Royalty w/o 3/14 in review‏

After work Monday night I went to Newark, NJ to see the Eastern Conference Champion Boston Celtics visit the Prudential Center to play the Nets.

There were plenty of New Englanders in the sold out building to see their Celtics play on the road.

The last time the King and I saw the Nets play the Celtics was in Boston on February 27, 2010. We managed to see the Nets get a rare win too.

Ironically on this night the Nets did it again. This time they hung tough most of the game and they pulled away late to escape with a 88-79 victory.

Those who came in special for the game had a very long ride home.

Tuesday night after work I went back to the "Rock". This time to see the red hot Devils host the Atlanta Thrashers as the playoff push continued.

This game was similar to the one we saw in Edmonton last month with the Thrashers. They took a 2-0 lead and they went on to blow it as the Devils scored four unanswered goals including an empty net one with hardly any time remaining. Just before that the Thrashers almost tied the game but after looking at the replay it was confirmed the puck was knocked in with a high stick.

Wednesday night I went home after work to catch up on rest since they were no games in the area to attend.

Thursday night I went to Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks entertain the Memphis Grizzlies.

More importantly, I was able to visit my buddy Eric Hasseltine, the radio announcer for the Grizzlies. Stay tuned because I'm going to do a special post about him.

As for the game, since it was St. Patrick's Day the crowd was rather rowdy. I had a few idiots who stood up most of the night for no good reason.

Luckily the game was one sided so I was able to tolerate the distraction for the most part.

The Knicks easily cruised to the 120-99 win. The Grizzlies came in clinging to the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

They played without their best player, Rudy Gay.

Friday night I went back to Newark to see the Devils play. It was cool because they wore their old retro jerseys from their inception in NJ back in 1982.

Unfortunately for the Devils they played like the teams that wore those sweaters on a regular basis.

The Devils wound up getting shut out by the surging Washington Capitals 3-0 despite having a sellout crowd.

We did get treated because for this special occasion they brought back their original public address announcer, Bob Arsena.

It was great to hear his voice again behind the mic. He was the voice of the Devils from 1982-2005.

Stay tuned as I'll go into detail regarding our getaway to Norfolk, Virginia and Washington D.C. over the weekend.

I'll be doing some special posts so please bear with me.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty continues North through Western Canada for a hockey doubleheader!‏




The King during warmups



The Prince in Oil Country

















After the minor league game we saw in Calgary Friday night we drove to Red Deer to spent the next two nights during the "Faceoff in the Foothills" weekend as it was branded.

We woke up in the morning and we had breakfast at the hotel. They had quite a spread which included eggs, ham, waffles, cereal, fruit and yogurt. We loaded up for the big day ahead.

While we were enjoying our meal we got to see some families with their young kids who were getting ready to go play hockey.

Unlike here in the States, kids learn how to skate and play hockey once they learn how to walk.

We've been to Canada many times over the years and we always love the experience. It's a different culture there.

When you go to a hockey game in Canada you can really appreciate the game and the passion that these people have for it.

This trip was filled with plenty of hockey including a double dosage once we left the hotel.

We drove up to Edmonton aka the City of Champions as the welcome sign said to see the Atlanta Thrashers invade Rexall Place as it's called these days as they were visiting the Oilers in Oil Country.

Back in the day during the 1980's, the Oilers had their dynasty run with a guy named Wayne Gretzky aka "The Great One" leading the way. It was fascinating to see all those championship banners hanging across over one end of the ice.

These days they're a far cry from that as they currently have the worst record in the league.

Although things may be turning around in Edmonton soon since they had the first pick in the 2010 NHL Draft in June and they selected a kid named Taylor Hall who was only 18 at the time. He turned 19 in November.

During the game we saw, Taylor waited for the third period to start to show us what he can do. With the Oilers trailing 3-1 early in the third period, he scored three straight goals which gave him 20 in his rookie season.

As a result, he got his first career hat trick and since he scored three in the same period it was a natural hat trick. It reminded me of "The Great One".

The last goal he scored he was determined to finish in front of the net and he did. The crowd erupted as the Oilers took their first lead of the day. What a great feeling it was to see this young star on the rise.

The Oilers added another goal with just 12 seconds remaining as they went on to win the match, 5-3!

It was really nice to return to that old barn to see another hockey game.

The arena is located out in the northeast suburbs passed downtown which we drove through to get there.

There's been talk of them wanting to build a new arena. If indeed that eventually happens, I look forward to returning to see it someday.

After the game we went back to Red Deer to see our first ever Western Hockey League (WHL). The WHL is a Junior League.

We saw the Red Deer Rebels host the Kamloops Blazers at the Enmax Centrium which was a pretty nice size arena considering it was juniors that were playing.

It made for a nice hockey night in Canada as we completed our full day of watching hockey.

As for the game we saw, the Rebels led most of the night but the Blazers scored just past the midway mark of the third period which tied the game at 3 and forced the extra session.

The Rebels wound up winning the game 4-3 in overtime.

I fulfilled the King's need to go to another Casino in downtown Red Deer before we called it a night.

Sunday we got up and headed back to Calgary for the main event, the Heritage Classic.

Stay tuned as I go into further detail regarding that special occasion.

Thank you for reading and following along as I recap our adventurous getaway.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty is heading to Western Canada for the Heritage Classic!

It's going to February tomorrow, Royalty will be spending some time North of the Border over President's weekend in Western Canada.

The game plan is as follows:

The King and I are going to fly to Calgary, Alberta, Canada for the first time since March 1998. The primary purpose is to see the 2011 Heritage Classic at McMahon Stadium. It's another outdoor hockey game as the Calgary Flames host the Montreal Canadiens. In addition, we also have a few other games planned while we're there.

Friday, February 18th we have a flight booked on Delta Airlines that departs NY LaGuardia Airport at 7:57AM Eastern Time and it's scheduled to land in Calgary at 1:33PM Mountain Time after we make a stop in Minneapolis first.

Upon arrival, I'll be renting a car and we're going to see a minor league hockey game as the Abbotsford Heat of the AHL play the Oklahoma City Barons at the Saddledome home of  the Flames at 7PM local time.

Saturday, February 19th the Atlanta Thrashers visit the Edmonton Oilers at 1:30PM.. Afterwards, we'll be driving to Red Deer to see a Junior hockey game at 7PM. Red Deer is located right between Edmonton and Calgary which makes for a convenient doubleheader.

Sunday, February 20th, we'll be at the main event, the Heritage Classic at 4PM.

We'll be flying back home on Monday, February 21st. Our flight on Delta Airlines departs Calgary at 8AM Mountain Time and lands at LaGuardia at 4:43PM Eastern Time. Once again we get to lay over in Minneapolis.

Please feel free to check back for all the details of how this adventure turned out.

If you want to join us, please let me know so I can arrange to make it happen.

Thank you for reading.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman