After a wild weekend, another crazy week followed. Here's how it went:
Monday night after going to work tired I still saved up enough energy to go to Newark, NJ to see the Devils play the Capitals at the Prudential Center. The Capitals failed to show up literally. The Devils scored early and often as they shut down Alex Ovechkin and the Caps, 5-0! Johan Hedberg playing for the injured Martin Brodeur recorded the shutout.
Tuesday night after work I went to Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks host the Charlotte Bobcats. The Knicks played well on their West Coast road trip. On this night they were trying to continue their winning ways. It appeared for most of the game that the Knicks were in control until late in the game when the Bobcats tried their best to overtake the Knicks but their attempt came up short as the Knicks hung on for a 110-107 victory.
Toney Douglas lead the Knicks with 22 points but it was a balanced attack as six players finished with double figure point totals.
D.J. Augustin had 24 points and Gerald Wallace added 20 in the losing effort for the Bobcats.
Wednesday night after getting out of work early at 3PM I went to see the Devils entertain the Calgary Flames.
The Devils outlasted the Flames as they beat them in a shootout, 2-1!
Ilya Kovalchuk of the Devils scored the only goal in the shootout which gave the Devils the extra point in the standings in this one.
Thursday after spending the day with the family for Thanksgiving, I went to see the Jets play the Bengals in prime time at the New Meadowlands Stadium.
The Jets came out slow in this one. They struggled in the first half. After returning from the locker room to start the second half, they played like a team that was ready to take over. On their first drive, Brad Smith ran a reverse for a 53 yard touchdown to set the tone for the rest of the game.
Later in the third quarter he ran a kick back for 89 yards for a touchdown which helped seal the deal as the Jets wound up winning 26-10!
Friday morning I rented a car from Avis for a few days so I could drive to Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
I proceeded to pick the King up from work at the Post Office at Grand Central Station. After that, I drove by Madison Square Garden where I picked up our friend Lloyd Ramsland who joined us for this excursion.
We continued through the Lincoln Tunnel as we made our way to Philadelphia to see the Flyers play the Calgary Flames in a Black Friday traditional matinee game at 1PM at the Wells Fargo Center as it's now called.
The Flames beat the Flyers, 3-2 in a shootout.
After the game, we went to Reading, PA to see a minor league hockey game between the Reading Royals and the Cincinnati Cyclones.
The hometown Royals were trailing 3-1 after two periods but they managed to tie the game at three and they forced overtime. They wound up winning the game 4-3 with a goal in the extra session.
After the game I drove to Somerset, PA so we could get some sleep before we continued on to Pittsburgh.
We arrived at the Consol Energy Center, the new home of the Pittsburgh Penguins around Noon for a 1PM start.
We were all there for the first time as we needed to catch up to say we've been to every current NHL rink once again.
In addition, we got to visit our friends Mike & Alicia Irr who live in Pittsburgh. They have half season tickets for the Penguins. They helped us with advice in order for us to get our tickets so we could see their new hockey home. It's located right next to their old one, the Igloo as it was known in downtown Pittsburgh.
As for the game we saw, the Penguins beat the Flames, 4-1! Sidney Crosby lead the Pens as he scored a hat trick. It was the first one in the new building. Early in the game, he was awarded a penalty shot but he failed to score. He did have an even strength goal, a power play goal and a shorthanded empty net goal to finish his hat trick though. Needless to say, he was the star of the game.
After the game, we drove 60 miles to Wheeling, West Virginia to see another minor league hockey game between the Wheeling Nailers and the Kalamazoo K-Wings.
More importantly, our friend Lloyd had never seen a game there so we made sure we got him there.
The King and I were there one time back in January 1998 after a Penguin game at the Igloo.
The Nailers wound up winning the game, 3-1!
After the game, I drove us all home overnight. I dropped off Lloyd at his house in Oradell, NJ at 5:10AM after driving 422 miles.
Lloyd said and I quote "you did a terrific job driving".
I proceeded to take the King home then I finally went home. I arrived at my house at 6:15AM.
I laid down for a few hours then I went to Avis and I returned the car I rented. I drove 977 miles in 2 days.
I went back to my car which was parked across the street from the car rental and I drove to the subway. I then took the train to the Port Authority Bus Terminal where I caught the bus to go the New Meadowlands Stadium to see the Giants play the Jacksonville Jaguars at 1PM.
The Giants like the Jets started slow. They trailed 17-6 at halftime. After getting a wake up call and a pep talk in the locker room, the Giants went to work for real.
It culminated when Eli Manning threw a 32 yard touchdown pass to Kevin Boss with 3:15 left in the game to give the Giants a 24-20 victory.
After the game, despite being exhausted the King and I took the NJ Transit train to Secaucus where we connected for the train to Newark so we could see the Nets play the Portland Trailblazers at 7PM at the Prudential Center.
The Nets beat a struggling Trailblazer team 98-96! This was a closely contested game throughout.
Devin Harris lead the Nets with 25 points.
Wesley Matthews paced the Trailblazers with 25, Brandon Roy had 21 while LaMarcus Aldridge added 20 in the loss.
That sums up another crazy and tiresome week in the life of Royalty.
Thank you for reading and following along my adventurous path.
If you want to experience a sample for yourself all you have to do is let me know.
Yours truly,
Gary Herman
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