We're all Islanders...

What a day and what a night! The hockey game was a beauty - Islander's won in overtime, beating the Flyers 6 - 5 after successfully blowing a 4 - 1 lead. Witnessed the first hatrick of the trip and saw 2 fantastic fights (back to back). The only downside would have been the first intermission entertainment, which consisted of figure skating. Let me just say, figure skating has no place as hockey intermission entertainment.



They also had a karaoke competition and I loved the fact that didn't show any Flyers highlights when they showed the 'game so far' highlights. A small home crowd was in attendance but they didn't stop jeering and cheering all night and I had a good laugh when they started to boo their team when the Flyers tied it up.



I guess I was just happy to be at the game. How's this for great planning:

I decided to walk to the rink tonight from the hotel and thought I had it all worked out, except, I ended up walking 45 minutes then stopping at a pharmacy only to be told I was about 2 miles in the wrong direction. I started out again but it was dark, the game started in 50 minutes and I was sweating so I stopped at a beauty salon and had someone call me a taxi. Bloody $20 cab ride (maybe 5 minutes in the cab) and I was at the rink. I was a bit disappointed in myself but felt much better when I started talking to the family (of 5) that was sitting beside me. They were Swedes who had decided to come to NYC and bought tickets specifically to see Forsberg...a week after they purchased everthing, Forsberg gets traded! I know how they feel, he got traded a few games before I was due to see the Flyers and I don't see the Predators again. Dang!

The RAV has been left behind for my 5 day tour of Long Island and NYC. Don't worry, it's safe - my friend Vicki, who lives northwest of NYC, put me up for a couple of days and was kind enough to watch over it until I get back there on Saturday.



I am now taking advantage of the public transport and had great fun with it today. An hour and a half train into Central Station, transfer to Penn Station, another hour on a train and then a cab ride all just to get to the hotel on Long Island!

Central Station (not a great photo, maybe next time):


I'm heading back into NYC tomorrow - 2 more friends, Heather and Laura, are flying in to meet me for a few days. Can't wait to wander the streets and take it all in.

It means more here...

I was tossing up between that title (which I saw a few places around the arena) or Mmmmm..Philly Cheese Steak (damn they're good!). So the Flyers lost to the Leafs 5 - 2. The Leafs looked pretty good...what am I saying. I mean the Flyers just played bad!! Great rink, great fans and boy do they hate to lose - they targeted one Flyer defenseman in particular (anyone want to guess who it was??).

Centre ice seats but only one row from the top:


Since Mark and Ed departed, I have been down and out with a cold but I managed to drag my sorry butt out of the hotel room to have a look around Philadelphia today and I was glad I did. After not enough researching, I hopped in the car and drove to the rink, parked there and took the train downtown. Got off at City Hall:


and then commenced to wander...first in circles as I had no idea where I wanted to go, then I remembered the Liberty Bell and worked my way in that direction.

I walked around for a few hours - down Market St into the Old City and a brief visit at the Independence Visitor Center. I was going to see the Liberty Bell but there was a massive queue and as I have no patience, I just kept on walking. What's the big deal about a bell with a crack anyway?? Only kidding - check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Bell for more information.

Some old building??:


Off to New York tomorrow - if I can make it into and out of Philly alive, bring on the Big Apple!

Capital City hockey..

For a team that is struggling to get fans in the stands, the crowd last night was small in numbers but loud in voice. A great atmosphere and a great end to end game of hockey. Unfortunately for the Caps, they blew a 2 goals to none lead to lose 3 - 2 in a shootout. I think Mark and Ed were happy to see the shootout but it would have been better if the home team had won it.



As it was the lads last night on the trip we decided to hang around after the game for a few beers and a farewell eat fest. The rink in Washington is right downtown and built into other office buildings...you wouldn't really know it was there and it doesn't look like a rink from the street. The good thing is that the train (metro) takes you right there and there are also plenty of shops, pubs, resturants close by.



The trip to Washington was pretty good...we got some good advice from a fella in Pittsburgh to stop at a ski resort on the way to break up the days before the game last night. We stayed in Seven Springs, right on the slopes but for some reason we didn't make it out skiiing??? Those guys are a bad influence on me!!

Once we figured out where we were:


Game day was spent touring around Washington...nice city and of course we took in all the well known monuments and sights:






Had a lot of laughs and a great time with Mark and Ed...I'm not sure how much they enjoyed the flight home but I know I enjoyed the sleep in!! Now for some more lonely time before hitting New York.

We definitley experienced the evolution...

Man oh man, Sid the Kid is the show about town. We also saw the best goal of the trip so far, Malkin ripped a shot from near the goal line, bottom of the circle into the top corner...the direhard Penguin's fan that I was sitting beside was loving it. Penguins 3 - 2, and it was never a contest for the Pens.



It's all "Experience the Evolution"...which we all hope they get to realise, there's no doubt in their minds that the Penguins are here to stay:


Here's a stat - Penguins haven't lost in regular time since Jan 10th! Oh boy, Staal, Malkin, Crosby, Whitney, Armstrong, Talbot..Recchi...the list goes on and on...definitley the most exciting team to watch. Here's the 4th line:


Perhaps I am caught in the Penguins fever but dang, they are soooo fun to watch! Ovechin worked hard but he needs a lot more support!!

Now what do I have to say about Pittsburgh, or as I have politely heard it termed...Shittsburgh! That's pretty rough, I reckon! This city has been great to Ed, Mark and I since we arrived and besides the fact that there is nowhere to get a breakfast on Sunday morning it turned out to be an awesome hockey town.



Mario the Magnificient stilll rules the hockey world here and we met soooo many hockey fans...it's great to talk hockey with fans that love the game. Keep in mind that Ed's conculsion of the city is that everything is old!! If you drive into this city from the airport or from Columbus, you drive through a tunnel that shoots you out right onto a bridge across the river into town...not bad!

Wonderful scenic trip from Columbus to Pittsburgh:

First shutout...

Had to put the first photo in of the guys standing by the truck staring at the ice they were supposed to be breaking up, but here is one that does them justice!


Well this was the first game that I had to sit through on my own and I'm glad no one else had to suffer with me. I shouldn't be that harsh but it was quieter than the Panthers game until the Columbus scored their first goal in the 2nd period. They get big crowds though so I'll assume if they were in a position to make the playoffs the fans would have been a lot more excitable (or if they were playing a closer rival). The end result was a win for the Blue Jackets 3 - 0, which as the title alludes, is the first shutout in 16 games.



As not much has been going on since I left Greensboro (beisdes enjoying the silence!!) but here is somthing terrifying that happened to me. I went for the traditional 1st intermission beer and was asked for id (not uncommon in the US). I presented my Australian driver's licence and was informed that unless I could produce an American or Canadian licence then I couldn't buy beer. So I asked, "Could I use my passport as proof of age?" and the dude says,"Nope, only Canadian or American driver's licenses are allowed." Whaaa??? Anyway, in the interest of not meeting my newly established goal to have a beer in every rink, I walked down to the next vendor, handed them my id, and got myself a beer. Phew...

Metting up with Mark and Ed in Pittsburgh tomottow so get ready for some good tales. Oh, check out Brad's comment on the "Half way there" post - pretty good for an Aussie!

Half way there...

So after a five day layover in sunny Greensboro we finally got to watch the Hurricanes. They won (2 - 1 over the Kings), in what I thought, was a hard hitting, fast paced game of hockey. Some disagreed, some don't remember!



Jason organised a big crew for the Hurricane's game - Robbie, Chad, Josh, Eric, Pat, Art, James, and I all journeyed the hour to Raleigh and were going to set up for a tailgate party prior to the game. Tailgate party never happened as it was pouring rain so we headed to a local pub to pass the time.

Here are all the lads, prior to the game in Greensboro:


Here are all the lads, prior to the game in Raleigh (see any differences):
**If this video doesn't work, try to copy and paste this into your address bar:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1002481161264682205



Steaks for dinner, fire on the deck, a trip to Pinehurst and a round of golf (not at Pinehurst!) all highlighted a great stay in Greensboro with Jason, Missy and Riley. Throw in some great local beers, live music and a trip to Biscuitville and it gets even better!

Had a few friends over for a fire and beers on Saturday:


Treated to a trip to Pinehurst on Sunday:


Dinner at Harper's on Monday:


Game day attire (check out Jason going old school):


Art and James flew out from Raleigh on Wednesday and I now continue on the trip, solo, for the first time. I'll miss you Tubs and Lard Ass. The chirping and constant bickering won't be missed though!! James saw 5 games in all and I'm sure he would have loved to watch a lot more. Art's final stats: 14 games, approx. 22,000km, 23 states and provinces visited all completed in 48 days. What an awesome Road Dog!!

Fang Fingers...

We sang Oh Canada for the first time since San Jose and were treated to a wonderful display of the Predators beating the Leafs: 4 - 2. As I am a Canadiens fan, watching the Leafs lose is one of life's great pleasures. I feel for you Park.



If you were around when I was in San Jose, I wrote about the Shark Attack...well, the title to this blog is what the fans do when the Preds go "ON THE POWERPLAY!!!" You can take what you want from "fang fingers" but I'd have to say that it looked like most people were more embarrassed that proud to "fang" it up!!



After the poor display by the old guys on Wednesday night (you have to visit Tootsies when you visit Nashville), Doug was given the ultimatium by Karla to "not show his age" on game night and he didn't disappoint. There is so much going on around the Gaylord Entertaiment Center that we had to enjoy a couple of beers after the game while listening to the live music that never seems to stop.

James and Doug...if only they were really that sexy:


The Ryman Auditorium (or the Grand Ole Oprey). For the Neil Young fans, this is where the Heart of Gold concert was recorded...definitley a huge highlight of my trip:


Doug is heading back to Upper C tomorrow and the rest of us start the road trip to Greensboro. I've been trying to convince Doug to carry on with us but it seems he has to go...responsibilities really tie you down. Art and James only have one game left and then I'll be travelling on my own for a time. Hopefully the Blogs don't get wierd as I slowly go crazy after too much time alone!

Welcome to Blueland...

So it was down Peachtree St onto Peachtree Circle and then over to Peachtree...blah blah blah. Apparently, there are peaches in Georgia?? What the hell am I going on about...

Anyways...What can be said about the game in Atlanta? This was the first rink that had all seats on one side and ends and had all corporate boxes on the other side. Pretty nice place and the JD's were fantastic. Getting to watch Simmer play was great and it made the game that much more excting when he was on the ice. He scored the go ahead goal in the 2nd but some late penalties allow Buffalo to lead 3-2 going into the 3rd. All 3 of Buffalo's goals were on the powerplay. Unfortunatley for us and the Thrashers they lost 4 - 3 in a shootout. More shootouts than fights, dang!





James, Art and I took a look through the Georgia Aquarium before the game and I'd have to say it was very impressive. Those cute little otters, Art and James couldn't get enough of them.

Doug joined us for the game and will be coming to Nashvlle. We picked him up before the game and got to enjoy a few beers at our own tail gate party in the rink parking lot as we waited for the gates to open.

Jon and Marla have been fanstastic to put us up, feed us and to organise the tickets for the game...more of that Nova Scotia hopitality, which just can't be beat.



Hit the Jack Daniels distillery* today - bet you didn't know that the distillery is in a dry county. I'm thinking they tell you that so they don't have to deal with the nightmare of people getting loaded on free samples.

Mr Daniels:


Mmmm...whiskey:


*Free Tour

Hockey Bay, USA...

So it’s Hockey Bay, USA (that's Tampa Bay's slogan not mine and pretty clever I thought). Let me tell you, what a difference from the Panthers game. The crowd was rambunctious (they gave out the blow up plastic tubes that you bang together and the majority were loving it), they seemed to know what was going on and they won a close game against the Rangers 3 – 2. It got a double C&T thumbs up!



It was the first rink we have been to where there was live music and bars set up outside the entrance before and after the game…a great atmosphere. Something that I would like to point out at this stage of the trip is the image that hockey has of being all fighting and violence. Please take note of the Road Trip Stats and you will see that we have hardly seen a fight. What the hell! Trust me, I'm just as disappointed as the rest of you!



We have been staying with Kendall and Arlene in Sarasota for the last couple of days. Sarasota - where the not so young meet the sea. It’s been nice to have a few days to not drive for 5 hours to 8 hours!! Of course, that all begins again on Monday!



I suppose our southern tour is over and we’re off to Atlanta to visit Jon, Marla and Landon. We also pick up James and Doug. James is with us for Atlanta, Nashville and Carolina. A formal request was made to the trip executive for Doug to join the tour for the Atlanta and Nashville games...a unanimous decision was reached, in his favour! Art and I aren't entirely sure if it's the hockey Doug wants to see or the chance to see Dolly in Nashville??? I'm pretty sure we'll also be taking a side trip to the Jack Daniel’s distillery...look out!

Finally someone else to talk to besides Art!

Hockey in Florida...

So it's been awhile since I last sent out a post and I hopefully I don't bore you with all the details of the long drives that were endured between St. Louis to Miami. We watched the Panthers beat the heck out of the Capitals tonight. 6 - 3 was the final result and it wasn't much of a game. Maybe it was the lack lustre, silent crowd or the fact that it was 80 F outside the rink that made it feel so different than most of the other games we've seen. Got to see Ovechkin play for the first time - whoo hoo!!! Definitely the hottest game to date...people we going in wearing shorts and I bet they froze their "first time watching hockey" butts off.



We stayed in Ruskin, FL last night and drove to Miami today for the game. It seemed like we hadn't been out of the Rav for a week - I think by the time we got there we had covered over 2000km in 3 days...dang! We stayed with some friends from the County (again) - Jack and Isabel. Since we arrived at their place in the early afternoon we were treated to some guitar playing, a tour on Tampa Bay in their boat and Isabel cooked up some excellent moose meat for dinner...how good is that!! First time I had tired moose and it was fantastic.

Let me fill you in on the events prior to arriving in Ruskin:
After the Blues game (Sunday), we managed to drive to Memphis and had a great feed of ribs at the Blues City Café on Beale St! Mmmmm…ribs. And as it was a Sunday night there was a surprisingly large amount of people out and about and live music at a few blues joints. We ate and then went straight back to the hotel to sleep, the excuse being a big day on Monday. There's always an excuse!

Monday morning we did a drive by, shot a couple photos of Sun Studios and then had a quick look at the Gibson guitar factory (urge to buy was massive but the buyer’s remorse would have been crippling).

Sun Studios:


Next stop was Graceland, couldn't visit Memphis and pass on that! We signed up (meaning we paid for learnin’!!) for the tour of the property and it was a good couple of hours of listening, reading about Elvis and his career and family and I was also lucky enough to experience what Art is like during one of these self guided tours. I reckon he would have been finished and back on the highway in 20 minutes had I obliged to his requests to hurry up!

Outside of Graceland:


Once that was over, it was a mad dash to put some miles behind us and we managed to drive to just outside of New Orleans. Mississippi (can you spell it backwards?) - what can I say, we took a side road (61) and it was a huge mistake – hint: don’t take this if you drive through Mississippi south.

The only highlight from a long day of driving:


There is still a lot of work to be done in New Orleans - we didn't get into the city but just driving along the interstate we saw areas where whole blocks of houses and complete shopping centres were boarded up and vacant. Not a pretty site. Since I have no photos you'll have to take my word for it.

Some of the pelicans where Jack puts his boat in:


I’m not sure if it’s the big gaps between games, the long drives, the staring contests that Art and I are having, the extreme lack of exercise or the beer and chips but something is severely impacting my creativity. Art suggested today that we rename the blog the C&T Road Show (C for Chubs and T for Tubs) - I wonder who's who??

We're heading back to Sarasota tomorrow and will hopefully enjoy a couple of quiet days before the Tampa game.