Me. Theoretically speaking, anyway. In my dreams, I just won the lottery. And in order to cross off Number 1 on my bucket list, I am going to see all 30 NHL teams at home this coming season.
Aaaah, a Hockey fan’s dream. But if I did win, seriously, how would I attack it? With money no object, here’s what I would do…
7 OCT – OTT @ DET (First time to the Joe for Game 1 of 30)
8 OCT – DAL @ CHI (The second of a Black & Blue pair of games; now over 1000 miles)
10 OCT – CGY @ STL (Heading south to Gateway Arch)
12 OCT – COL @ CBJ (Having a look at the new look Blue Jackets)
13 OCT – PHX @ NSH (A quick stop at the home of Country Music)
14 OCT – SJS @ ANA (Jetting out to the Pacific)
15 OCT – STL @ SJS (Swimming with the Sharks)
18 OCT – STL @ LAK (A leisurely drive down Highway 1 along the coast would be great here)
20 OCT – LAK @ PHX (Have to hit Glendale before the ‘Yotes move out; almost 5000 miles traversed)
22 OCT – NSH @ CGY (First foray north of the border)
24 OCT – NYR @ WPG (First time to The Peg)
25 OCT – VAN @ EDM (An all Canadian classic)
26 OCT – STL @ VAN (Half way through the longest back-to-back… stretch)
27 OCT – ANA @ MIN (Before it gets Minnesota cold)
28 OCT – EDM @ COL (Will we have snow in the Rockies yet? Just over the 10,000 miles mark)
29 OCT – NJD @ DAL (Last of six straight days of Hockey and a breather at Big Tex’s house)
31 OCT – SJS @ NYR (Watching this one from the Blue Seats)
2 NOV – TOR @ NJD (Looking forward to seeing The Rock)
3 NOV – WPG @ NYI (An even match up should ensue, here)
5 NOV – CBJ @ PHI (The return of Carter to Philly)
7 NOV – NYI @ BOS (The young kids will be gunning for the Stanley Cup champs; now just over half way to a frequent flyer round trip ticket)
8 NOV – FLA @ TOR (Cannot wait to see how these two teams will fair this season)
9 NOV – NYR @ OTT (Need to brush up on some French)
11 NOV – OTT @ BUF (Got to get some Buffalo Wings!)
12 NOV – NJD @ WSH (Great game from Verizon Center for two foes who should be in the same division)
15 NOV – COL @ PIT (Saw the Igloo in 2008 – time to see the newest NHL barn…)
18 NOV – PIT @ TBL (Second PIT, first night in FLA in the house of Stamkos)
19 NOV – PIT @ FLA (Third PIT in a row on second straight night in FLA; just over 15,000 miles covered)
20 NOV – TOR @ CAR (Sunday tailgate in Raleigh)
21 NOV – BOS @ MTL (Original Six closer and home before Thanksgiving; 17,894 miles by th time I get home, across the continent twice and three Canadian stamps in my passport.)
Why would I try to shove the games in this way? The closest team to hitting the 30 game mark like I just did is Carolina on 7 December.
I would do it this way for a couple of reasons. First would be to get into every location before winter weather sets in. I can now also concentrate on what locations I would like to go back to – like taking a train trip across Canada to catch every venue north of the border. Or a second visit to the New Yorks and New Jersey where, if the timing is right, you can see three games in two days.
And I can figure out where I am going when the playoffs start. Do you follow just one team in the playoffs? I say you do to get an idea about the fatigue they run up against.
If you won the lottery and price and time were no object, how would you do it? Would you see them all, or just get a luxury box for your home team?
Check in and tell us what you would do…
Just came across your site, digging it.
Had a similar thought before, but slight twist of following my wings around on their road trips.
Otherwise, I would probably try to space it out a bit more to get to know some of the cities better. It would be fun to try and hit the big rivalry games in both arenas – see how it differs.
Posted by Jason Richards | July 21, 2011, 09:31i know – revamping my plan right now and will repost as a comment in a few minutes.
Posted by The Colonel | July 21, 2011, 11:43Here is an alternate schedule trying to make road trips with BOS, DAL, LAK, NYR, TBL, TOR, and WSH – my favorite teams – as much as possible:
7 OCT – TBL @ CAR
8 OCT – TBL @ BOS
10 OCT – TBL @ WSH
13 OCT – TBL @ NYI
15 OCT – TBL @ FLA
17 OCT – FLA @ TBL
18 OCT – NYR @ VAN
20 OCT – NYR @ CGY
22 OCT – NYR @ EDM
24 OCT – NYR @ WPG
17 OCT – MTL @ BOS
29 OCT – BOS @ MTL
30 OCT – TOR @ OTT
2 NOV – TOR @ NJD
3 NOV – TOR @ CBJ
5 NOV – CBJ @ PHI
6 NOV – VAN @ CHI
8 NOV – CHI @ STL
11 NOV – DAL @ PIT
12 NOV – DAL @ DET
15 NOV – WSH @ NSH
16 NOV – ANA @ LAK
17 NOV – LAK @ ANA
19 NOV – WSH @ TOR
23 NOV – BOS @ BUF
25 NOV – TOR @ DAL
28 NOV – TBL @ MIN
30 NOV – NJD @ COL
1 DEC – MTL @ SJS
3 DEC – PHI @ PHX
5 DEC – TOR @ NYR
2 JAN – NYR @ PHI
7 JAN – VAN @ BOS
31 MAR – BUF @ TOR
3 APR – TOR @ BUF
Playoffs Round 1 – Plan to follow TOR because their fans will be going nuts if it happens; if not, probably DAL
Playoffs Round 2 – Play it by ear
Playoffs Round 3 – Follow WSH to see if they get over the hump
Finals – Follow The Cup
Posted by The Colonel | July 21, 2011, 12:23