Love some ECHL Hockey!

You know, for all the talk about how much fun it is to go to a professional sporting event, there is a certain charm, a certain quirkiness and just something unique about going to see minor league sports.

TLB (The Lovely Bride) and I went Saturday night to check out the local ECHL (East Coast Hockey League-which isn't just an east coast league) team the Cincinnati Cyclones this past Saturday evening and really, we had a great time.

((U.S. Bank Arena//Courtesy: My crappy Cellphone))

There were

probably 6 or 7-thousand fans in attendance and they really were into the game. Getting there was a bit of a challenge, we had just had snowstorm #3 for 2010 and it was really cold, but still, the diehards came out.

Sure, there was the lady 4 rows down from us who was missing a few teeth and had a foam puck on her head. There also were plenty of people sporting the Cyclones jersey and t-shirts...t-shirts everywhere.

They cheered the home team and booed the visitors. There was the obligatory mocking of the goalie and booing of the referees. It really was quite a loud crowd and they were totally into the game.

The game itself was almost anti-climatic. The Cyclones were facing the Johnstown Chiefs...no, the Hanson brothers didn't show up. The Chiefs were bad. Really bad. One of their players; a Trevor Hendrikx, the team leader in penalty minutes, had 4 penalties in

a 15 minutes span between periods 1 and 2. They gave up goals, lots of them.

The star of the game, Cyclones Forward Dustin Sproat (or as TLB calls him "Sprout"). Sproat had a hat trick. In fact he had the 1st 3 goals of the game. However, I'm pretty sure that Cincinnati showed its Hockey ignorance when it was announced that Sproat got his "Hat Trick"...nobody threw a hat.

((Nice but not knowledgeable crowd//Courtesy: My crappy cellphone))

All in all, it was a great experience. Believe it or not, the game was TLB's suggestion (she loves her hockey...any hockey). U.S Bank Arena in Cincinnati isn't huge, but it's decent sized with plenty of parking. They run specials all season long. The 1st game we went to featured $1 Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer, Saturday's game was $1 BBQ Sandwiches from a local BBQ restaurant. There were tons of kids in the stands. Plenty of between period entertainment kept everyone's attention during the breaks. The surest sign we were at a Minor League Hockey game however, was sitting in our seats looking up and seeing the guy driving the Zamboni...he was dressed as a Clown. (We tried to get a photo and couldn't)

Check out this video of the "Chiefs" and the Hanson Brothers from the movie "Slap Shot". Thanks You Tube: