The Old Barn

Have you ever gone back? Back to a home you lived in as a child; only to be shocked at how different it is from what you remember? That GIANT backyard you played in suddenly seems so small. The nearby park is not nearly the wilderness it seemed to be when you raced through the woods. Some things are just better left to our memories - like The Old Barn.

Maybe it's a good thing that the old Arena in St. Louis was demolished. Going back today, I'm sure it could never live up to the grand memories I have of it in the late 60's and early 70's. That was where the Blues played, and it was a palace! 

Our family shared season tickets with another family so we had plenty of opportunities to see our beloved Blues play. We sat in the upper deck - cheering wildly for our boys in the blue and gold. The Old Barn, stuffed to the gills every night, was a taste of hockey heaven. The fans were so faithful that the owners added more seating in a  mezzanine section hanging precipitously from the roof at each end of the ice. You practically had to climb a ladder to get to those seats. Then there were these strange boxes ringing the back aisle of the upper deck where kids could lie down and watch the game from an elevated platform. I'm sure none of that would meet today's building codes, but it was OUR Barn; and it was grand!

Those were the days! Dad, along with most of the other men in The Old Barn, often wore a dress shirt and tie to the games. You could barely see the roof by the end of the second period due to the blue haze of cigarette smoke that rose to the rafters throughout the game. The floor vibrated under your feet as the fans jumped, shouted, cheered and sang, "When the Blues Go Marching In!" Every moment in the Old Barn was a treasure.

There were no contests or on-ice entertainment between periods. No rock music pumped in to fire up the crowd during stoppages in play. No; we had Ernie Hayes playing the organ. The crowd clapped and sang along as he played on. And we watched the Zamboni clear the ice; anxious for the teams to step back onto that glistening sheet for the next period.

No one ever left early, either. We had to wait for Jacque Plante to throw up his arms in a "V for Victory" sign as he was the last to leave the ice after backstopping a Blues win. Of course we had to wait for the announcement of the three stars because it gave us one last chance to cheer for our Blues before we had to walk out of that palace and return to the routine of home.

Yes, I suppose I'm glad they knocked The Old Barn down. I would probably see all of its flaws today. I prefer to remember it as the palace it seemed to be; inhabited by the royal family that proudly wore the Blue Note crest on their chests.