After a great few days in South Beach I headed to Fort Lauderdale where the weather was equally great. After checking in I wandered along the coast and then headed into the centre for Game 1 Vs the Florida Panthers.
It was pretty odd going in Hockey Jersey in 30 degree heat but in and around the stadium was great compared to the norm of freezing to death waiting for doors to open. This was the cheapest ticket of the lot and yet I was still only a few rows back from the ice.
We made seriously hard work of a quite poor team and at 4-4 it went to Overtime and deadlock during that meant it was decided by a shootout. I could have done without the late finish with my early flight to Tampa but we won the shootout so took the full two points! It was a great game, lots of goals, great arena, great weather and the lovely two points at the end.
The early morning start was not that nice but it was onto Tampa for Game 2 Vs Tampa Bay Lightning. I was staying at ‘The Barrymore Hotel’ needless to say I didn’t use the pool!
The hotel was great and the weather was yet again amazing in Tampa. I spent most of the day wandering on the riverwalk in the blazing sun. I decided to then go for a boat cruise which was cool as got to see some of the millionaires houses on the waterfront.
After a few sneaky ciders by the water, I then headed to the arena. I was meeting a few Isles fans there as this ticket was bought through one of the supporters club and about 15 people had bought through them. The rules of the places selling alcohol outside Tampa’s arena are if you look under 40 you get ID’d and they only accept US or Canadian ID’s… so basically unless you’re old and foreign you cannot drink.
The game was disappointing and we got a bit of a pasting and lost 6-2 but was a great arena. Was nice to be able to walk home still warm at 10pm too! My flight to Pittsburgh tomorrow is the end of the sunny weather no doubt but thankfully I’ve done an afternoon flight so no early morning nonsense this time!
That’s 2 points out of 4 so far… onto the back to back Stanley Cup Champions the Pittsburgh Penguins!
