Detroit Winter Festival....isn't long enough!

There is no bigger salute to hockey than the Winter Classic, the NHL's signature regular season event. This season, the Red Wings take on the Toronto Maple Leafs at Michigan Stadium on January 1st in the sixth installment of the New Years Day event. This winter classic hopes to shatter attendance records with an expected crowd of over 105,000 fans at Michigan Stadium on New Years Day. The celebration begins two weeks prior with the 2013 Sirius XM Hockeytown Winter Festival-a merriment for hockey fans featuring events such as youth hockey games, open skates and corporate events. As the new year draws closer, the 12/27 Great Lakes Invitational and the Ontario Hockey League Doubleheader at Comerica Park kick the Winter Festival into high gear. These events exemplify the passion and excitement of a city for the sport of hockey. The most anticipated event leading up to the New Years day clash is the Alumni Showdown between the Leafs and Red Wings, which takes place on December 31st at Comerica Park. The event plans to celebrate the players storied histories with the franchises, including videos and special introductions for the participants. Check out http://redwings.nhl.com/ for a full list of coaches and players. Among those participating for the Red Wings include Chris Chelios, Sergei Fedorov and Joe Kocur.

But why wait until December 27th to start the Winter Festival Celebration? On 12/23/13, Road Ice Travels invites you to come and celebrate our Legends Night Event featuring a Meet and greet with 3 time Stanley Cup Champion Joey Kocur at Hockeytown Café from 5-6pm. Kick off the holiday season, and the road to the 2014 Winter Classic with our meet and greet package in our private room at the Hockeytown cafe! Included in our package are:
•2 drink vouchers (beer, wine, well/soft drinks).
•1 ticket to Red Wings vs. Islanders with voucher for pizza and a soda. Seats are in section 203B & 203C.
Game time is 7:30pm ET

This package is only $99, inclusive of all taxes and fees, and is the perfect gift idea for the Red Wings fans on your holiday gift list!

For those of you who are Red Wings season ticket holders or if you already have tickets to this game and just want to attend the meet and greet to mingle with fellow fans and meet and interact with Joe Kocur, this option is available for only $49.00 inclusive of all taxes and fees.

Book now at www.roadicetravels.com. We look forward to seeing you in Detroit on 12/23/13!

Sabres/Islanders quick preview...and some shameless promotion

7 losses.  4 at home.  5 by one goal.  It's been a long two weeks for the Sabres.  Winless in their first seven contests, the Buffalo Sabres (0-6-1) have matched their worst start ever in franchise history-matching only the 1990-1991 and 1999-2000 campaigns.  The good news is that the Sabres made the playoffs in both those seasons.  The bad news is everything else.  They come to the Coliseum tonight to face off against the Islanders, one night removed from a 2-1 defeat to Minnesota.  Tonight also marks the third game in four days for the Sabres.  Will they finally turn their winless fortunes around?

The Islanders return home for four games, attempting to re-establish some early season momentum.  After starting the season with five points in their first three games, the Isles dropped two one-goal contests over the weekend.  With news of Michael Grabner replacing Matt Moulson at left wing on the Tavares line, it appears Jack Capuano is shaking things up early-Moulson will now line up with Peter Regin and Cal Clutterbuck.  What do you think of this early season shuffling?  How long do you think these changes are in effect?  Time will only tell-so head out to the Coliseum tonight to support your team after a few tough losses!  For those fans that don't forget, the last time the Islanders were in the playoffs prior to 2012-13, they lost to Buffalo in the playoffs six years prior.  Does this game have a "revenge" feel to it?  Surely a stretch, but anything to add some juice to a matchup with a zero win team!  

Shameless self-promotion

If you can't make it to the Coliseum tonight, come out to Boss Crokers (1871 Wantagh ave., Wantagh NY) for Road Ice Travels 1st viewing party of the season featuring the Isles vs the Sabres!  We have some nice food/drink specials, and ticket giveaways of lower level seats to future Islanders games! So come down and meet some fellow Isles fans and maybe even win some tickets!  The game starts at 7pm and we will be raffling tickets off during both intermissions.  Hope to see everyone there!  

A Fleury of Questions?

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.

Are Penguins fans concerned about their goaltending situation? Coming into the season, many questions surrounded the solidity of Marc-Andre Fleury. It feels like ages ago that Fleury secured the 2009 Stanley Cup for the Penguins by denying Nicklas Lindstrom in the final moments of Game 7 versus the Red Wings. In the lockout shortened season of 2012-2013, the decade-old Penguin finished with a 23-8 record, leading the Penguins to the top seed in the Eastern Conference. But regular season success has seldom eluded Fleury.  Much like the three previous seasons, the Penguins underachieved in the postseason, falling hard in four straight games to Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference Finals. As if that wasn't tough enough, Fleury was pulled in the first round of the playoffs last season against the Islanders, giving way to Tomas Vokoun. Vokoun impressed, allowing just 2.01 goals per game with a .933 save percentage.
 
With two years left on his 7 year, $35 million dollar contract, and seven playoff wins in the last three seasons, fans have wondered aloud whether Fleury's best days are behind him. Compounding the Penguins perceived goaltending issues is the fact that Tomas Vokoun is sidelined for 3-6 months with a blood clot in his thigh. And if anyone saw Jeff Zatkoff, the 26 year old rookie who started in goal for the first time last night against the Florida Panthers, there remains some reasons for concern. Does Zatkoff deserve all the blame for last nights defeat?  Absolutely not. Yet with at least a quarter of starts for the next 3-6 months, I would say an improvement in play is something all Pens fans are hoping for. 

Still, with these "perceived" issues, the Penguins have gotten off to a strong start. Through 4 games (3 starts), Fleury has looked like his regular season self, allowing only 3 goals on 82 shots. Most importantly, he has three wins.  Don't get me wrong, the Penguins should finish on or near the top of the new Metropolitan division. They are the preseason favorites in the regular season for a reason.  Yet, with no Vokoun, there may be some slight reason to worry...just slight.  And then once April comes along, its back to the same questions of the past three years.

(photo above):"29-Marc-Andre Fleury-1," © 2010 Dan4th Nicholas, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license