For Michigan siblings, seeing Detroit Red Wings in Sweden was 'phenomenal' opportunity
STOCKHOLM — Not even a broken foot could deter Maureen Shagonaby from traveling overseas to see the Detroit Red Wings, and her brother, Codie Grigsby, wasn't about to let her down.
Shagonaby has been a partial season ticket holder for a decade, but while she is used to making the commute from her Lansing-area home to Little Caesars Arena, she realized the Wings' Global Series games this week in Stockholm presented an incredible opportunity.
"I always wanted to go to Sweden because of all the Swedish players the Wings had," Shagonaby said. "I was never interested until the Wings started having so many of them. So when I saw that come up on the schedule, I knew I wanted to do it, but I also knew I didn’t want to do it on my own."
Grigsby told his wife he would like to see a couple of Wings games with his sister — no problem. Then he had to explain: By the way, they're in Sweden.
"She was great about it," said Grigsby, who eased being away from his 4-year-old daughter with video calls. "I’m not as big of a Wings fan as my sister is, but I wanted to make this happen. I’ve never been to Europe and really wanted to. I thought it would be a great opportunity to see Wings games here together while we can."
The siblings, both from Allegan, decided to go for it, and booked a tour through Victory Travel and Events that began with four days in Helsinki, Finland. About three weeks before their Nov. 9 departure, Shagonaby, part of the administrative staff at Michigan State, broke her right foot and ankle and badly bruised her left knee.
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"When she got hurt, I understood how good it was I was coming with her, because I think otherwise she would have had to cancel the trip," Grigsby said. "But we’ve had such a good time."
Shagonaby did wonder if she would have to cancel in the immediate aftermath of the accident, but, "the Wings haven’t traveled like this in a long time, and who knows the next time they travel, what the situation is. So I definitely wanted to do this, because if there was any country I really wanted to go to, Sweden was at the top of the list."
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She made do by using a cane and taking it slowly on the cobblestones, which adds such charm to Helsinki and Stockholm. Her focus was on enjoying every aspect of the trip, from the tours to the food tastings to seeing practice in person.
"Helsinki was so interesting," Shagonaby said. "I think for both of us, I had no idea of a lot of the history at all. We learned so much. It was a really well done event in Helsinki. Both places. You got a bus tour of the city, and a food tour, which was really fun. The Finnish food tour, there was so much food. My favorite thing I ate was the reindeer. It was very cool to be able to experience all of that.
"I think when you come from our country, I just don’t think you understand how old the rest of the world is. That was a real shocker, when they started talking about, this is built in the 1400s, this is built in the 1500s. Wow."
Grigsby, who works in the tech field, likewise was fascinated by the history of the places. "The touring around the cities was just so incredibly interesting," he said. "I love history. We’ve had some really good tour guides that have informed us, not just shown us around. They provided background and reasoning for why things are the way they were.
"That said, I think the biggest highlight would have to be the little cruise we did with some of the former players on board. That was amazing, to have a few minutes with them."
Shagonaby came away from the cruise in Stockholm with Christmas-card-worthy pictures of herself with Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall.
"There is no question that probably the picture with Zetterberg turned out the best, but Kronwall is my favorite Swede ever, ever," she said. "It was really fun to get the opportunity to meet them. And because I give my time and money, I appreciate that they know what a big deal for us it was for some of us to come over.
"One of the things that’s been really fun is meeting all these Red Wings fans — huge, die-hard fans, or they wouldn’t be here. We had roughly 90 on our premier tour, and I think 150 total in Stockholm."
The group attended Tuesday's practice at Avicii Arena, where they cheered each player as he took the ice and gave the jet-lagged Wings a boost of energy.
"I think it says a lot about the organization, especially about Hockeytown, how many fans we have," Moritz Seider said. "We are really proud of that and it was definitely a cool feeling going out to practice and seeing a lot of red and white jerseys out there."
Three days later, they were back for the first game of the series, which pitted the Wings against the Ottawa Senators. Seeing the Wings score four straight goals to level an early deficit was a thrill, even though the game ended in an overtime loss.
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"The first game didn't start out all that well, but the arena was great and the energy was really impressive with all the fans," Shagonaby said. "That was a lot of fun. You could tell the local fans, they had their own allegiances, so that was neat to see."
The second game fizzled when a 2-0 lead turned into a 3-2 loss, but for Shagonaby, that was offset by running into her favorite former player.
"Steve Yzerman is the entire reason I feel in love with hockey," she said.
She got a picture with him, too.
The experience was such a positive experience, the siblings are ready to pack up and cheer overseas again.
"It’s been worth everything," Shagonaby said. "It’s been phenomenal. If your team ever gets invited anywhere, take advantage. It gave me an experience I never thought I’d have. Now I’m just waiting on the Lions to go back to Europe and I’ll go there."
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her @helenestjames.
Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan siblings relished chance to see Detroit Red Wings in Sweden
