Sun, Sand and Hockey tour

Had I been wearing my hockey thinking helmet, I could have put together a Hockey Week in Florida road trip, involving Florida's six professional teams, during this week of vacation.

This would have been the itinerary:

Saturday, Jan. 6: Gwinnett (Ga.) Gladiators vs. Pensacola Ice Pilots (East Coast Hockey League) at The Hangar at the Pensacola Civic Center.
Tuesday, Jan. 9: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning at the St. Pete Times Forum. (We already have tickets, too.)
Wednesday, Feb. 10: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Florida Panthers at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise.
Thursday, Feb. 11: Fayetteville (N.C.) Fire Antz vs. Florida Seals (Southern Professional Hockey League) at the Silver Spurs Arena at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee.
Friday, Feb. 12: Fayetteville (N.C.) Fire Antz vs. Jacksonville Barracudas (SPHL) at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.
Saturday, Jan. 13: South Carolina Stingrays vs. Florida Everblades (ECHL) at the Germain Arena in Estero.

The total mileage, starting and ending at our St. Petersburg home, to criss-cross the Sunshine State and take in six games in eight days: 2,056 miles.

Though I have another week of vacation in March, I think the Sun, Sand and Hockey tour will have to wait until 2008. At the least, Colin and I are headed to South Carolina in March, when we hope to take in games in Atlanta and Augusta, Ga.