Back in 2018 I had written about every MLB team I had seen in order. I will now do the same for the NHL teams.
T1. Dallas Stars
T1. Minnesota Wild
Game 1 (April 16, 2016)
My very first NHL game was a playoff game between the Dallas Stars and the team from Minnesota that was created to fill the void left by the Stars when the Minnesota North Stars departed for Texas. It wasn't the very first hockey game I had went to, since I had gone to a Kansas City Blades game around 1995 or 1996, but that was in the IHL, a minor league that doesn't even exist anymore. I wasn't sure what was going on at the Blades game, so it was over 20 years before I even thought about going to another hockey game. It just so happens that I have a good friend Stephen who is a die-hard Stars fan. He has season tickets and wouldn't stop talking about them. In the end I decided to see what the Dallas Stars were all about. It was the playoffs and his parents were taking his regular seats, but I was willing to spend money to join in on the fun. I didn't really know what was going on, but I had a good time and the Stars ended up winning to give them a 2-0 series lead. (They would end up winning the series 4-2 before falling in seven to the St. Louis Blues in the second round.) And the very first NHL goal I saw was a weird one.
3. Anaheim Ducks
Game 3 (October 13, 2018)
Obviously the game didn't leave too much of an impression on me because it would be almost two years before I'd go to another game, the final game of the 2017-18 season. Of course, that was also against the Wild so I wouldn't get to another game until October. Stephen was originally going to invite another friend to watch the Ducks, but the other friend backed out so he asked me instead. I was living in Temple at the time, but I figured why not. So I got on I-35 and drove two hours north (actually it was three hours to Denton where Stephen lived so we can carpool together to the game.) There we watched the Stars claw back from a 3-0 deficit with five unanswered goals to pull off a stunning 5-3 victory.
4. Nashville Predators
Game 4 (November 10, 2018)
For the next game I saw, I was up in Dallas doing some CME with a former colleague of mine when Stephen asked if I wanted to come watch the Stars play the Predators, who were the best team in the NHL at the time. Since I was already in the area I figured why not. It wasn't too far of a drive to the American Airlines Center. I saw the Stars take a 4-3 lead late into the third before Nashville tied it with the net empty. Then they went on to win in OT. It was just the first of many intense matchups I'll have seen between the Stars and the Predators.
5. Ottawa Senators
Game 5 (November 23, 2018)
It was Black Friday and I had nothing else to do, so when Stephen asked if I wanted to watch the Stars play the Senators, I accepted. The Stars ended up winning 6-4. Sure the Senators ended up being the worst team in the NHL that season, but as I would soon learn you savor those two points if you can get them.
6. Detroit Red Wings
Game 6 (December 29, 2018)
The Stars ended up being very middling in December 2018, especially that of their two highest paid players Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. That led to an explosive article published in the Athletic where Stars CEO Jim Lites called the team "fucking horse-shit." It sent waves throughout the NHL, so when Stephen asked if I wanted to go to the game a day after those comments were published, I quickly accepted. It helps that they were playing their longtime rivals the Red Wings, which is interesting because of my familial ties with Michigan (and also helped the Red Wings become the first team other than the Stars whose home arena I visited, although that doesn't happen until Game 42.)
7. Washington Capitals
Game 7 (January 4, 2019)
I had lived in Northern Virginia from 1999 to 2009 when I moved to Texas, and I was in the area when Alexander Ovechkin established himself as one of the premiere players in the NHL. Nevertheless, I never cared enough about hockey to go to a Capitals game at what was then known as the MCI Center then the Verizon Center. In the end I didn't see them play in person until they came to play the Stars in Dallas. The Stars held Ovi scoreless in a game they ultimately won in OT.
8. Tampa Bay Lightning
Game 8 (January 15, 2019)
By this time I was paying a little bit more attention to the NHL standings, so I knew that the Lightning were establishing themselves as one of the best teams in hockey. Previously I had gone to games only on weekends or during holiday breaks. However, I learned that Stars weeknight games started at 7:30. I usually got off work at 5:00 so that gave me more than enough time to drive the two hours to go to weeknight games. So when Stephen asked if I wanted to watch the Lightning, I accepted. Of course I drove up to see the Stars get shut out 2-0, then I had another two-hour drive back down to Temple.
