Alex Vlasic of the Chicago Blackhawks kept a blog throughout the Discover NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field in Chicago, in which the Blackhawks were defeated 6-2 by the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
In his third and final entry, the 23-year-old defenseman talks about the team's unique arrival at the stadium, carrying their sticks and skates on the subway ride to the ballpark. He also discussed the hoopla of the pregame ceremonies, his part in the game in which he played a team-high 23:45, blocked three shots and had two shots on goal, and where the team goes after its fifth straight loss.
It was a cool build up to the game, I definitely haven't experienced anything like it. The game. I think it's tough to look past the result and remember this as a positive day. It just stinks that we got embarrassed out there and let ourselves down, let the fans down, the people that set this up and came to support us in the cold rain. We are not feeling too good right now.
The ride on the "L" to here was a cool start to the day. It was a cool entrance to come in with our sticks and skates to make it seem like we were going to the outdoor rink like when you are a kid. It was something unique that I am not sure has even been done before. It's something we wanted to jump on.
When we got here to the ballpark and got to the dressing room, the vibes were good and we were ready for a big game.
It was really special to be on the ice at the start of the game, it's something I will never forget. To play in front of that many people and the extra noise and everyone seemed a bit more rowdy than they would be than a game at the United Center, so that's something you can't forget.
We didn't have the best start with the two goals against early but we bounced back for a bit there late in the first period. But we weren't able to carry that over and, in the end, it got away from us.
We got embarrassed out there. It's been a tough couple of games and nobody is happy right now. It's a bad situation for us to be in and the way we put ourselves in it. It's nobody's fault but our own and we have to figure out a way to turn this around and use this as a steppingstone. We say this all the time, but enough is enough and we have to figure it out somehow.
