Royalty w/o 12/12 in review

Ceremony for Scott Niedermayer #27

This week was rather slow compared to the week before but occasionally it's nice to have a few nights off so I can catch up on things and recharge the batteries.

With that being said, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday were my nights off after work.

Tuesday night I went to Madison Square Garden to see the Rangers play the Dallas Stars. It was a scoreless game until defenseman Trevor Daley broke through with 5:01 left in the third period to give the Stars' the 1-0 victory. Rookie goaltender Richard Bachman stopped 34 shots as he earned his first NHL shutout in his second career start.

Friday night I went out to the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ where the Devils were hosting the Dallas Stars who were in the midst of a massive coast to coast road trip.

More importantly, the Devils honored former defenseman Scott Niedermayer by raising his number 27 to the rafters. His number was the third to be retired by the Devils. The others were Scott Stevens number 4 and Ken Daneyko number 3. All three of them were part of their three Stanley Cup winning teams in 1995, 2000 and 2003.

In addition, Scott Niedermayer won a fourth Stanley Cup as a member of the Anaheim Ducks in 2007. He also won the Conn Smythe Trophy which is given to the playoff MVP.

Mike "Doc" Emrick, a hockey broadcasting legend was the Master of Ceremonies which made the night even more memorable. Doc is a true professional in every sense of the word.

As a hockey fan, I was thrilled to be part of this special occasion.

As for the game that followed, the Devils capped off the night with a 6-3 win to send the sellout crowd home very happy.

Saturday morning I woke up early so I could go to Avis to pick up a car for the weekend.

The King and I took a ride to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where my parents live. We went to Hershey which is nearby to see a minor league hockey game while we were there.

The Hershey Bears, the Washington Capitals affiliate were hosting the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the NY Islanders farm team on this night at the Giant Center. We were joined by our friend Michael Abrams who was spending the weekend in the area with his lady friend Angelina. It was nice to see them again. Michael happens to be a Bear fan for over 30 years even though ironically he's an Islander fan.

As for the game, the Bears didn't let Michael down as they cruised to a 5-0 decision. Long time minor league goaltender Dany Sabourin got credit for the shutout.

After the game, the King and I spent the night at my parents' condo. Late in the morning, we said goodbye to them and we headed to Philadelphia to see the Jets play the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.

Stay tuned for the special post regarding the pre game festivities as we caught up with some very special people while we were there.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman