Watching cold steel on ice at Johnny's Ice House was probably not most people's preferred activity on one of the first 70-degree weekends of the year, but then again, hockey fans are not most people. And this is no ordinary weekend.
"It's been good for a while. It helped it out, gets them going. A lot of excitement," said Blackhawks fan Mike Moore.
"It's been a lot of fun. It's good to have the team back playing well. Tickets have been tougher to get by, but I'll take that," fan Brian Coleman said.
The Ice House, just blocks away from the Hawks' home ice, hosted the perfect pre-game warm-up before Saturday night's big match-up. Hawks fans have learned to embrace being the underdog.
"They already got them down and out. They think they're not going to get past Calgary. The way they played Wednesday night, I think they're going to do it. They're going to go all the way," said fan Chris Craig.
Whether you like Chicago hockey, baseball or basketball, it was all on Saturday. In Boston, the Bulls managed to do something not even Michael Jordan accomplished: Even if sitting in a sports bar isn't your idea of a great way to spend a Saturday, fans will tell you there is an extra energy in the air.
"It livens you up. There are people outside. It's awake. [Chicago is] probably one of the most fun cities to be in when the nice outside," said Thru Shivakumar, who said she was a fan of the Cubs and the Bulls.
