My trips this year and recommendations for others based on comments above...
I think for my road games this regular season I will be hitting the EC.
Looks like NYR with bucky and a few friends possibly as I've always wanted to do the Garden and see the NYR on the road ambience of it all. And while as much as I've traveled on business in the past I've never done nor have a huge desire to go to NYC, I'd like to get all the O6 barns in over the next few years.
I'll also be doing the florider pair in Miami and TB and I'll bring the wife along and we'll spend like 5 days down there so that way I can con her into thinking it's a good time for a vacation that just coincidentally has the Hawks in 2 spots close by!
As for places others have suggested (as it would take too long to go through every barn I've done)...
Yes the Joe is a SHIT HOLE, I've seen about 10 games there before (about half Hawks games) have had some good and some not so good experiences. That being said I 2nd the comment of it being a dump, but for a rivalry game I recommend every Hawks fan do this on the road if they can.
The Kiel/Savvis/Scottstrade center arena barn thing... Again (and most of you have been) I recommend this local as it's another place that's a 5 hr drive or nice train ride (or very short flight) just like Det. It's also a principle rival and while for the age isn't horrible, it's not as good as some people rate the arena. That being said, heck of a fun place to watch a Hawk game and recommend it to those who have not been there as it’s one of the cheapest as well for a Chicagoan to get to.
My top choice (had I not been there for a Hawk Laff game) would be this destination... A I got tickets for the Wendell Clark retirement HNIC game (IE Bolly OT Goal game) and while the secondary market tickets weren't cheap, for a game where they were retiring the number of one of the fans favorite players, they really weren't that bad (I got more for the Atlanta game at the UC last year than I had to pay for similar seats for the TOR game in question). The flight wasn't bad and the hotel we were in 4 blocks from ACC wasn't bad either (also it's an 8 hour drive at most). Great city if you love hockey as it has the HHOF obviously and some AMAIZING sports bars for hockey lovers. Worth spending 4 or 5 days in this town and really enjoying all that it was. Was I not right away when the schedule came out planning to do the florider trip which I believe is the following few days after this game, I'd do this trip again. While I thought the ACC was VERY OVERRATED for a "newer" stadium, they do have lots of food choices and Laff fans always think their team is going to lose (guy next to me told me to stop getting mad when the Hawks were down 3-0 in that game) because he knew the laffs would choke. I thought it was a very neutral bland ambience unlike DET/STL where you can be taken for a ride as a Hawks fan, but the history of it all definitely makes up for it. I'll leave it at this... Make this game at least once in your life if you can, I loved the city and the game, and trust me when I say this, for the last 45 years Laffs fans know exactly what the Hawks fans had been going through before the last few years!
Nashville...
I have a buddy who is a huge fan (and a big blogger/podcaster) they actually let he and his buddy post advertising for the site in the arena and stuff which is pretty cool of them (section303.com for those who are interested, they actually get real guests on their podcast and what not). Anyways I finally made it down there for game 4 last year with bucky and let me tell you, what a fun fucking city and like 100 feet from the arena (not exaggerating). Obviously it was a playoff crowd so the ambience was very good and I’m sure it’s not quite always that nuts for a regular season game (in fact if you want to go to a free preseason game there go to this link
http://predators.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=62598 but that being said it was hands down one of the most entertaining times I’ve had after a road game (even if Tootoo wanted to fight me after his whorish looking GF was a total *****). City is so much fun and while most of the “cheaper” hotel rooms are a few mile cab ride, if you catch it at the right time you can get a great hotel room a few blocks from the arena for a fair price. It was about a 7 hour drive for me and again if you catch the right price you can catch a cheap hour flight down there. I recommend it!
In the next few years I’d like to hit Buffalo, Minnesota, Montreal and Hotlanta (if they aren’t gone by then) I’ve heard good things about those as well and have just not had the chance. I’m getting closer to hitting them all, reguardless I recommend if it’s in your budget, do a road game or two a year as they are great ways to see a city and 99% of the time are a blast. Remember a trip is what you make of it!
