On Tuesday evening, the St. Louis Blues hosted a little party at the Drink Scotch Center. It was the first chance for Blues fans to find out about the renovations that had been done over the summer.

Fortunately, I was able to secure a pass for this event by invitation only. And by that I mean I begged a subscription holder to let me follow. It’s almost like I’m working for the Post-shipment. Almost.

Since I know this is what everyone is waiting to see, we might as well go ahead and address the elephant in the room. And believe me, this elephant is a big son of a bitch.

Really the picture doesn’t do it justice but I don’t think there is a picture that would. You’re just going to have to take my word for it.

When you enter the arena from the lobby, this thing is all you see. No matter where you are sitting, that thing is in your face. Not a boring, drunken type in your face, but the same way a big, beautiful flat screen TV that you don’t have to pay for is in your face. It’s just cool.

We watched the Blues play the Dallas Stars on it and I have to say the video quality is exceptional. I realize that’s probably pretty normal for the rest of the NHL, but sitting in your seat, it’s nice to finally feel like you haven’t brought a time machine back in time. 1990s.

The next thing most Blues fans will probably notice is the new seats twice attacking the end of the rink.

This is actually where I sat the first year I had memberships with the club. However, this is also where I will never sit down again because there is no way I will pay so much money to watch a hockey game, but I am sure there are a lot of people who will. It probably comes with some really cool perks like seat service and drinks and the like. I don’t really know for sure because I didn’t ask. Mainly because I don’t care, but also because I AM IN MY FALSE JOB.

After these two small improvements, I didn’t really notice anything else that would improve the gaming experience for the majority of fans. This is just the first wave of renovations to be made to the Scott and it’s pretty clear, understandably, that the Blues have taken care of themselves first.

Apparently the surface of the ice had become quite horrible. In fact, it was so bad that the players started to complain about it. The Blues have therefore removed the old ground and put a new perfectly flat surface. This in turn allows them to place an almost perfect patch of ice.

There isn’t much to see in this photo because it’s basically just a flat sheet of ice cream, but I’m told it’s one of the flattest, coldest sheets in the NHL. , so I guess there is that.

The Blues also improved the lighting inside the arena but to be honest I didn’t really notice. Not that it’s bad or anything, but mostly because I really can’t remember what it was like before. The club will probably tell you that they did this to improve the gaming experience, but I’m sure that the fact that these lights are a million times more efficient than the last ones also played a role. Again, it’s not that this is a bad thing, it’s just not something that I really noticed until it was pointed out to me.

The bathrooms however were a bit disappointing.

Basically all they did was give them a fresh coat of paint and put dividers between the urinals.

I understand space is a factor but man, I was really hoping they were going to make them bigger. The bathrooms that is to say not the urinals.

I don’t know if you go to the bathroom during intermission, but it really sucks. There are mile-long lines in every bathroom and the ones in the upper bowl are even worse.

However, they made a noticeable improvement.

It’s true ladies and gentlemen (well, especially gentlemen) we have shelves above the urinals. And they’re not just for the looks. This right, there are fully functional beer holders.

Well, that ends. The team store and most of the halls haven’t changed. Yep, maybe they’ve set up new food stalls or made a few minor upgrades here and there, but I didn’t really notice.

I understand this is a process and will take some time. I also understand that the Blues took care of the most important things first, as they should have.

Guess what I’m saying is it felt like I was 12 again and it was Christmas morning. I walked through Scottrade’s doors hoping to get everything I wanted.

Instead, I got one thing I really wanted and a few things I really needed and that was it. No one likes to get the things they need, not even me, I’m 30 years old.