February 9, 2017 was a snowy winter day. The entire Northeast was getting pelted with inches upon inches of snow. It was a major "Nor'easter" storm- the kind that you stay home from school and work for. The storm was projected to get worse as the day went on. We had originally planned to drive down to Boston, but clearly that wasn't happening. They were asking people to stay off the roads unless necessary.
I was concerned about how we'd get to the game and if they'd cancel it. The weather was so bad that the Bruins had to make an announcement that the game was still on since the Sharks had already arrived in Boston the day prior. The NHL wasn't going to reschedule a California team when both teams could make it to the arena. However, the Bruins did announce that if people couldn't get to the game, they'd allow fans to exchange their tickets to another game instead.
Midday, I sat at home waiting for Eliot to travel home from work in the middle of the storm. We decided that instead of driving, we'd take the DownEaster Amtrak train to Boston. There's a station not too far from us in Saco and it takes you right into North Station and the TD Bank Garden in Boston. It seemed the safest way to get there.
Eliot finally arrived home, we got changed into our Sharks gear and headed back out into the storm. I drove us into Saco where we parked and boarded the train. The train ride down was pretty uneventful. I remember sitting and watching the snow out the window. In a lot of places, the train was plowing the snow off the railroad tracks.
Because we had to take the train down, we arrived at the arena early. Once they allowed us inside, Eliot and I decided to do a little bit of pre-game shopping to kill some time. We went into the new upstairs Pro Shop to poke around. We ended up finding a few different Disney items. I bought myself a Boston Celtics pennant flag that had Mickey dressed up in Celtics gear. We also bought a few hockey pucks. Finally, we found some tsum tsum like plushies of both a boy and girl Celtics fan and another of Blades the Bruins mascot. They all came home to join my collection as well.
We made our way down to the ice to watch the Sharks players during warm up. I was excited to see the guys in person. Eliot and I usually don't get to many Sharks games, and during that season it was our only Sharks game, so this was a treat for us!
Unfortunately, the game didn't go so well for the Sharks. The Bruins coach had just gotten fired and they had a new one. The Sharks were the first team to play the Bruins after the coaching change and we knew that they'd be playing hard for their new coach... and they did. The Bruins scored in the first 52 seconds of the game. Joe Thornton, who was drafted in 1997 by the Bruins, scored our first goal. Then, the Bruins scored again... and again. We ended the first period with the score 3-1.
The rest of the game went pretty much the same- even after a goalie change in our net. The Sharks scored at the beginning of the second period. Then, the Bruins scored again twice towards the end of the 2nd and we finished the period 5-2. The Sharks scored again in the third period to make it 5-3, but it was too little too late. The Bruins got an empty netter and the game finished with Bruins 6, Sharks 3. Regardless, Eliot and I had a great time at the game, and cheering for our men in teal.
We took a few pictures and waited for the crowds to clear before heading out. While leaving the arena, I hurt my knee on my way down the concrete stairs. Every once in a while, my bad knee gives out on me without warning. I ended up having to hobble the rest of the way to the train station. Thankfully, we were able to find a seat while we waited for our train to arrive and start loading.
The train ride home was rowdy but pretty uneventful. It was filled with other people who had taken the train to the game instead of driving. The father and son behind us were completely obnoxious though. I was dozing in and out, but I remember thinking that the son was very disrespectful and I was mortified that a child could talk to his father like that. I was pretty dismayed when they got off at one of the Maine stations.
Eventually, we made our way to Saco. Since it was so late, the building was closed and locked for the night. There were a few other people who got off with us, including a man in a wheelchair. There was snow everywhere and it was clear that the station hadn't been properly cleaned as the ramp was not even cleared off. Thankfully, we had a shovel in our car. I warmed the car up while Eliot grabbed the shovel and went back to clear off the ramp so the man in the wheelchair was able to get to his car.
We arrived home really late, but it was worth the trip down to Boston to have a date night and to see our San Jose Sharks play in person! °o°
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