Lets try this again (recap)

Ok. This is much easier with a laptop and sober. I've only been to few road arenas in the NHL. Scottrade is easily my favorite. The wife and I had a great time in a solid hockey town.
First off. See the first minute of this link. Hard to see it, but its large black man getting soulful. He then comes in and ROCKS the anthem. He's basically STL's version of Jeff Jimerson, but only about 300 times more talented. Unreal way to amp the crowd.
Pens and Blues both came in the original expansion. Its real evident in the fan base. They didn't cry at every tug or play, they knew when to appreciate an effort. Jerseys can tell you a lot, there were a lot of old school blues jerseys, a few of those atrocious 90s jerseys with the goofy numbers, and a lot of those new jerseys and third jerseys (gorgeous). There was no shit talk on Pens fans that I saw or grumbling about them. The guys around me even were noting some good plays from the opposition (imagine that). No doubt, the best part of the Scottrade wasn't the fans...prepare yourself...ONLY organ music. Organist was no John Barbero, but played classics and some unreal organ covers (Enter Sandman, for real). Awesome, thats the way hockey should be. They kept the hokey ADD arena shit to a minimum,
Some of my observations, just because there is so much missed on TV.
- T.J. Oshie is a player that draws attention, very underrated to me.
- Eric Johnson, beyond that GWG, was really strong, hes a great up and coming D-man
- Wow was Orpik rusty. Mulligan of course, he'll be fine.
The end of the game, of course, sucked. But as an NHL fan, I was happy for the Blues actually. They, much like the Pens, suffered through some ghastly teams pre-lockout. Last night showed their loyal fan base they have a legit reason to be pumped, even if its only October. You don't beat the Hawks and Pens on back-to-back nights by mistake.
Wish this was a yearly gathering, but be assured that we'll be in STL in 2 years when the Pens...when the Pens...oh when the Pens come marching in! (I cannot get that song out my head!)