If it's Wednesday, it must be Pittsburgh. Wait. Steve Williamson wants a moment to check that.
Wednesday, Nov. 7. The Philadelphia Flyers versus the Penguins at the Mellon Arena. Yep, it's Pittsburgh. Tuesday night may have been Ottawa and Thursday night will be Boston, but Wednesday, it's Pittsburgh and game No.13 in the Steve Williamson 30 Games in 30 Nights Ultimate Hockey Tour. Coming soon to an arena near you.
Right now, some of you are asking: “Is this true? Would someone actually try to watch 30 NHL games in 30 cities in 30 nights? I mean, not even Bon Jovi tours like that. What's with this Williamson guy?”
The short answers are: yes, yes and he really likes hockey, particularly the Tampa Bay Lightning, who play not too far from where he lives in Orlando.
Williamson, by trade, works for the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, and is on a month of vacation catching NHL games from Fort Lauderdale to Vancouver to Dallas. His 30-30 tour began on Oct. 26, when the San Jose Sharks played the Red Wings in Detroit.
By the time he's done, the 49-year-old father of two will have travelled more than 48,000 kilometres, boarded 35 flights, crossed the border into Canada three times, stayed at a handful of Hampton Inns, crashed at every relative's and friend's house he can find and spent roughly $10,000, all of it happily.
This should make for some interesting conversation when Williamson returns to work.
Co-worker: “So, Steve, where did you go on your vacation?”
Steve: “I went to Detroit, Los Angeles, Anaheim, New York, Montreal, New Jersey, back to New York. Then in the second week, I went to Dallas, Phoenix, Columbus, Florida, Ottawa …”
Co-worker: “Geez, Steve. Not even Bon Jovi tours like that.”
Williamson knows there are probably dozens of hockey fans who have seen a game in every NHL arena. What he doesn't know is whether he's the first to complete a whirlwind month that includes intricate flight planning, car rentals, accommodations and tickets, every detail of which is listed on his website, complete with blogs and photos.
“My friends who know I'm a hockey fan think it's a tremendous idea,” Williamson said. As for his non-friends? “They give me a funny little look, then they see the happiness on my face and say, ‘He's obviously doing what he loves so good for him.'”
Williamson's tour de puck was born six years ago when he was working in Osaka, Japan, and flew across the Pacific to watch the Lightning play three games in California. After that, Williamson said he wanted a bigger challenge – think of Derek Boogaard wanting to score 30 goals – so he began checking out the NHL schedule and cross-referencing it with flight times.
“I travel a lot and there are websites where you can go to see which airlines have a higher percentage of staying on schedule,” Williamson said. “Little tricks like that have been important.”
To date, Williamson has watched Detroit's Chris Chelios, then dined at Chelios's restaurant. He has watched the New Jersey Devils play on Halloween and has seen the Dallas Stars turn into pumpkins at the American Airlines Centre. He has sat five rows from the roof of the Bell Centre in Montreal, seven rows from the ice in Phoenix and behind a goal on Long Island and even finagled his way into a luxury suite in Columbus.
And he's been cussed at by New York Rangers fans because of his Tampa Bay jersey, which he wears to every game.
“I was a big Rangers fan and saw them win the Stanley Cup in 1994,” said Williamson, who even took in the team's victory parade.
Maybe being taunted was payback for all the nasty things he used to say to visiting teams and their fans.
“Yeah, maybe you're right,” Williamson said.
At junket's end on Nov. 24, the NHL's happy-faced 30-30 man will have watched his beloved Lightning play seven times (he's already witnessed four Tampa road games, all of them losses), while seeing the Calgary Flames but once. That game will be on Nov. 13 at the Pengrowth Saddledome, followed by a game the next night in Vancouver, then a rebound to Edmonton.
“I've been on hockey message boards [online] and I've been invited to go to the game with some Calgary fans,” Williamson said. “Even though Tampa Bay beat Calgary for the Cup [2004], I'm dealing with true hockey fans, people who love the game. It's been great.”
But as they say in the NHL, it's still early. In fact, it's so early Williamson still has all his enthusiasm; his luggage, too.
