It was touch and go, the weather barely co-operated, but we made it. Here are some random observations, made in the spirit of objectiveness.
1. Tickets cost a helluva lot more in Toronto than Montreal, if you can believe it! Here's a comparison between my season tickets in Montreal and the season tickets of my supplier in Toronto. Wow! What a diff!
2. Could you imagine selling a Leafs jersey at the Bell Centre? Arrrgh!.......
3. The Air Canada Centre provides nifty drink holders between seats. Points for them!
4. Both the ACC and Centre Bell are too snobby to have cheerleaders, ergo these lame-ass boring middle aged ice cleaners. It's a tie!
4. There is a bigger variety of food offered at the ACC as compared to the Bell Centre, but everything I tried was awful. Cold and tasteless. At least at the Centre Bell you can always eat a decent hot dog. The ACC ran out of draft beer in the first period and the only thing on tap was Lite. Eccchh! Both arenas score poorly on the food front. It's a tie!
5. The big screens in the Bell Centre blow away those in Toronto. There are too many little screens and the whole thing is a confusing assault on the eyes.
5. Some corporate boxes are so ridiculously high it's a wonder that any company would lease them.
Wait a minute it seems that they aren't all sold!
6. The ACC looks a little tired and a bit less elegant than the Bell Centre. It seems to me that the building is steeper and thus has many more seats in the 'nosebleed' sections. Checkout SECTION 306, possibly the worst seats in the NHL.
If you're expecting me to say that the fans are lame or unenthusiastic, you would be wrong. You would be right if you called them masochists, because its gotta be painful. If you're a Leafs fan and under 45 years old you've never celebrated a Stanley Cup victory......aargh....
We were sitting beside a grandfather who brought his six-year old grandson (bedecked in Habs gear?) to his first game.
When the game went into overtime the grandfather rose and bade us good-bye.
"Aren't you staying for the overtime?" I asked.
"Nah, we gonna lose anyways and it's just too painful!!!!"
Of course he was right...(sigh..)
Oh....The Leafs...
