Nickel beer night was always epic at the St. Louis Arena, it was even better when them no good, bicycle seat sniffin Blackhawks were in town. The lines went out the door and around the Arena Bowl for tickets in the bitter winter cold.

For a nickel you got a small paper cup of that fabulous tasting Falstaff. Falstaff was a local brew and a sponsor of the Blues. The fact it was so cheap made it great for throwing. Fans threw beer at the Hawk players, the ref, fans who stood up at the wrong time, anybody who deserved getting hit. The rat fink Hawk fans bold enough to wear a red and black jersey got extra golden showers. You always came out of the Arena on nickel beer night smelling like the inside of a keg. Everybody got hit, even the pigeons and rats who lived in the old converted barn.

After a couple periods of slurping the amber liquid down the best entertainment would begin. The cheap seats in the Arena were way up and had steep, steeeeep arse concrete steps. This was fine at the start of a game but you had to watch yourself later when you stood up, if you leaned just a hair forward you would end up doing a Nadia Komanechi down the stairs or over the seats.

At the end of the stairs were metal pipe rails to catch the run away tumblers. It was a brutal stop. Then you would hear the P.A. announcer give the fateful call.

“Dr Smith to first aid please”.

Between periods we’d check the first aid for the wounded from the rails and fights in the stands. Most of the rowdies were in cuffs already and led outside to the paddy wagon St Louis’ finest had waiting. Some nights the coppers made 2 trips to the Graybar Hotel.

One night as the Blues game let out a mob accosted the Hawks bus. The game had been close and Van Hellemond had screwed the Blues royally, AGAIN, and the fans wanted some payback. Keith Magnuson wasn’t helping any by taunting every Blues fan that walked by out the winder. The Blues fans started rockin that bus so hard it was about to go over and the PD finally stepped in to form a line so they could escape.

The Arena is long gone and they don’t even sell beer in the 3rd period now in St. Louis but if you ask any old timers what they remember about the old St . Louis Arena, many will smile and say, “Nickel Beer Night” man.

Here’s to Nickel Beer Night and the Plager Bros whipping that Hawk azz!!

One of my all-time earliest memories of hockey was this series… and, namely, Belfour demolishing his stick.

Let’s just say it made meeting my girlfriend’s parents in Chicago for Christmas this past year all the better.

To me, the whole ‘93 Blues-Blackhawks series was memorable in the same way the Cardinals’ 2006 World Series run will always be my favorite Cardinals memory – because not a damn person outside of the fan base gave it a snowball’s chance in hell of happening. And wow . . . not only did our boys win . . . they swept the series. What happened after that was largely irrelevant to me (which is easy for me to do . . . I WAS 12 years old at the time . . . yes, I know, we lost to the Leafs in 7).

The ’93 Blues-Hawks series also confirmed to me (if I really needed confirmation) that Curtis Joseph was absolutely without a doubt . . . the AWESOME, baby!

I’ve always disliked the Blackhawks more than I’ve disliked the Red Wings (Jeremy Roenick and the aforementioned Ed Belfour had a lot to do with that). And I always will. Chicago is a nice town to visit, but the Blackhawks? Well . . . FUCK CHICAGO!

And for extra motivation . . . yes, it’s the St. Patrick’s Day Massacre, narrated by Ken Wilson and a VERY young John Kelly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS1lQvJarVA

(I probably should’ve turned this into a FanPost. Oh well.)

such a bummer that I didn’t start following hockey until after the Blues post-season run had already ended. I would have loved to have been at some of those games.

I have a great story about playoff action between us and CHI-town.

I’m only 21, so I really only remember the 2001-2002 series in which St.Louis beat Chicago in five games. The Blues clenched the series away in Chicago, but I actually managed to score tickets to the last home game of that series, game four.

I was too young to drive at that time, and I had gotten them too quick to get a hold of any of my hockey buddies. So in the ultimate loser move, I ended up going to the hockey game with my dearest mother. (She has always been a HUGE blues fan, however, she even got a RBK blues uni for Christmas this year). The game was amazing, and we won 1-0 game with a winner from Pavol Demitra. The series wasn’t over, but you could just feel that the Hawks were finished, going back home 3-1 in the series.

When we stepped outside Savvis Center, I saw a crowd of people gathered around something, but I really couldn’t tell what it was. Just as I’m stepping a bit closer to see what these 20-25 people are doing….

WOOSH!

Someone had taken a Blackhawks jersey, stuck it on the end of a pole and LIT IT ON FIRE! (No exaggeration!) Everyone is drunkenly cheering and yelling…it was awesome.

I’m just standing there watching this red jersey burn up and I’m thinking to myself ‘Did a Blues fan just bring this in case we won? Did someone actually buy this thing at the gift shop just to burn it outside? Did someone rip this off the back of a disappointed Hawks fan and destroy it?’

Either way, whoever that guy was is still my hero, and that was one of the many moments that cemented my status as a Blues fan forever.

I can’t find a video to refresh my memory, but I could’ve sworn there was another brawl (not the St. Patrick’s Day Massacre) between the Blues and Blackhawks. memory id really fuzzy about when it happened. I wanna say ‘92, maybe ’93. but I’m pretty sure it was AFTER Stevens, Snepsts, and Featherstone were gone.
I recall I was watching the game on tv and my mom told me to go to bed when the 2nd period was over. but I snuck out of my room to try to catch the end and everyone was on the ice. I have to say this was/is my all-time Blues/Blackhawks moment.
does this ring a bell for anyone else?

For me it will always be that ’93 series. I will forever hate the hawks. I grew up hating them and I will pass that on to future generations. My fondest memory is going to that final game where they swept the ’hawks.

I went with Answer Sister #1 (the older one) and two from the Answer Man Crew. We parked in back because you could enter the lot from Manchester and avoid the mess on Oakland Ave.

We parked and we were pumped. There was a group 5 hawks fans carrying on in the parking lot. We didn’t care until they yelled something at Answer Sister. Wrong move dickhead. She stepped up and called him out. One thing lead to another and the AMC got into a scrap with three of them from the group. We came out on top. Nothing major and it was very quick and not spectacular. We felt great though.

The game was incredible. The place was vibrating when the Blues won. You could see the railings (the thin yellow ones) shake up and down. Everyone was hugging and cheering. I even saw one hawk fan with a noose around his neck being lead out by his friend in a Blues sweater (the noose was not tight at all. It was only for effect). We ran into the assholes from before the game and they just had their heads down. Answer Sister let them have it. All they could do was take it. And they took it like convicts.

I love the blues and I absolutely hate the hawks. Nothing but pure unadulterated hatred. The purest of hate. It is so cleansing. God I am worked up right now thinking about this. I’m off to the gym.

You can bet your asses the AMC will be shirtless tonight, we will be bumping chests and we will we having feats of strength during the game tonight. The Answer Basement will be insane. I’m out Mofos.

Def. the ‘93 series… I didn’t start following hockey until I was like 10 (so in 1992), but I distinctly remember watching every game and seeing the fans in the stands with the brooms. I also was smart enough to know that Eddie was a tool and that the chants were well placed. The photo on the front page of the Post-Dispatch (ahhh, to live in a town where hockey makes the front page of the sports section, let alone paper) of Belfour crying was one of my most cherished possessions – I wish I knew where it had gotten to. Hell, Mom probably threw it away.

I’ve gotten a chance to see Eddie down here a few times, and the “Beeeeeeelfour, Beeeeeeeelfour, Beeeeeeeeeeelfour – YOU SUCK!” chants got to him so badly one night he skated around, screamed at the crowd, threw stuff… you have to wonder if he was experiencing PTSD from the ’93 series.