Throw a Great Stanley Cup Party

Hockey fans are engaged in the highlight of their year: Stanley Cup season. While the actual final championship is at least a month away, the playoffs have already begun and many people are having viewing parties to cheer on their favorite teams. Conference semifinals and finals are still ahead as well as the championship series, so there is still plenty of time to plan a great Stanley Cup party.

Start with the invitations and decorations. You want to set the mood for your party — whether it is rooting for a specific team in the playoffs or simply celebrating hockey as a sport. Judicious use of hockey clipart and slogans on the invitations will set the mood before guests even arrive. Carrying that theme into the decor is essential. Team colors and mascots are appropriate as are posters of players and real or faux hockey gear.

Sports food is fairly universal, with buffalo wings, pizza, chips and dips being universal favorites. If a team is from a town known for a specific food, such as Philly cheesesteaks or Chicago-style pizza, it’s a good idea to include those on the menu. Desserts can be used to carry out the theme, with a cake in the shape of a hockey puck or cookies with little hockey sticks on them.

Hosts may want to provide goodie bags for childrens parties and maybe rent a mascot costume for the event. For adult parties, encourage guests to wear their favorite team gear from an NHL Shop and maybe create a hockey trivia challenge to be played during commercial breaks.

Seattle Sports Teams

Seattle is typically recognized for some of the dynamic cultural attractions that are found there. However, what many people overlook, that is until their home team comes face to face with one of Seattle’s, is that the city also has some incredible professional sports teams. The Seattle Mariners , Supersonics and the Seahawks and Thunderbirds are all teams that are based in Seattle and are prominent in their leagues. And while the guests in some of the Seattle luxury hotels might have their preferred home team favorites, they are typically more than happy to attend a game at Safeco Field or Key Arena.

The Mariners are an MLB team and were established in 1977. Some of the great players that have played with the team include Randy Johnson and Ken Griffey. The Supersonics are the city’s NBA team and were officially founded in 1967. They are part of the Western Conference’s Southwest Division. The Seahawks are an NFL team that was established in Seattle in 1976. They were in the Super Bowl in 2005 and one of their claims to fame is that they never wear their white jerseys during home games. The Thunderbirds round out this list of professional teams and are the NHL representatives. They were established in 1971 and were originally called the Seattle Breakers. They were renamed the Thunderbirds in 1985.

The French Open at State Roland Garros

The French Open is one of the top four professional tennis championship tournaments that occurs on an annual basis. It takes place in Paris at the State Roland Garros, which is named after a famous fighter aircraft pilot of World War 1, who gained national acclaim by being the first person to fly an airplane over the Mediterranean Sea. His courage and excellence represent the tournament standards of the French Open , and there are twenty courts located on the grounds. The French Open is one of the most prestigious of all the championship tournaments in the world.

The tournament is the second of the four main championship events that are included in the Grand Slams. It occurs in late May and early June of each year, and this year’s tournament began on Sunday, May 23rd. In addition to having the distinction of being one of the Majors, the tournament is the world’s premier clay court tournament. The venue remains the last of the spring clay court tournaments. It also the distinction of being the tournament with the broadest world wide television coverage of various events. In 2009 the singles champions went to Roger Federer for the men’s event and Svetlana Kuznetsova for the women’s event.

The French Open has an interesting history that can be traced back to the national tournament that began in 1891. This was an internal country tournament and was only open to members of French clubs. The first women’s tournament occurred in 1897. It opened itself to international competitors in 1925. An announcement came this year that indicated the Open was considering a move, as part of an ongoing rejuvenation of the event, that would take it away from the Roland Garros.

The French Open will be followed by the Wimbledon schedule , which will take place this summer. The favorites in one tournament may not always be the favorites in another, though they tend to play and wind up in the finals of most of the Majors.