Calgary

Saturday December 3rd, 2022.

	1st	2nd	3rd	Final
WSH	1	0	1	2
CGY	1	1	3	5

After a hiatus of four long years, due mostly to the pandemic and the travel lock down imposed by both the US and Canada, the fifth (not so annual) Canada Hockey Trip sent us far out west to Alberta where I was able to knock two Canadian cities off the list by attending two games, one in Calgary and one in Edmonton.

 This was a challenging trip logistically, as it involved multiple plane hops, a rental car, and two hotels.

In addition, just as it was when I visited “the Peg” in 2018, the temperature was below zero most of the time we were there.

It’s shocking how cold minus temperatures can feel when you are spoiled by living with the moderate winters of Virginia.

On past trips my companions were the ever-annoying Penguins fans (my little sister and her husband), but not this trip. This trip I was accompanied by my lovely wife, who although she has French Canadian blood in her, absolutely hates the cold, and really is not all that fond of hockey.

But she was willing to brave the frigid temperatures and endure two full hockey games, and in the end, I think she had fun. We stayed at the Hotel le Germain in Calgary, a mere 20-minute, frozen walk, to the Scotiabank Saddledome. The hotel was also conveniently located across the street from the Calgary Tower where we enjoyed a wonderful scenic lunch. The restaurant slowly rotates providing you with a 360-degree panoramic view of Calgary and the Canadian Rockies.

 The Scotiabank Saddledome is a bit dated, and even the locals admit that Edmonton has the newer and nicer arena, but it was still a fun place to watch a hockey game.

As has been the tradition, I wore the Calgary colors even though my team, the Washington Capitals, were the night’s opponents. My wife on the other hand, sported a Caps knit pom pom hat.

On the way to the arena, we got a bit lost, we had no phone service (long story), but we came across a couple of very nice Calgary fans on their way to the arena who were nice enough to allow us to tag along. The one guy was chatty, but his friend kept giving my wife the side-eye because of her Caps hat, but even he warmed up to us after a bit, so thank you to those two guys for helping us get to the game.

Sadly, the Caps looked a bit tired that night and really never got things going. Even my wife who knows very little about hockey could tell that Calgary was out playing the Caps and that they deserved the victory.

Oh well, on to Edmonton…