puck, I would give it to him. Of course George Parros DID throw me a puck because he loved my awesome sign. And as promised, I gave it to Kerry.


The Preds head is down and it's time to start the game!



I didn't take many pictures at first, but when this fight got going, I figured I'd better start. Parros vs McGrattan, let's get it on!



The fight lasted forever. It was a good fight, probably a draw. Both guys got some good hits in.



And both guys can sit in the box and feel shame.



Taking the puck to Hiller.



It was a chippy game. Lots of discussions going on.



All hell broke lose when Beauchemin took out Mike Fisher.



Fisher would not return to the game.



Pekka tracking the puck.



Found him!



The Preds dancers perform a Halloween number.



Gnash is dressed up like a clown. I thought he was going to do the limbo under the carpet, but was disappointed.



Action is back.



The fans weren't the only ones in costume, the Preds girls were in the spirit, too.



I liked the kitty cat.



Across the way we have the sexy farm girl, the sexy fairy, the sexy Eskimo and the sexy cop.



Stalking George on the bench.



Hiller's net has some activity.



Gnash working the crowd.



That guy who likes showing his stomach is in the spirit. It's a pumpkin with the guitar pick emblem.



The Ducks keep trying to get one by Pekka.



Throw in another fight for good measure. Home town boy (or close to it) Blake Geoffrion gets tied up with Francois Beauchemin.



This little monkey was adorable! Don't want to be a creeper, so if this is your kid and you don't want them up here, just let me know!



Last few minutes of the game and the Ducks are swarming hard!



Preds win! Not only do they win, but Pekka gets the shut out. Poor Kerry didn't get to cheer for his Ducks a single time. I would have been glad if Teemu scored, the Cherokee County Cougars can always use another point.





It was a great night with good friends. I loved seeing the costumes, well all except the 3,482,399 fans who dressed up as a Duck Hunter.

Speak of the Devil! Predators vs Devils

Well the updates on this blog don't come as often, but I guess at least they come, right?

When the Predators' season schedule came out, this is one of the first games that caught my eyes. It was opening weekend and it was the Devils, win-win! The Devils have been one of my favorites for a few years now, and now that they have Moose and Eric Boulton, it's even better. So my friend Sandy, her daughters Abby and Sarah(Moose's little girlfriend) and Sandy's friend, Macy, headed to Nashville.

I made Eric Boulton this sign. I love the little Hotstuff Devil. I made Moose a sign congratulating him on his fantastic sliding 2-pad stack in the shoot out in the last game against the Kings. Sadly I realized I left my Super Moose sign at home.

You can see my Moose sign here. Moose was in the zone, no recognition. Boulton loved the signs though. He banged on the board several times. Even Ilya smiled and high fived the girls through the glass.

The guys in the arena were awesome and let the girls sit in the penalty box.

Captain Zach Parise comes out before the warm ups to Zen out.

Tallinder stretches out during warm ups.

Moose was in the zone this time. No acknowledgements, no smiles no winks, not even for his girlfriend, Sarah.

Captain Zack waiting for his turn to shoot.

i r serius moose



Elias shooting on the Moose.

Baby Swede! Welcome to the blog, Adam Larsson. Adam is the first round pick for the Devils.

More shots

Yumm-o! Weird to see Clarkson and Boulton fighting for the same cause.

Moose

Moose doing a little dance.

Peter Sykora hanging out.

Moose still is a very splashy Moose. He takes the water...



then splashes his face with it.



Moose is glad to see us!



Swarming the goalie. Unfortunately that goalie is neither Marty or the Moose. Marty got hurt early in the Kings game and was not even on the ice.

After warm ups, it's time to make our way up to our seats...WOW! Fortunately I was one seat down so when I leaned over, I COULD see the net. Barely.



Some pushing and shoving behind Pekka.



Captain Zach puts one in on Pekka, Pekka says no.

Let's get ready to rumble!

Devils fans were excited to see Cam Janssen, or at least the ones in Nashville were. There were several signs saying "Welcome Back Cam." Cam got his ass WHIPPED by McGrattan.

It was also the longest fight in history. I think they are STILL fighting.

Well the first period was pretty awesome! Nashville was up 2-0 (Go Preds! Sad for Moose) and we had an awesome fight.

Second period and I have a better view of my Moose!

Moose turns says no.

Perched high above the arena watching the game, Devils GM Lou Lamoriello. I was looking for Marty, but no such luck.

Moose keeps an eye on the action.

Hey, Collin, get off of the Moose!

Moose shaking off the action.

Gnash getting the people charged up.

Boulton gets up in McGrattan's face.

Preds on the Power Play!

Moose kicks one out.

An interesting way to show your support.

There was no scoring in the 2nd period and the Devils took their 2 goal lead into the third period.

The Devils came back on the Preds and thanks to Kovalchuk and Clarkson, tied it up. Nothing was decided in OT so we went to the shoot out! Moose is solid in the shoot out, but Pekka is no slouch either.

Ilya comes in on Pekka...

Holy shit! Photographic evidence that Kovalchuk can indeed score in a shoot out.

Parise comes in on Pekka and scores.

Devils win! This was the best possible outcome when my 2 favorites play each other. The Preds get a point. My Moose gets a win and the Devils carry that pesky extra point to the Eastern Conference where it won't damage the Preds.

Here at GPD I like to bring you some jokes, some info and most of all some fun pictures. Sometimes my pictures suck or I'm sitting so high I'm on the same level with the guy doing the lights. Fortunately, I have some friends of the blog who graciously allow me to use their pictures!

My buddy Loren had the good fortune to have phenomenal seats AND stay at the hotel where the Devils were staying. She said I could share her pictures.

Loren and Eric Boulton

Could Palmieri be any more adorable?

Zubrasaurus! Loren and Danus Zubrus.

Loren and Captain Zach

Very jealous of this one with Larsson.

In addition to having sweet accomodations, she had great seats on the ice.

Bouton has the "not sure if serious" look on his face.

Great pic of Boultsie

Zubrus trying to get his stick on the puck.

Boulton doesn't look worried.

Ilya in the face off.

Whoopsie.

Clarkson sees Loren seeing him.

Elias and Legwand

Ilya has "hot potato" face.

Captain Zach is excited about something!



Boultsie is happy. Maybe because 3 of his 4 kids were there. Or more likely because he was thinking of my awesome sign.

Moose has his "Well ain't that a bitch" look on.

Moose makes a save.

McGratton genuinely seems to be enjoying beating Janssen's ass.

Loren, her friend and some of the awesome Devils fans that came down for the game. They planned a big road trip.

Well I didn't stay at a fabulous hotel, in fact, we drove back that night (exhausting). But I did have a run in of sorts with Marty Brodeur. (kind of) Sort of a "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" thing. We arrived at the arena a bit early and came in to use the bathroom. I noticed this guy wearing a Brodeur jersey and we struck up a conversation. He said he went to the hotel this morning and met Marty and got him to sign his jersey and got a picture with him. I was seething with jealous. He showed me the picture (below). He had just put it on his facebook "got my jersey signed by Brodeur." He said that when the rest of the team was there, he was kind of quickly signing stuff and moving on, but when the team left, he didn't have anything to do, so he was hanging out.

He said that after Broderu left, a guy came up to him and asked "how much do you want for that jersey?" My new friend (still don't know his name) said $100, but the guy only had $80. So the wheels in my brain started turning. "You only want $100 for that jersey?" He said yes. I thought about it. I asked him what kind of jersey it was. He took it off and let me examine it. I said "DEAL!"

So yeah, I bought the jersey off of the back of a stranger!