2016 NHL All Star Game

or The Day We Got To Meet The Stanley Cup.

The NHL All Star Game is in Nashville this year.  I tried (and tried) to get tickets to either the game or the skills competition - but no luck.  We did go to Fan Fair today.  And it was fun!!

The highlight of the day was getting our picture taken with the Stanley Cup

There were events both inside and outside of the convention center.  They shut down a few blocks to auto traffic, and set up an ice rink, stages and tents in Hall of Fame Park.

Inside the convention center were all sorts of activities and booths set up.  There were places where you could try on the players' gear and take your picture, there were places where you could try your luck at shooting the puck, there were virtual reality games.  Something for everyone!

Or you could just stick your head through the hole in the cutout ;)

There was a really cool table hockey game.  Jim and I played a game of this.  I won, thanks for asking!  It's so different from the little tabletop games we used to have where you had to unbend the players, or move the puck out of the corners with your hand because the players couldn't reach it sometimes, or the puck would come shooting up at your face once in a while.  Does anyone else remember reaching in and grabbing the other guys player right off the peg because he was winning?  Me neither.......

They had pictures and banners all over the place.  They had some really cool player pictures and autographed items for sale, and also had lots of old photos made into wall size banners.  The one on the top right is Boston's 'Sugar' Jim Henry and Montreal's Maurice Richard shaking hands after Game 7 in the 1952 Semifinal. 

I think you know who this is

 They also had a bunch of the hockey trophies there.  Here are the Lady Byng

 and the Vezina

And of course all the team mascots were there.  Some of them are pretty scary looking!  Here's Blades, as they're about to begin the 'Dance off'.  Unfortunately we couldn't see it.  There wasn't nearly enough room for everyone who wanted to watch, so we finally gave up and decided to go check out everything else in the hall while the majority of folks were at one end!

Then we went outside.  It was really warm this afternoon - in the mid 60's - so outside was a sea of humanity.  This is standing in front of the convention center, looking toward the riverfront.  You can see the arena on your left, the Pinnacle building and the Symphony Center in the middle, and to the right you can see a stage.  They had some big name performers, none of whom we saw.... 

We walked over to the park and the first thing we encountered was the Jack Daniels truck (Nashville knows how to throw a party!).  

There were a few other vendors outside, but not as many as I expected.  There is an ice rink.  Although it was a little soupy being so warm out!  The building in the background is the Country Music Hall of Fame.

 As we were walking through the park, a man stopped Jim and asked him if he'd be willing to answer a few questions.  He said sure, and the man proceeded to ask him questions about Jaromir Jagr.  So Jim will get his 15 minutes of fame!  Be sure to tune in to your local station if you're in the Czech Republic.....

 They also built these really cool hockey pucks around the area.  They had players pictures on them and were all over the park and along 5th Avenue.

It was a lot of fun, the weather was great for walking outside, and we got out of the house for a while.