Back in April 2001, Michael and I thought it might be fun to do see the Detroit Red Wings vs Los Angeles Kings playoff game.  I'm originally from Detroit, nicknamed Hockey Town, but had never been to a hockey game.  It seemed that everyone had already decided that no one could beat Detroit that year and they would win the Stanley Cup.  They were #1 and the Kings were #8, it was the first round of the playoffs.  So I thought I'd go support Detroit.

It was game 4, the Wings lead the series 2 - 1.  Detroit took a 3 - 0 lead.  Then in the last 6:07 of the 3rd period, the Kings scored 3 times to tie the game and send it into overtime.  The crowd went wild!  The excitement was contagious.  Then the Kings won in OT & the crowd went insane!

The Kings went on to win game 5 in Detroit to take the lead in the series.  They now lead the best of 7 series 3 - 2.  Game 6 was at Staples Center.  We decided to go.  Again, the Kings came from behind and won the game in OT.  The excitement & energy wasn't only contagious, it was addicting. We were hooked.  And we were Kings fans.

In November of 2002 we went to a game in Calgary while we happened to be there.  They were playing our hated rivals the Colorado Avalance.  The crowd energy there was amazing.  You only get that much energy in L.A. when it's a playoff game.  So ever since we've wanted to see more hockey in Canada.  Every year it seemed the Kings schedule had one long road trip thru the east with many games in Canada and we always wanted to follow the team on that road tirp.  This summer, we decided the time was right, and this hockey season, we would take our road trip.

We anxiously waited for the day the 2009/2010 schedule was released.  The day it was published, I checked it.  I double checked it.  I had Michael check it.  There was no such road trip this year.  Maybe because all the teams had to work their schedule around the Winter Olympics.  Who knows?  Whatever the reason, we were disappointed.

Then we had an idea.  Let's create our own road trip!  I checked the schedule for the entire NHL and looked for lots of Candien home games back east close together.  I also was checking Pittsburgh's schedule because we also wanted to go there, them being the reigning Stanley Cup Champions and this being the final season in Mellon Arena.  I noticed the Pittsburgh Penguins have back-to-back home games on a Friday and Saturday.  So I began looking at the NHL schedule just before and after these 2 games.

I noticed the Kings will be visiting Detroit about 10 days before this.  Ah, back to where it all began: Wings vs. Kings.  I thought, maybe we can start there; go root for our Kings in Detroit.  I studied the schedule for all the games within driving distance of Detroit & Pittsburgh.  So many teams, so close together!  I came up with options and we discussed them.

We debated following the Kings to Columbus, but decided instead to go to Montreal.  Afterall, we wanted to go to Canada.  And seeing the "cross town" rivalry of Ottawa vs Montreal was something we couldn't pass up.

After debating for a couple of days, we came up with our schedule:
Los Angeles Kings vs. Detroit Red Wings
New York Islanders vs. Buffalo Sabres
Ottawa Senators vs. Montreal Canadiens
San Jose Sharks vs. New York Rangers
Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Islanders
Boston Bruins vs. Philladelphia Flyers
Florida Panthers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
New Jersey Devils vs. Pittsburgh Penguins


Then it was time to shop for tickets.  I love comparison shopping, which is part of the reason I work at Shopzilla.  So I began having fun.  I started at Stubhub.  Then thanks to a survey they asked me to take, I learned of many other sites that list tickets for sale.  I happily started making spreadsheets of what tickets were available from where, for what price and what the fees were.  I tried to wait for individual game tickets to go on sale, but most of the home teams we're going to see don't have many good seats not taken by season ticket holders.  Montreal actually had a lottery for a chance to purchase the few available seats.

So as I found good seats for decent prices, purchases were made.  I also started making the travel arrangements.  And now, after more than a month of planning, shopping and anticipation, its time to go!