The Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils are set to face off in the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia presented by Fastenal, starting the regular season with two games at O2 Arena in Prague on Oct. 4 and 5. Before they get to Prague, the Sabres are making a stop in Munich for the 2024 NHL Global Series Challenge Germany presented by Fastenal. They will continue their training camp and play an exhibition game against EHC Red Bull Munchen at SAP Garden on Friday.
Sabres defenseman Owen Power will be keeping a blog with NHL.com throughout the Global Series, giving fans a taste of what life is like on the ground as they go through the Global Series experience. Power's first entry was written from the Sabres’ team plane minutes before the wheels went up and they took off for Germany.
NIAGARA, N.Y. -- We just hopped on the plane here at Niagara Falls International Airport and we're getting ready to take off. It's exciting and I think it's going to be a fun trip, a good start to the year for the guys.
The first thing I think about boarding this plane is the season is starting. It's so close. But then my thoughts go to how great it will be to get over there to spend nearly two weeks with the guys. It's going to be good for us and it's going to be a lot of fun.
Munich is the first stop. Oktoberfest is going on so I definitely want to check that out, but otherwise, I'm not sure yet. This will be my first time in Munich. I was in Berlin over the summer with my fiancé but never in Munich.
We were in Berlin to watch the Euro Cup, one of the games there, but we were only there for about two days. It was our first stop on our trip to Croatia and then we ended in Switzerland.
I haven't done any research on Munich, but we have JJ Peterka, who is from Munich, so it's basically just follow him and go. He's pretty excited about this trip. This is a homecoming for him.
Even for the Czech guys to be able to go back there, to Prague, it's very cool for them. For us from North America, we get to play in our hometowns sometimes, but they never get this chance to do it with their NHL teams, so it's great for them. It's going to be something that is not only a lot of fun, but pretty special for them.
So now we're getting ready to take off, and this is going to be an eight-hour flight. I will have no problem sleeping almost the entire time, especially since we're going at night.
I'll eat and then I'll sleep. If not, I have a couple of books with me, but I know I will have no problem. It obviously won't be a full night of sleep for me, but I should be able to get several hours of sleep on this flight.
When we land, we'll get to the hotel and a couple hours later, we'll be on the ice at SAP Garden. It's good to do that. From doing these trips before, when you land you just want to sleep, but the practice will wake us up a bit and it will get us going in the time zone.
I went through this playing in the World Championship this year in Prague. In fact, I think we played at O2 Arena, where we will be playing the Devils. It's way easier when you have something to do right away after landing, so that practice will be good and it'll wake us up.
Wheels up soon and it's on to Munich. I definitely did not pack lederhosen, but maybe there will be something planned for us when we're there.
