Hockey Travel

My first real travel posting, which was the last game I saw of the season. Photos are linked to at the bottom.

The Hershey Bears were on a tear all season, winning ten games in a row at the start of the playoffs. Sweeping the Norfolk Admirals and the WBS Penguins, before needing seven games to put away the Portland Pirates. The Milwaukee Admirals had some sweeps under their belts going into the finals, killing off Houston and Grand Rapids with ease. Going into Game 5, each team had 2 wins, but the goal differential was in Hershey's favor, 15-8.

Before the game started, I wound up talking to a fan with a Peter Budaj jersey. She wished he could return, but of course, that won't happen with the affiliation being switched from Colorado to Washington that year. I didn't tell her I wished Budaj would get sent down to the minors too, just for different reasons. I wished I had brought my Aebischer jersey on the trip, but had left it back in Denver. Instead, I went with the trusty Cincinnati Cyclones.

The crowd was amazing, getting into the game loud and proud from the start. They didn't have to wait long to be rewarded, with the first goal coming just 20 seconds into the game, and the first period ending 3-0 Bears. Milwaukee mounted a comeback, but only came within one of tying things up. The crowd never wavered, getting louder and louder as the game went on. With an empty netter at the end of the game, Hershey won 6-4, getting the series advantage, and winning the last home game of the year. For my birthday this year, I was given the empty net puck as a gift. How cool is that?

If you didn't want to get caught up in the post-game parking lot crush, you could stay in the arena for the post-game interview. I didn't know about this, so I only caught the last part of Bears coach Bruce Boudreau and then Admirals coach Claude Noel. The crowd that stayed loved to boo Noel, especially after making a comment about some calls that went against his team.

I couldn't have asked for a better way to finish the season. Loud, proud hockey. The fans are very passionate, which is all you need. You can be Hockey Dumb if you want, but still love the game, and your team. These people didn't act Hockey Dumb. They acted like fans.

Photos from the game can be found here.

Gamesheet

Places I saw a game in the 2005-06 season, by League

Team USA
Lake Placid, NY (Women's Olympic)
Ann Arbor, MI (U-17 NTDP)

NHL
Denver, CO (X4)
Raleigh, NC

AHL
Hershey, PA
Norfolk, VA (X2 1/2)
Peoria, IL
Provodince, RI
Hartford, CT (X4)
Des Moines, IA

CHL
Ft. Collins, CO (X2)
Ft. Worth, TX
Corpus Christi, TX
Austin, TX
Wichita, KS
Oklahoma City, OK
Youngstown, OH (X2)

UHL
Muskegon, MI
Ft. Wayne, IN
Glens Falls, NY (X2)
Elmira, NY
Danbuty, CT
Richmond, VA
Roanoke, VA
Flint, MI
Port Huron, MI
Kalamazoo, MI (X2)
Frasier, MI
St. Charles, MI
Moline, IN
Rockford, IL


USHL
Cedar Rapids, IA

OHL
Plymouth, MI

NCAA
Boston, MA (Northeastern)

High School
Lake Placid, NY (X3)
East Lansing, MI (X2)

Did I count right? Did I really see 50 games last year? I have some good stories and some photos to put up. Time allowing.

And yes, thats the entire UHL (at the time, now they are down to ten teams from forteen).

It's kind of sad (and descriptive of me) that I decided to do this as late as I have. After the year I've had traveling around the U.S.A. and seeing games, I should have done this earlier. From roadtripping (I love verbizing nouns) through every city in the United Hockey League and about half the Central Hockey League, it would have been much better to write about it then.

Of course, it's better late than never, and maybe someone will find this interesting. I hope to have a lot more hockey travel done next year, and will put it up here. In the meantime, this will be about getting ready for the next year, paying attention to the shifting in the minors (where I can afford most of my hockey travel), and learning how to write about it(I apologize for any agonizing writing I do, but I'm here to work on it).

Also, any idiot can have a hockey blog, and I'm just that idiot.

Pictures will be put up on the sister blog, Hockey Travel Photos, and I'll put a few small snippits up here as well. Small teasers and one shots.

I'll try to do a calendar with where I'm going. Any users of rsscalender out there?

Thanks for giving this a shot, hopefully it will get better.