Game 8 (January 15, 2019)
By this time I was paying a little bit more attention to the NHL standings, so I knew that the Lightning were establishing themselves as one of the best teams in hockey. Previously I had gone to games only on weekends or during holiday breaks. However, I learned that Stars weeknight games started at 7:30. I usually got off work at 5:00 so that gave me more than enough time to drive the two hours to go to weeknight games. So when Stephen asked if I wanted to watch the Lightning, I accepted. Of course I drove up to see the Stars get shut out 2-0, then I had another two-hour drive back down to Temple.
9. Winnipeg Jets
Game 9 (January 19, 2019)
Game 9 (January 19, 2019)
I was watching more hockey games, but I was still first and foremost a baseball fan. So when the Stars held a Texas Rangers Night I knew I had to go. The Rangers were holding their Winter Caravan at that time so I drove up to Lewisville to meet Delino DeShields and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, then made my way to American Airlines Center to take in the Stars' special warmup jerseys done in Rangers colors. I got there early enough that I was able to sit down next to the ice for the first time. Oh yeah, the Stars were playing the former Atlanta Thrashers, and they managed to pull off a 4-2 victory.
10. Arizona Coyotes
Game 11 (February 4, 2019)
Game 11 (February 4, 2019)
After watching the Stars pull off another victory against the Wild on Friday February 1, I took a half-day off work just so I can get to American Airlines Center early enough to claim an Alexander Radulov jersey that the Stars were giving away. It was also the first time I got to see the former Winnipeg Jets who were and still are having a difficult time making things work out in the desert.
11. St. Louis Blues
Game 13 (February 21, 2019)
By this time I was getting more and more invested in the Stars' success. After they suffered through a middling road trip, I decided to go all-in by watching three games in a week. The first game was a bit of a bust as the Stars lost to the Predators, but then the Stars hosted the St. Louis Blues. I knew the Blues were the team that knocked off the Stars in 2016, and they were riding high on an 11-game winning streak. So of course it felt great to watch the Stars end the streak with a 5-2 victory. Alas, the Blues would have the last laugh in the end.
By this time I was getting more and more invested in the Stars' success. After they suffered through a middling road trip, I decided to go all-in by watching three games in a week. The first game was a bit of a bust as the Stars lost to the Predators, but then the Stars hosted the St. Louis Blues. I knew the Blues were the team that knocked off the Stars in 2016, and they were riding high on an 11-game winning streak. So of course it felt great to watch the Stars end the streak with a 5-2 victory. Alas, the Blues would have the last laugh in the end.
12. Carolina Hurricanes
Game 14 (February 23, 2019)
Game 14 (February 23, 2019)
The final game in the stretch of three games in a week came against the Hurricanes. It was also the Stars Alumni Game so I got to meet Ed Belfour, the Hall of Fame goaltender that helped guide the Stars to their only Stanley Cup in 1999, back when I was still struggling emotionally with the move from Kansas to Virginia. It had been almost 20 years, so now the main struggle I had was watching the Stars get shut out 3-0.
13. New York Rangers
Game 15 (March 5, 2019)
Going to watch three games in a week was fun, but it got to be a bit expensive in both time and gas money, since every game required a two-hour one-way trip and a full tank of gas. I had also realized that I was on my way to watching all of the NHL teams. I didn't want it to take 102 games like with MLB teams, so I decided to prioritize games against teams I hadn't seen yet. Of course, the very next home game was the Rangers, the Original Six team that happens to share a name with the baseball team in Texas. The Stars escaped with a 1-0 victory.
14. Chicago Blackhawks
Game 16 (March 9, 2019)
I was at 13 teams watched, and I have some triskaidekaphobic tendencies. Thankfully, the Stars' next two games after the Rangers game were against teams I hadn't seen yet. I was unable to go to the game against the Colorado Avalanche on March 7, but I was able to see the Stars play the Blackhawks on March 9. Alas, they lost that one 2-1, while they had beaten the Avs two days earlier.
15. Vegas Golden Knights
Game 17 (March 15, 2019)
The Stars embarked on a short road trip where they went 2-0 before coming home to play the newest expansion team at the time: the Vegas Golden Knights. The Golden Knights had played their first regular season match against the Stars and claimed a 2-1 victory, which helped them reach levels never before seen by an expansion team (mainly reaching the Stanley Cup Finals). They weren't quite as dominant this time around, but they still left town with a 2-1 win.
16. Vancouver Canucks
Game 18 (March 17, 2019)
Game 18 (March 17, 2019)
Two days later the Stars were hosting the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks were the first team I remember liking, because when I played NHL '94 back when I was a lad that knew barely anything about hockey, I liked to play as the Canucks. Of course by the time I actually got to see the Canucks play I was firmly a Dallas Stars faithful. So of course the Canucks triumphed over the home team in the first shootout I ever saw.
17. Pittsburgh Penguins
Game 19 (March 23, 2019)
Few expansion teams have had as many peaks and valleys as the Pittsburgh Penguins. Their five Stanley Cup wins are tied with the Edmonton Oilers for most by an expansion team, yet they are also the only NHL team that has gone through two bankruptcies. By 2019 the Penguins were still one of the top teams in the NHL, and proved it with a 3-2 win over the Sharks.
18. Philadelphia Flyers
Game 20 (April 2, 2019)
The Flyers were the other team that I liked before I fell in love with the Dallas Stars, and it was also because of a video game. My sister had gotten Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey, and we loved playing as the Flyers and their Legion of Doom line (although my sister seemed to like starting fights as John LeClair more than actually trying to score.) And I finally had a chance to watch the Flyers play in person. Unfortunately not only was it against the Stars, my new favorite team, but Stars could clinch a playoff spot with a victory. So in the end I celebrated when the Stars score and despaired when the Flyers did. Thankfully I celebrated a lot more than I despaired as the Stars punched their playoff ticket with a 6-2 win.
19. Montreal Canadiens
Game 29 (November 2, 2019)
The 2018-19 playoffs worked out fairly well for the Stars, as they upset the Predators before falling once again to the eventual Stanley Cup winners the Blues. Then came a new season, and it definitely did not start out very well for the Stars. They fell to 1-7-1 after nine games and fell behind the Wild 3-0 on October 29. But they scored six unanswered goals to pull off a stunning victory, and Stars fans were still riding that high by the time I got to see another team for the first time. The Canadiens are the oldest team in the NHL and they actually predated the formation of the league by eight years and has won the most Stanley Cup by any organization. Of course the Stars didn't care about their history as they romped to a 4-1 win.
20. New York Islanders
Game 33 (December 7, 2019)
The Stars had climbed out of the pits and had a winning record by the time they hosted the Islanders in early December. Stephen had selected a perk where he go to go the media room to listen to a talk by a few Stars coaches including assistant coach John Stevens and video coach Kelly Forbes. It was an interesting talk, but it was more fun to watch the Stars beat the Islanders 3-1.
21. New Jersey Devils
Game 34 (December 10, 2019)
The Stars had done well to claw their way back into the playoff race after their 1-7-1 start, and a lot of that success was credited to their head coach Jim Montgomery, who also provided a steady hand in helping the Stars through the turbulent 2018-19 season to make it all the way to the second round of the playoffs. So the hockey world was understandably shocked to hear that Stars general manager Jim Nill was dismissing Montgomery on the morning of December 10 "due to unprofessional conduct." Evidently Montgomery was dealing with alcohol abuse issues that had led to an incident, the details of which still isn't known. Not only did the Stars have the Winter Classic coming up in less than a month, they had a game that night against the New Jersey Devils, the team that had beaten them in the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals. I was willing to go to the game to see what the overall atmosphere was like after the surprise firing. There was a strong sense of bewilderment, but the Stars managed to overcome it with their first shut out win of the season.
22. Edmonton Oilers
Game 35 (December 16, 2019)
With the exception of the second game against the Wild I had been to at the end of the 2017-18 season, every Stars game I had gone to had been with Stephen, the man who got me introduced to hockey. However, he said he didn't feel like going to the game against the Oilers on December 16. I was incredulous. Not only are the Oilers one of the teams I hadn't seen but they also had one of the best players in the NHL in Connor McDavid and also the best Leon in NHL history in Leon Draisaitl. So I bought the tickets from him, but they ended up losing 2-1. Oops.
23. Calgary Flames
Game 36 (December 22, 2019)
Six days later Stephen announced that he didn't feel like going to another game against a Canadian team. It was the Flames whom I had never seen before. So once again I bought his ticket to watch a team for the first time. This time the Stars were even worse, losing 5-1. That'll teach me to go to games without Stephen.
24. Toronto Maple Leafs
Game 39 (January 29, 2020)
The Maple Leafs occupy an interesting spot within the NHL. They are the second oldest team in the league and also has the second most Stanley Cup victories in history. Toronto is also the largest city in Canada, where the league has an office where they do all the video reviews. So one can say that the Maple Leafs are in the center of the NHL. And yet they also have the longest Stanley Cup drought, one that dates back to 1967. And they have some mortifyingly embarrassing moments such as blowing 3-1 leads left and right and losing to a 42-year-old zamboni driver who works for them (or at least their minor league affiliate). There's no such embarrassment when I watch them for the first time as they defeat the Stars 5-3.
25. Columbus Blue Jackets
Game 48 (March 6, 2021)
I watch a few more games against teams I had already seen before the NHL shuts down thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. They do resume play in a bubble in Edmonton where the Stars march all the way to the Stanley Cup finals before they fall to the Lightning. (Curses) Meanwhile, I finish up my residency and end up getting a job in the DFW area, moving to Fort Worth which is much closer to the American Airlines Center than Temple. Stephen also tells me that he is giving up one of his seats. Of course I dial up the Stars season ticket holder hotline and secure Stephen's old seat. In the end that didn't even matter as all the season ticket holders were scattered around randomly in the arena for the 2021 season that didn't start until January. The 31 NHL teams were also split up into new divisions, with the Stars landing in the Discover Central Division alongside five teams that I had previously seen before. One of these was the Columbus Blue Jackets, whom they managed to beat 5-0.
26. Florida Panthers
Game 50 (March 27, 2021)
The other new team in the Discover Central Division was the Florida Panthers. They had long been league laughingstocks, but the 2021 Panthers had become one of the strongest teams in the NHL, and they proved it with an OT win on a goal that was initially overturned thanks to an offsides review, but the Stars let them score it again.
27. San Jose Sharks
Game 58 (December 30, 2021)
The vast majority of the NHL games I have seen are in the American Airlines Center, which makes sense. Dallas is the closest city with an NHL team to me (especially now that I am living in Fort Worth), and I am now a Stars season ticket holder. Of the games I have seen away from the American Airlines Center, most of them involve teams I had already seen. For example, the Red Wings game I saw in Little Caesar's Arena had them play the Wild, the team I had seen more times than any other except for the Stars. And in April I had taken a trip to Florida where I watched the Lightning play the Panthers in Amalie Arena in Tampa. (The Panthers won, which felt pretty good.) And then there was the Winter Classic in the Cotton Bowl between the Stars and the Predators. The one exception to all this is the San Jose Sharks.
I suppose the Sharks constitute my earliest hockey memories. I was six years old and living in Pleasanton, California in the East Bay when the Sharks started play in 1991, and I kept hearing about the new team in town. Now I wasn't quite sure what sport they played. I just knew there was a team named the Sharks that was really popular. Anyways, over 25 years later I befriended a fellow My Little Pony fan named Nate, and he was a big Sharks fan. I soon followed the Sharks as well, although I never did get to see the Stars play the Sharks before things shut down.
The 2021 half-season ended up being a dud for both the Stars and the Sharks, and it was on to 2021-22. I looked at the schedule for the six remaining teams, and saw that the Sharks would be making only one trip to Dallas, and it would be near the end of the season. I didn't particularly feel like waiting that long to get the Sharks checked off my list. However, by the time the season started I was working more of a freelance job, and that gave me the flexibility to take trips around the country to attend sports matches. For example, I was able to travel to Arizona and southern California to finish visiting all of the American MLB ballparks. I had some more free time in December, and I saw that the Sharks had several home dates that month. One that caught my eye was a match against the Flyers on December 30. The Flyers were Nate's second favorite team, and so I figured why not ask him if he wanted to come along. After a few days of deliberation he decided to take the trip.
So on December 29 I flew from Dallas to San Francisco, then I rented a car and drove it to the suburbs of Sacramento where Nate lived. After spending a night in a hotel, Nate and I drove from the Sacramento suburbs to San Jose where we hung out at a brewery before making our way to the SAP Center. We made our way through the stringent security measures (mostly because we were required to show our COVID-19 vaccination cards), before settling in to watch the Sharks defeat the Flyers in OT. After that it was back to the Sacramento suburbs to drop Nate off at his house before driving back to the San Francisco airport. All in all it was a hectic but fun trip, and I managed to watch the Sharks almost 30 years after I first heard of them.
28. Seattle Kraken
Game 60 (January 12, 2022)
The NHL finally welcomed their 32nd franchise for the 2021-22 season, the Seattle Kraken. It marked the culmination of expansion that had started when the league doubled in size from six to 12 in 1967. The Kraken had two visits to the American Airlines Center in their inaugural season, with the first coming on January 12. I definitely wanted to go to that game, but my friend Adam was moving to Jackson, Mississippi, and he potentially needed some help with paperwork issues in Mississippi. I told him that I was willing to go to Mississippi if I was allowed to "kidnap" him and take him to watch the Stars play the Kraken. I even sweetened the pot by getting seats behind the Kraken bench. He agreed, and so I drove from Fort Worth to Jackson on January 11, when I found out Adam didn't need my help after all. I continued with my plan to kidnap him and we drove from Jackson to Dallas on January 12, when we watched the Stars win 5-2. Then we drove to Longview where I had gotten a hotel room and returned Adam to Mississippi the next day before making the drive back to Texas myself. It was worth it.
29. Boston Bruins
Game 62 (January 30, 2022)
Game 62 (January 30, 2022)
It was down to the last four teams, and they were all to visit the American Airlines Center within a five-week span. First up was the Boston Bruins, one of the most successful Original Six franchises. I didn't expect much from this game as I was watching it only to check the Bruins off the list, especially since the Stars got shut out by the Capitals 5-0 in their previous game two days before, and the Bruins were much better than the Caps who had been struggling. So of course the Stars romped to a 6-1 win. That's hockey for you.
30. Colorado Avalanche
Game 64 (February 13, 2022)
Next up was the former Quebec Nordiques, whose logo I always thought resembled an elephant more than an igloo. I had a friend that was a big fan of the Avalanche, especially as they captured the Stanley Cup in their first season in Colorado. I had plenty of chances to watch the Avalanche before this one, but I never did go. In the end I had to settle for a Sunday day game after working overnight the day before. The Avalanche had overcome a slow start to become the best team in hockey, and they proved it with a 4-0 shutout win.
31. Buffalo Sabres
Game 66 (February 27, 2022)
I was down to the last two teams, whom the Stars would be playing in back-to-back games. The first of these was the Buffalo Sabres, the team the Stars defeated for their first Stanley Cup thanks to a goal seeped in controversy. The Sabres had fallen on hard times as they hadn't made a playoff since 2011 and hadn't even posted a .500 point percentage since 2013. This year doesn't look to be any different for the beleaguered franchise, and the Stars solved them for a 4-2 victory.
32. Los Angeles Kings
Game 67 (March 2, 2022)
And then there was one. The Kings had visited American Airlines Center earlier in the season, but that game had fallen on a Friday night. Friday nights are Jackbox Game Night at BlepCon, and not even the Stars was going to tear me away. So I had this game circled on my calendar for a while. By now the Kings were well within the playoff hunt after several down years following a first-round loss to the Sharks in 2018. The Kings scored first, then carried a 3-1 lead with 14 minutes left in the second. However, the Stars young star Jason Robertson scored a Huge goal less than a minute after the Kings' third goal. Then the Stars scored twice in the last minute of play to post a 4-3 lead they kept until the end of the game. What a way to finish watching every NHL team at least once.
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Well, here we are. A story for the first time I saw all 32 teams in the NHL. I suppose this would lead into the next challenge which is going to all of the NHL arenas. (I'm only at 4/32). However, I have yet to go to all the MLB ballparks, so let's just take it slow for now.
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