When the Windsor Spitfires reached out with the idea to host a “BarDown Night” at one of their games, we were all in. We packed our bags and headed west to Windsor, Ontario. Not the longest trip, but I think we all love a little adventure. Road trips are good for the soul!

 

DAY 1:

Upon arrival at the WFCU Centre, naturally we hit the ice. The entire Spitfires team was ready to compete in a team wide shootout challenge, one in which winger Colton Smith was crowned champion after his TJ Oshie/Jonathan Toews like performance.

After that, we decided to challenge the fastest skater in the OHL – AJ Spellacy – to a little race. His speed was on full display after skating circles around Corwin, Luca and, Jesse. After a big first day in the books, we knew the next day was going to be even bigger, so we had to recharge our batteries – both our personal batteries and those within our cameras.

 

DAY 2:


If you’re asking Jesse, one of our favourite things to do when visiting OHL towns is to find some hearty local grub. The Spitfires promptly took us to “The Penalty Box”.

Restaurant owner, Van and his awesome staff served up the legendary Chicken Delight - a meal they’ve been known for since 1992! Safe to say it’s all we talked about for the rest of the day – Guess who talked the most?

After lunch, we headed to the arena to experience some gameday activities that made us feel like we were a part of the team. The Spitfires equipment manager welcomed Corwin to sharpen his own skates - something he hasn’t done since his university days in Ottawa, while Jesse was put through the ringer with the training staff.

Next stop was the arena concourse for a massive fan meet and greet. We were in awe with the amount of people that showed up to say hi and chat hockey! Truly one of the more memorable highlights. While the meet and greet was happening, two fans volunteered to get a BarDown tattoo -- yes, a real tattoo!

Getting to the rink early to have some behind the scenes fun and meeting our fans was great, but what we were all super eager for was all the imminent pre-game festivities. This is where our biggest responsivities took place, particularly for Corwin.

In front of an arena full of fans, Corwin sung the national anthem!


Meanwhile, DZ and Luca were reading out the Spitfire starting lineup to the team in the dressing room. Elsewhere, Jesse was dropping the opening faceoff. It was a pretty jam-packed pre-game for the guys, and while Jesse completely missed on both his puck drop attempts, DZ, Luca and Corwin absolutely crushed their respective duties.

Even with the entire crowd waiting to hear Corwin’s angelic voice, he managed to remain calm after he found out there was no instrumental version of the anthem to accompany him. Yep, he would have to sing acapella. Lol.

The last thing we had on our plate was bubble soccer on ice during 2nd intermission. If you know what bubble soccer is, you know we were about to have the time of our lives. It was pure carnage. Not only are you running with your shoes on ice, you’re also trying to avoid getting hit. Even the slightest of collisions send bodies flying.

Luca was our MVP. Leave it to the Italian to find a way to score a hat-trick in bubble soccer.

 

 

Out of all the fun road trips we’ve been a part of, this one was special. Thank you to Shannon Ricker and the entire Spitifres organization for hosting an unforgettable BarDown night!