Royalty w/o 10/31 in review

View from Center Ice

After experiencing a winter preview over the weekend, Halloween officially arrived that Monday.
I went to work on Halloween tired and all. After work, I found a way to get up the energy to go to Madison Square Garden to see the Rangers play the San Jose Sharks. It was my first game there since they started the Transformation of the Garden.

Stay tuned for the special post I'll be doing to give you an idea of what to expect if and when you have a chance to go to the World's Most Famous Arena.

As for the game I saw on Halloween night, the hometown Rangers gave their fans a treat as they beat up the Sharks, 5-2 after the game started with a fight just seven seconds into the contest as the Sharks' Ryane Clowe and the Rangers' Brandon Prust dropped the gloves.

After the fight, the Rangers raced out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. The Sharks got on the board late in the period to cut the lead in half 2-1 after the first period. The Sharks got the equalizer almost midway through the second period. After that, the Rangers scored three unanswered goals including two from newly named team captain Ryan Callahan as the Rangers cruised to the victory.

It was nice to see many of the regulars that were in attendance. Over the years, I've seen my share of Ranger games at the Garden so familiar faces aren't hard to find. I recognize many different people even if I've never spoken to some of them. It's nice to see many of them are back for another season.

Tuesday night I went home after work to catch up on much needed rest.

Wednesday night after work, I went to Newark, NJ to see the Devils play the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Prudential Center. Ironically four years ago to the day on November 2, 2007, I saw my first Devil game at the "Rock" against the Maple Leafs no less.

The only difference between the games was the outcome. The Devils won, 3-2 back in 2007 but this time the Maple Leafs emerged victorious as Joffrey Lupul scored a hat trick that included goals to break a 2-2 and 3-3 tie as the Leafs turned back the Devils, 5-3.

Thursday night after work I went back to the Garden to see the Anaheim Ducks who were in town to play the Rangers on this night.

This time the Rangers lead 1-0 until late in the second period when the Ducks tied it up at one. The score remained that way through the third period and the overtime session.

This game was decided by a shootout and the Rangers managed to win the skills competition if you will. As a result, they won the game, 2-1 in a shootout.

Friday night I went home after work to rest up since there were no games in the local area. I got to rest up for another busy weekend that was ahead of me.

For all the details, please stay tuned for the special post that I'm going to write recapping my latest adventure. It may take some time but it will definitely be worth the wait. Please bear with me.

As always, I want to thank all my readers and followers for taking your precious time to read about me and my whereabouts.

Needless to say, if and when you need my assistance and/or advice please feel free to consult me. If you don't, I'll feel insulted.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty catches up with Memphis Grizzlies radio announcer, Eric Hasseltine at MSG!



Eric Hasseltine and I

On December 4, 2006 when the Memphis Grizzlies came to Madison Square Garden I got to meet and greet their radio announcer, Eric Hasseltine.

Eric is a great guy who I always say hello to when I see the Grizzlies play.

Over the years, I've seen him in a number of times at the IZOD Center when the Nets played there and at the Garden when the Grizzlies come to town.

He has been working for the Grizzlies since they moved from Vancouver to Memphis back in 2001. This is his 10th season with the team behind the mic. It's his 6th season doing their play by play on the radio.

Prior to that he served as their radio host on the pre game, halftime and post game shows.

He's originally from the Bay Area. In addition, he went to college at UC-Davis which is near Sacramento.

That's the same school former Jet quarterback Ken O'Brien went to.

Ironically when I met Eric I told him about my trip that was coming up in January 2007. That one I referred to as the "Bay Area Blast".

The King and I flew out to the Bay area and we saw a bunch of games over Martin Luther King weekend. We went to Cal-Berkeley for a college basketball game upon arrival that Saturday afternoon at the Haas Pavilion followed by the Sacramento Kings that night.

After the game we drove to Reno, Nevada to sleep and we hung out at a casino before returning to Stockton to see a minor league hockey game.

On Martin Luther King Day, we went to Oakland to see the Warriors play in the afternoon and then we went to San Jose that night to see the Sharks.

After the double dip, we caught the red eye flight home.

What a blast that was.

As for the Grizzlies, they've had their share of ups and downs since they moved to Memphis back in 2001.
This season they're playing better than in the past. They came to the Garden on St. Patrick's Day night with a 37-31 record. I told Eric they should make the playoffs. He had his doubts that they would. We'll have to wait and see.

When I asked him his thoughts about the Carmelo Anthony trade he said it was a good trade for both teams.
Time will tell who ultimately got the better of the deal.

While I got to see Eric, I had the privilege of seeing his partner on this night too. I'm referring to former NBA player and part owner of the Grizzlies, Elliot Perry aka "Socks" as Eric calls him. He works some of the games. Fortunately for me, this was one of them.

Eliot was an excellent shooter when he played back in the day. He was known for his knee high socks hence the nickname.

I got to speak to him too. He seemed like a real class act and gentleman. He's the one who took our picture.

I hope someday the Grizzlies can find a way to improve dramatically and win a championship so Eric can have the privilege and honor of calling it.

Keep up the great work, Eric. I'll see you again somewhere when I see the Grizzlies play again.

Hopefully the next time we'll be in Memphis in November barring a lockout and assuming the schedule works out right.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman