Long-term readers (who read all the blogs) know that I got into hockey two seasons ago when my friend Mike suggested seeing games in all 30 NHL arenas. Over the past three seasons, we’ve managed to see 22 teams play in their home arenas. There’s nothing extraordinary about that number. Somehow though, there’s one interesting fact to go along with the Quest for All 30. The Stanley Cup Finals have come down to two teams I saw at home during the active season. In 2014, the Los Angeles Kings defeated the New York Rangers. 2015 saw the dreaded Chicago Blackhawks defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning for the Cup.
During this current season, we made the now traditional Thanksgiving trip a double header of seeing the Penguins face the St. Louis Blues in Pittsburgh the night before Thanksgiving and then the Pens were the visiting team in Columbus the night after Thanksgiving. In February, as part of the side quest to see all five California AHL teams, sandwiched between San Jose Barracuda and Stockton Heat games, we made a return trip to the SAP Center to watch the Sharks defeat the Arizona Coyotes. As I type this, the Sharks and Penguins are getting ready for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Monday, May 30.
I have yet to determine if this year’s match up is my dream final or nightmare final. Before I became a more die-hard hockey fan, if someone asked what team I supported, I would have said the Penguins. This was more due the success they were having when I got more invested in sports than actually knowing anything about the team. Due to being a “fan” and because the Penguins social media manager was the only one to comment on my blog about searching for an official team, I was ready to pledge my allegiance to the Pens. Then something happened to make me question everything.
The second stop on the All 30 quest was San Jose. That night, my hockey life was changed forever. As I recounted in the previous blog about the trip, that night in San Jose was like a religious experience. I had seen the hockey gods and they wore black, teal and orange. From the moment the team took the ice through the giant shark head, I was in awe. With this newfound fandom, what was I to do about my original Penguin fandom? After some serious debate and consulting with Mike, I came to the conclusion that it only made sense to have an East team and a West team.
During the regular season, I would cheer for both teams then during the playoffs, I would have better odds of having a favorite team reach the finals. With the playoffs consisting of 16 teams, what were the odds that both of MY teams would make it the finals in the same year? Being a Miami Dolphins fan for 30 years, I was more prepared to be disappointed during the playoffs. Never would I have expected my two teams to battle each other for The Cup.
Now we’re on the cusp of the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals and I find myself torn on actively rooting for one team or simply enjoying the games and hoping for a competitive series. Part of me says to cheer on the Sharks as this is their first trip to the Finals and it’s easier to potentially travel to San Jose for a game than to fly across the country to a game in Pittsburgh. On the other hand, having been a Penguin “fan” for 25 years, is it right to toss them to the side just because they happen to be playing the Sharks?
Then comes the factor of the Penguins’ newly celebrated HBK line. The trio of Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel, became a trio to be reckoned with during the series against Tampa Bay. They became such a sensation fans got the original HBK, “Heartbreak Kid,” Shawn Michaels to become a fan and the Penguins invited Michaels to attend game 5. Naturally, the wrestling fan in me sees this as a logical reason to throw support to the Penguins. Naturally then, I think if the Sharks wanted to secure their own section of wrestling fans, it would only make sense to bring Sharkboy to the Shark Tank as a wrestler liaison.
I will wrestle with my decision until the puck drops at the start of game 1. Maybe I should simply be pleased two teams I have chosen to support are playing for the richest prize in hockey. No matter the outcome, I finally have a championship series that won’t let me down. Although, if either team seriously wants my undying support, providing tickets to a game would help. Just being honest.
Lets go Sharks! I mean, lets go Pens!…uh, Sharks, Pens…um, Shens? Parks? This is going to be a soul wrenching series.
Growing up near St. Louis,
my only interaction with hockey was when I’d turn the channel to KPLR-11 at
6:30 to watch the nightly syndicated original programming. Occasionally there
would be a St. Louis Blues game on instead. I would watch just long enough to
realize Charles in Charge, or Out of This World wasn’t going to be on
and then change the channel. In the ‘90s, I became a “fan” of the Pittsburgh
Penguins not because I actually liked hockey, but because Alyssa Milano was dating
Rob Brown. I figured if I liked the Penguins that would give us something to
talk about when I eventually met Alyssa. Twenty years later I’m still waiting
to meet her.Seeing a University
of Arizona vs. Arizona State University hockey game in college was my only
other hockey interaction until six years ago.
After living in Los Angeles
for a year, my friend Mike and I decided to become roommates. Mike is a hockey super
fan. In fact, I’d say during hockey season his television viewing is 85% hockey
games, 14% hockey highlights and 1% The
Colbert Report.This meant if
I watching TV with him during hockey season, I would be watching hockey
games.I would usually watch maybe
one period at most before retreating to my room where I could watch anything besides
hockey.After a year of living
together, Mike and I went our separate ways and I was free to avoid hockey for
the most part. The only time I’d remember hockey existed was when Mike and I
hung out. Life was good.
Hockey Map
In the summer of 2013, Mike
told me he was starting a hockey blogand one of his goals was to attend a game in all 30
hockey arenas. The first trip being planned was a weekend to Denver to see the
Avalanche on Saturday then watch Peyton Manning and the Broncos play the Kansas
City Chiefs on Sunday. Mike asked if I would be interested in tagging along to
the Mile High city. Since I enjoy traveling and felt this would be a chance to
use my Peyton Manning voodoo doll, I agreed to go without realizing my life was
about to change.
After the weekend in Denver,
plans started being made for a weekend jaunt to the Great White North. My
Australian friend Jackie was working at a ski resort in Banff, Alberta. I
wanted to go visit her and it just happened the weekend I was thinking of
traveling both the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers were playing home games.
Unfortunately the trip never materialized due to work commitments. As a back up
plan, Mike and I made the five-hour drive up to San Jose to see the Sharks in
action.
The Sharks!
San Jose was the proverbial
religious experience that started my conversion into full-blown hockey fandom.
First off, S.J. Sharkie is one of the greatest mascots ever. Second, when the
Sharks take the ice, they skate out of a giant shark head. How can you not
think that is awesome?I’ll admit
that I have a bad memory when it comes to what actually happened during the
games I’ve seen. I seem to recall this being a fun game between the Sharks and
the Minnesota Wild. Maybe it was or maybe I was getting my hockey baptism and
thus have an altered memory of the game.
A week or two before the San
Jose trip, Mike started piecing together a weekend trip to New York in March.
The initial plan was to see The New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders. The weekend for the trip fit nicely
into my schedule as I was set to finish up work on (the now last season of) Kitchen Nightmares the week prior and
needed a good getaway to decompress from a hectic season. Before we got to New York, I joined
Mike on the second half of his two games in one-day experience by watching the Dallas Stars win on the
road against the Anaheim Ducks. A week later a couple other friends accompanied
me to the Staples Center to see the Los Angeles Kings battle the Montreal
Canadians.
After the Anaheim game, I
decided I needed to buy a jersey to wear to games. If I was going to embrace
hockey, I felt it was only fitting to look like I actually knew something about
the sport. The problem was I wasn’t a fan of a specific team. Sure, I had liked
the Penguins twenty years ago but I couldn’t tell you anything about the team
now. The more I thought about it, the more I decided I didn’t want an NHL
jersey as I would be wearing it to multiple arenas and didn’t want to risk
humiliation or jeers for wearing an opposing team’s colors.
A quick web search yielded
the discovery of Geeky Jerseys.This
was the perfect solution. Pop culture inspired jerseys. Unfortunately, they
only sell two styles at a time and the ones I wanted weren’t available. More
searching of the web ensued and finally I decided to get a jersey of a minor
league team. Since I am first and foremost a wrestling fan, there really was
only one option, a Calgary Hitmen jersey.The team takes its name from former co-owner, former WWF World Champion,
Bret “Hitman” Hart.
The Devils in action
Now that I could pass as a
hockey fan at games, it was time to finalize plans for New York.As mentioned earlier, the plan
originally was for a quick weekend trip to take in two games. Digging further
into the NHL schedule resulted in the finding the New York Rangers were playing
at home on Monday. Since we were already going to be there, why not add a day
to the trip and make it three games in three days?Shortly before the trip my friend Sean surprised me with an
Evansville Icemen jersey as an early birthday present. I added a Saginaw Spirit
jersey as well so now I had three jerseys for the trip.
Henrik Lundqvist tending goal
First game of the weekend
featured a matchup of the two closest teams in the NHL. The New York Rangers
hopped on the subway and took the nine-mile trip into Newark to battle the New
Jersey Devils. Having two teams as close to each other as these meant the crowd
was almost a 50/50 split in terms of who fans were cheering for during the
game. The Rangers skated away with 2-0 victory resulting in Ranger goalie Henrik
Lundqvist setting the New York Rangers record for most victories by a goalie
and most shut outs.
Lundqvist ceremony
For the New York Islanders
game, our friend Matt made the drive up from Baltimore.This was a good thing as Matt drove to
the arena instead of us trying to figure out how to get there using subways and
buses. There are only two positives things I can say about the Islanders game.
From a wrestling fan perspective, we were in the venue that hosted the New York
portion of Wrestlemania 2. That and the fact the Islanders mascot is Sparky the
Dragon who may or may not be related to Dragon Dragon makes him one of the best
mascots in the league.Other than
those two items, the Nassau Coliseum is completely outdated and probably the
worst venue in the league.
Wrestlemania display at MSG
Being in the venue of
Wrestlemania 2 may have been a disappointment but the next stop would be a
different experience.Two days
after seeing Henrik Lundqvist’s record setting performance, Mike and I went to
see what he could do at home. Walking around the concourse of Madison Square
Garden, I marked out big time when I found a display commemorating Wrestlemania
1. Who needed a hockey game? I was looking at Roddy Piper’s boots and Hulk
Hogan’s tights. Wait, that sounds weird.Onto the game.Before the
game, Henrik was presented with a few gifts to honor his accomplishments.
During the first period, the pre-game celebration seemed a bit of a jinx. The
Phoenix Coyotes went up 2-0 after one period. The Rangers would eventually come
back and win 4-3 in overtime.
Even though we were watching
one of the best goalies in the league, and saw the Coyotes goalie get carried
off the ice after injuring his ankle, the highlight of the game for me was my
introduction to Brian Boyle. Since this was my first season of watching hockey,
I wasn’t familiar with too many players. I don’t know the reasoning but for
some reason whenever Boyle got the puck the Rangers faithful would boo him out
of the building. Even though he was on their team, the fans simply didn’t like
him.This led me to making the
decision that Brian Boyle is the greatest player in the NHL.I was rooting for him to be the MVP in
the Stanley Cup Finals. Sadly it wasn’t to be for this year. I’ll be curious to
see where Boyle ends up next season.
Louie as Darth Vader
The trip to New York came to
a close and it was time to move on to the next phase of my cross-country three-week
trip. I headed to Illinois to visit family before driving up to Banff,
Alberta.While I was back home,
the St. Louis Blues had one home game I could fit into my schedule. For the
geek in me this game was perfect as it was Star Wars night. The game also
allowed me to hang out with friends who were getting ready to move back to
Boston. The highlight of the game, besides seeing Louie the mascot dressed as
Darth Vader, was seeing TJ Oshie record his first hat trick.
After four games in one
week, it was time for a hockey break. The next two weeks consisted of driving
to Banff to pick up Jackie then driving back to Illinois to pick up Kevin (the
creator of this blog for you new readers) and on to New Orleans for
Wrestlemania 30.
Once the wrestling weekend
was over it was time to head back to Los Angeles. But not before a quick stop
in Phoenix. Met back up with Mike and a friend of his from Junior High to take
in the final Phoenix Coyotes home game of the season. Normally we would sit in
the upper deck of the arenas to get a good view of the ice and because those
are the cheap seats.
Fourth row in Phoenix
For the Coyotes we managed to get fourth row seats for
less than what the cheap seats at MSG cost. Being that close to the ice was an
interesting vantage point. However, I have to say, I prefer the higher seats.
The view from the rafters reminds me of the classic EA Sports hockey games for
the Sega Genesis. During first intermission of the game, I was standing outside
of the team store just minding my own business. An older gentleman noticed my
Calgary Hitmen jersey and felt I would be a good person to discuss Western
Hockey League.He started talking
about this player and that player. I wanted to respond with, “I just like
the logo of this team. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Thankfully Mike
was nearby and since he knows hockey, he was able to converse with the guy who
happened to be from Alberta.
The next day we took in an
Arizona Diamondbacks game. After seeing five hockey games in three weeks,
baseball was like watching life move in slow motion. We flew back to LA that
night as the NHL season came to an end. That should have been the end attending
games, but I was fortunate to live within thirty miles of two teams who were in
the playoffs.
Playoffs
First up on the playoff
circuit was a rematch from an earlier game. The Dallas Stars faced the Anaheim
Ducks in the opening round.Because I don’t own a calendar and rarely know the date, I ended up initially
buying tickets for the wrong Friday. Luckily by the time I realized the
mistake, I could still get tickets for the right date for the same price. Ended
up going to Games 2 and 5 in Anaheim. While the Stars had won the regular
season game 2-0, during the playoffs the Ducks avenged the loss with 3-2 and
6-2 victories.
Minnesota playoffs
During the second round, I
was stuck in Rochester, Minnesota while my dad underwent some tests at the Mayo
clinic. Rochester is a nice town. Unfortunately there wasn’t a lot to do there
when it came to avoiding cabin fever from being in a hotel room for a week. I
kept checking Ticketmaster and was fortunate enough to find a few unsold
tickets had been released the day before game three of the series. I got to add
another arena to my list and saw the Minnesota Wild defeat the Chicago
Blackhawks 4-0.
Having gotten addicted to
not just hockey but playoff hockey, while sitting in the St. Louis airport
awaiting to fly back to LA, I broke down and bought tickets to Game 4 of the
Ducks/Kings series. While I ended up paying more than I would have liked, I was
hoping the Kings would have been going for the sweep. The Ducks had other plans
and won Game 3 a few hours after I bought tickets. The Ducks went on to win
Game 4 by a score of 2-0. The outcome seemed fitting for the final game I would
see this season. Visiting teams winning 2-0 had become a running joke
throughout the travels.
Common sense almost went out
the window as I debated buying a ticket for game 5 of the Rangers vs. Kings
Finals. As much as I tried to justify it, I couldn’t pull the plug since I was
unemployed and didn’t have a solid lead for a job. Watching the game on TV, I
have never felt more disappointed in listening to reason and not doing
something crazy. Oh well, there’s always next season.
During a seven month journey
the NHL cultivated a new fan. I still don’t know a lot of the players and can’t
give you stats or even tell you the outcome of games I saw without taking time
to think about them. Yet, for the first time ever, I was eager for the NHL
schedule to be released this past weekend. There are already plans in place for
trips during the season. If all goes according to plan, I will get to add
Chicago, Miami, Tampa, Boston and possibly Dallas to the list of venues
visited. The only issue remaining is do I pick a team to root for during the
season or do I simply enjoy the sport for what it is and cheer the home
teams?We’ll save that discussion
for another day.
