As the days come and go, we keep crossing things off of our busy calendar. Today, we welcome back the Chicago Blackhawks to the United Center after spending the last 3 weeks on the road while the circus was in town. We were at their last home game all the way back on 11/20 as I mentioned here, so we’re looking forward to seeing them again.

And, of course, all the talk about winter over the past few days is going to make it a little more challenging. It’s around Noon right now, and although the skies are somewhat clear at the moment, there’s a storm not that far West of us that’s expected to hit within the next few hours. Starting as rain, turning into a rain/snow mix, and then probably all snow by the end of the evening.  Expected accumulation of 2-4 inches.

With us going to the Hawks game tonight, the timing couldn’t be worse.  It’s a 7:30pm start, and we like to get their early to find better parking, grab some overpriced food, and get comfy in our 300 level seats. Given normal traffic, we’d probably leave for the UC around 6:30pm, but today we’re thinking it’s going to be more like 5:30pm.  But first, I have to get home from work, which by leaving at 3pm and assuming the storm is well underway, should take 60-90 minutes.  Ouch.

But we’re used to it, so we suck it up, bundle up, and make the best of it.  We’re hockey fans, for crying out loud, and aside from those locos sitting shirtless at Soldiers Fields in the middle of December, hockey fans are pretty darn tough.

The Hawks have been doing pretty good this year, although there is always room for improvement. They’re 2nd in their division behind Detroit (duh) and have a record of 10-6-6 about a quarter into the season. The Western Conference is pretty tough this year, too, and the Hawks are currently 7th in the West. The last home game we saw was in November where they gave up a heartbreaker to the league’s best San Jose Sharks.  But tonight it’s Anahiem we’re up against, who beat us by a slim 1-0 margin last Friday in California. The Ducks are currently 3rd in the conference, so it should be a tough fight.

Tomorrow

Hopefully we’ll be leaving the United Center with a win tonight, but we’re also pretty sure the drive home will be a mess, even if the storm is done by then. We have to get up early tomorrow because we’re leaving for Door County, WI around 9am. They’ve been getting more snow up north than I had originally read, so I’m hoping it’s going to look pretty beautiful up there.  We can’t wait.

Anyway, Go Hawks!