The ultimate 2025-26 Penguins fan NHL roadtrip guide: Part 2

New York Times

4 days ago

Let's get right to it: If you have the itch to see the Penguins play on the road — and I see you in airports and arenas all season long, so I know you do — I'm here to help. Here's the second and final part of my annual rankings of the best cities for Penguins fans to visit.
Part 1, which published on Tuesday, is here.
Enjoy, and safe travels.
• It's a very friendly place.
• The food (especially the BBQ) is excellent.
• The traffic isn't bad, and you'll find that it's a relaxing place in general.
• It's not a terrible drive from Pittsburgh and there are direct flights.
• Not a wide variety of hotels, but they're generally cheap there, at least.
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• PNC Arena is pretty mid.
• The Penguins haven't won here in eight years (really).
• It's not an overly exciting place.
Stay at the Crabtree Valley Marriott. The breakfast is outstanding, a great mall is across the street, and you're a 10-minute drive to the arena.
I'm actually embarrassed that I have Raleigh ranked this low, simply because I love it. It's not that exciting, but it's a nice city. You get the best of southern charm in Raleigh. If you're looking for a relaxing getaway, go for it. (The Penguins play here twice in March. Maybe Pitt will have a men's basketball game at Duke or North Carolina around this time, which offers the potential of a double dip. Consider this when the ACC hoops schedule is released.)
• If you don't like the Saddledome, I don't know if we can be friends.
• The Penguins play only two more games in the Saddledome before the new, surely not-as-cool new building opens.
• If you like mountains, you'll love Calgary.
• Downtown Calgary is a hybrid of Denver and Pittsburgh, in a good way.
• Super friendly place, and the steak and bacon here are top notch.
• It's quite a lengthy trip.
• The weather here in January, when the Penguins visit, can be quite dicey.
Rent a car and make the quick drive to Banff. Probably the most beautiful place I've ever been. (Or, if you aren't the scenic type, join me on a three-hour drive to Medicine Hat the night before the Penguins-Flames game to watch Benjamin Kindel play. This way, you can say you've seen him play before he was big-time, and you can say you've been to Medicine Hat.)
Calgary is so cool. If you like Denver, you'll like Calgary. It's the superior Alberta city.
• The artist formerly known as Staples Center is a very nice building.
• You're fairly close to Manhattan Beach, which is a great spot for dining, fishing and vibing (did I use 'vibing' right?).
• LAX is hell on earth, but at least we have cheap, direct flights there from Pittsburgh.
• I can't emphasize enough how nice the weather always is in Southern California.
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• While L.A. is surrounded by many beautiful beaches and places to visit, the downtown area is awful.
• This trip won't give you that nostalgic, hockey-loving feeling that some places will.
• Cross-contamination alert: Thursday Night Football rears its ugly head as Steelers-Bengals will still be in the third quarter when the Penguins and Kings drop the puck.
If you're doing the California swing, stay in Orange County close to the Ducks arena for the entire trip. Just rent a car and drive to L.A. for the second game of the trip, when the Penguins play the Kings. Traffic in L.A. is terrible but not quite as bad in the years following Covid, and you'd rather stay in Orange County.
If you're doing the Kings game, you're probably seeing the Ducks play the Penguins two nights earlier in Anaheim. Both are fun trips worth doing. But, as you'll read below, I think you'll prefer the Anaheim portion of this trip.
• Manhattan, you may have heard, offers a fair amount of restaurants and things to do.
• Being there for Mike Sullivan's Rangers debut — and Dan Muse's Penguins debut, we should mention — would be something.
• Madison Square Garden truly lives up to its reputation.
• Because the Penguins are there in October, it should be noted that fall in New York is glorious.
• From a transportation perspective, getting to New York is an unimaginable pain on most occasions.
• It'll cost you.
If you're looking to save some cash, stay in Newark (I know, I know, but the airport Marriott is nice and located right next to a train to the city) and just spend all day in Manhattan. You'll save a few hundred in hotels, and Pittsburgh has direct flights to and from Newark.
While I'm not a huge NYC person, I know many people are. There is truly nowhere else like it. And if you haven't experienced MSG, what are you waiting for? It's worth it.
• Downtown Chicago, I have concluded, is America at its very best.
• Probably America's best food city.
• Plentiful and inexpensive direct flights there from Pittsburgh.
• As big cities go, the hotels are very cheap (and very nice).
• As big cities go, the people are so friendly.
• The area around the United Center isn't the best.
• This probably won't be a Stanley Cup Final preview.
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So, the Penguins play here on Dec. 28. Maybe you're off from work that week. If so, flying on the morning of the 28th to Chicago and giving yourself a long weekend for New Year's Eve in one of America's greatest cities isn't the worst idea. (Bonus tip: Find a good Steelers bar — there are a few — and watch Steelers-Browns early in the afternoon before making your way over to the United Center. Now that's a day.)
I personally like Chicago for baseball more than hockey, primarily because the weather in June is a little nicer than December and Wrigley Field is a place you need to experience. That said, you should do this trip if you're off that week and feeling it. It's fun.
• American Airlines stinks, but American Airlines Arena is really nice.
• Downtown Dallas is great.
• The JFK Museum is within walking distance of the arena and is an amazing place.
• One of the finer steakhouse cities I've encountered.
• Hotels are plentiful and cheap.
• Direct flights are easy to find.
• Not what I would call a great hockey town.
• The Penguins play here on the same day as a Steelers-Ravens game, another cross-contamination concern.
I can't speak highly enough of the JFK Museum. If you're lucky, Penguins communications czar Tom McMillan will be giving private tours.
I like Dallas a lot. It's easily my favorite city in Texas. It might not be worth making this trip without an additional reason to go to Dallas that weekend. Then again, it might be. You'll like it.
• It's a simple, five-hour drive from Pittsburgh, or you can take a direct flight.
• The building isn't young but has held up quite nicely.
• It's one of the world's greatest cities, filled with culture and a diverse range of activities that is hard to articulate.
• The Hockey Hall of Fame is a must-see destination for any hockey fan.
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• Ticket prices in Toronto are notoriously absurd.
• Toronto traffic is worse than Los Angeles traffic, in my opinion.
So, check this out. If you're looking to save money before the holidays — most of us are — but still want to treat yourself, I have a plan for you. The Penguins play in Toronto on Dec. 23, which is a Tuesday, at 4 p.m. The league scheduled this game at 4 so players can have extra time off over the holidays. Because of this … it would be a long, long day … but if you want to remove all hotel costs and plane costs, you could pull off a day trip. Leave Pittsburgh at 9 a.m., get there by 2 p.m., visit the HHOF for an hour, go to the game, get out of town by 7 p.m., and you're home at midnight. It's worth it.
It's Toronto, which means it's a little overwhelming. But it's always worth it.
• The Swedish people are very polite and likable.
• Stockholm is beautiful, walkable and truly worth seeing.
• The air and water quality are noticeably better than what we get in Pittsburgh.
• The breakfast food in Sweden is top-notch. (The rest of the food is pretty blah but not awful.)
• Old Town, located on the edge of downtown Stockholm, is a great blend of history, restaurants and shopping.
• Everyone speaks English, and transportation is very simple and comfortable.
• Those are a long couple of flights.
• There will only be a few hours of daylight when the Penguins play here in November.
Go to the ABBA Museum and thank me later. In fact, there are a number of magnificent museums all located within walking distance from one another. You can very easily spend a few days here and never be bored.
The Penguins and Predators play two games in Stockholm in November. Because I was just in Stockholm for Worlds in May, I figured I'd add this city to the list. Truthfully, I can't recommend this trip enough. Rent a car for a day, drive north and enjoy a northern lights show. See some hockey along the way. Stockholm is a breathtaking city. I absolutely loved it and suspect most of you would, too. You may even meet friends there. I met Penguins fans Alvin and Ellen there, and now we are pals.
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• If you like to drink, this is your trip.
• If you like live music, this is your trip.
• If you like country music in particular, this is your trip.
• Lots of direct flights on Southwest to Nashville from Pittsburgh, and they're usually cheap.
• It's a surprisingly good hockey town, and reminding Preds fans of the Patric Hornqvist trade will be fun for the whole family.
• If an entire downtown full of people binge drinking annoys you … well, think twice about this trip.
• The price of those downtown hotels will get you every time.
Stay at a hotel near the Grand Ole Opry and Uber into downtown. You'll save a ton of money and maybe even check out a concert at the famous venue, if that's your thing. Also, while downtown, you have to visit the Johnny Cash Museum. It never disappoints.
Nashville has dropped a smidge in my ratings, though it remains a great destination for a hockey trip. I'm not a big drinker so it can get a little excessive at times. That said, it's great fun and I recommend it. (But not until next season, as the Penguins don't play in Nashville until the 2026-27 campaign.)
• Orange County > Los Angeles by a wide margin.
• Disneyland is about two miles away — literally.
• Beautiful beaches are nearby.
• It's very easy to get tickets at Honda Center.
• Good, affordable hotel scene.
• I like Honda Center, but it's starting to show its age.
• Not exactly a great hockey atmosphere; it's pretty terrible, in fact.
Avoid LAX at all costs. It's a horrible place. I strongly recommend flying to John Wayne Airport in Orange County.
If you just want a couple of relaxing days at the beach, or Disneyland, and in the California sun, this is a great spot. Catching a hockey game is a nice bonus. Strongly recommended trip.
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• You get to see the champs, and they're worth seeing.
• You're a mere 30-minute drive from the ocean while watching an NHL game. Not bad.
• The area around the Panthers' arena is great, with a beautiful mall and lots of good places to eat.
• Tons of Pittsburghers will be joining you.
• There are many affordable, direct flights to Fort Lauderdale.
• The Penguins play here in October, which means it will feel like a swamp.
• Driving on South Florida highways is legitimately frightening.
Stay at the beach. It's a bit more expensive, but don't taunt yourself by staying inland, even if that would save you some cash. Go big or go home. Or something like that. You save a lot of money on tickets and on your flight, so you can splurge a bit on the hotel.
You can't go wrong with this trip. Personally, I like the Gulf Coast a bit more. It's a little more laid-back and more of a Midwest vibe, which is more my speed. South Florida is intense, but it's also very entertaining, and you'll enjoy this trip quite a bit.
• Magnificent beauty at the footstep of the Rocky Mountains.
• Downtown Denver is a treat.
• You know Sidney Crosby will be fired up to play against Nate MacKinnon.
• Lots of direct flights, lots of nice hotels.
• You'll be joined by about 7,000 Penguins fans.
• The airport is about seven counties from downtown.
• The weather is usually nice … usually.
Rent a car. That Uber to downtown is expensive and — more to the point — if you're that close to the mountains, you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't take a drive and enjoy them.
I have to say, I don't think I've ever met anyone who dislikes Denver. Everyone is friendly. Lots of Pittsburghers live there. It's a beautiful place and a good hockey town. So long as the high altitude doesn't bother you, you'll love it.
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• Downtown Tampa has rapidly improved over the years and is a very nice place to visit.
• Lovely beaches are nearby.
• The weather during the winter really can't be beaten.
• As southern markets go, this is a great hockey town.
• Hattricks Tavern is a great hockey bar.
• Bern's Steak House is legendary; the best restaurant I've ever experienced.
• Inexpensive, direct flights.
• Hotels here are wildly expensive.
• Florida isn't for everyone.
Get to games super early. The traffic in Tampa is much worse than you'd think. Plus, the area around Amalie Arena is great fun before puck drop.
One of my favorite stops. You'll be in a good mood the whole time you're here. Fun hockey town, beautiful weather, and there's so much to see and do. Also, I'll note that the Penguins play here in April on my birthday. Bern's would be a thoughtful birthday gift. Just saying.
• It's Vegas. If you know, you know.
• You won't get bored, nor will you go hungry.
• T-Mobile Arena is one of the NHL's best venues.
• Vegas has become a true hockey town in short order.
• Sure, we have casinos in Pittsburgh now, but gambling in Vegas just feels different — and better.
• The weather in March will likely be nice and, during the hockey season, it's pretty much always nice in Vegas.
• Only one, but it's a big one. The cost of being in Vegas has become outrageous. Since Covid, the price gouging at casinos — namely the cost of hotel rooms, the outrageous resort fees, and the price of food (the days of $5 prime rib are long gone) — has taken something away from this trip, or any visit to Vegas for that matter. I'm a Vegas guy. I'll always love it there. But I have to call it like I see it.
I'm the least cheap person you'll ever meet, but don't pay $8 for a bottle of water in the casinos. Find a drug store on the Strip and stock up there.
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It's a must-do if you've never been to America's playground. You'll enjoy it. I don't normally harp about money so much, but I'm telling you, things have really changed in Vegas. (If you're abundantly wealthy, disregard, and throw me a few chips in March.)
• Geographically speaking, easily the most beautiful city in the NHL.
• If you like the outdoors, there are hiking trails galore (so I hear).
• A perfectly diverse city in every imaginable way.
• If you like to experiment with different types of cuisine, this is your city.
• High-level nightlife.
• Hotel prices are not so good; in general, this is a very expensive place.
• It requires a long day of flying to get there.
Try to book a flight that arrives in Vancouver around sunset. Best view in the league. Breathtaking.
It's very expensive, it takes a long time to get there and it might rain once you arrive. No matter. This is the crown jewel of NHL cities in many ways. The natural beauty, diverse eateries and overall experiences will blow you away.
• Greatest atmosphere in hockey.
• The Bell Center remains a spectacular venue.
• Gibbys steakhouse is a must-visit.
• A walk around Old Montreal is as good as it gets.
• The nightlife is legendary.
• None that I've ever encountered.
Stay at the Marriott Chateau Champlain. Excellent hotel located right beside the Bell Center. It's also a quick walk to the hotspots in downtown Montreal.
Montreal's love for Crosby will warm your heart. Also, the Penguins play here only once this season, but it's on the final Saturday before Christmas. Perfect. Montreal is beautiful during the holiday season. There is a vibe in that city that I've never been able to articulate, but it's the best. The nightlife, the food, the hockey atmosphere and the style are unlike anywhere else on the NHL circuit.
(Top photo of Sidney Crosby in Vancouver: Derek Cain / Getty Images)
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