Blues v. Blueshirts Road Trip

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to take a Rangers road trip to St. Louis, to visit my good friend Taylor and watch my good friends the Rangers play some hockey. 

Even though the Rangers disappointed, turning in a lackluster effort to give up a 4-1 loss, it was an excellent evening.  The Scottrade Center, where the Blues play, is a great place to watch a game.  The fans are knowledgable, Jersey-clad, and they pack the arena.  I wouldn't be surprised if the game was sold out.  In my 23 years, the only other Rangers road games I've seen have been in New Jersey, including one notable Rangers win in early 2008 that my friends and I celebrated by instigating a drunken, prolonged brawl with some middle-aged Devils fans in the hallways of the Prudential Center after the game.  Classy, I know!

But Blues fans are a very, very different bunch from the cave-dwelling subhumans that follow Marty Donuts and his pals out in Newark.  Our seats were awesome, probably five rows behind the glass.  Even in the lower bowl, almost everyone was in Blues gear.  Maybe there aren't as many corporate seats at ice level at the Scottrade Center, but there was no Silence of the Suits in the good seats, a phenomenon that, unfortunately, has spread to the Garden.  There were some scattered Rangers colors in the crowd as well, including one fella in a Richter jersey who left when the Rangers started losing.  Stay for the whole game and take your lumps when they lose, amigo!  I opted for my Shanahan home jersey (a peace offering to the home team, or a sign of disrespect?  I figured I'd let the locals decide).  We took our seats and began guzzling beer, so that if Rangers Road Brawl Round II did go down, at least it wouldn't hurt until the next morning.

Blues fans are a solid, solid bunch though.  We were invited to watch the game in a sky box by a friend of a friend, a fan of the home team, no less, who was having a birthday party up in the rafters.   I'll say this: If my friends and I were having a party in a skybox at the Garden (assuming one of the afformentioned friends had won the lottery or recently come into a vast inheritance), and someone we didnt know arrived wearing the colors of the opposing team, I doubt the first words out of our mouths would be "Hey, want a beer?"  But these Blues people, they have real class.  They welcomed us into their skybox with firm midwestern handshakes, gave us many Bud Lights (and pretzels!), and pretty much just wanted to bro down.  Even though the Rangers lost a totally winnable game, it was a great night. 
The Rangers got pushed around all night, giving up four goals including one empty netter.  In my opinion, the jury is still out on Chad Johnson.  My intuition is that he won't last.  As for the rest of them, I think we've all learned to temper our expectations for this bunch.