These nocaps are really starting to get depressing.

Rather than seeing the Hawks and Sharks go at it in the United Center, and hearing all the local meatballs once again cry for the return of Antti Niemi (although I'm guessing if there had been a season, his numbers would be extremely comparable to Corey Crawford's), we took in the Moscow Ballet's performance of "The Nutcracker".

Let's get to this:

THE GOOD:

You think it's depressing for Blackhawks fans to not see hockey this season? Imagine being a fan of the San Jose Sharks. This was looking like the last year of their Stanley Cup window, and the window is being painted over before they even get a chance to open it.

OK, the ballet - It was nice, and the music is timeless. Especially the one piece that made me automatically think of the simming pool scene from "Caddyshack":





DOODY!

Since the performance was in Rosemont, that meant Maria's Mexican Restaurant. It's no Rockford Olive Garden, mind you, but still.

THE BAD:

The people at Rosemont Theatre Akoo Theatre at Rosemont clearly don't have their act together at all. Since you couldn't print your tickets out at home, there was a huge line at the on-call windows, and they only had one point of entry from the ticket windows to the theatre. As a result, the performance began with a huge amount of people still being seated.

THE UGLY:

Every time I started enjoying the lovely ballerinas, there was some other dude wearing tights that was all codpiece and asscheeks blocking my view. Get those guys some workout jeans, for chrissakes.

Also, going to a ballet on a Sunday meant no Puckcast. Sorry, guys. We'll be back next week, promise.