One of the "Greetings from..." cards that I love to receive. I'm not sure how many of them I have. Maybe I should go back and see some time.... This one is coming from Indio, which is in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert, about 200 km east of Los Angeles. It is home to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. It began in 2001 and attracts many big names from a variety of musical genres.  What caught my eye in the postcard was the sender mentioned Indio is near the home of the Coachella Valley Firebirds, a professional hockey team. The Firebirds play in the American Hockey League, the second tier of professional hockey in Canada and the United States. It is the affiliate (farm team) for the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League. They were founded in 2022 and play in Thousand Palms. In their first two full seasons, the team reached the Calder Cup Finals twice in a row, losing to the Hershey Bears both times: 4 games to 3 in 2022-23; and 4 games to 2 in...

A "Greetings from Acadia" card in the style of retro travel postcards. Those types of cards are always winners with me.  Charlotte is home to the Charlotte Checkers who play in the American Hockey League, the second tier of professional hockey in Canada and the United States. They are the top minor league affiliate for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League. They were founded in 1990 as the Capital District Islanders (1990-1993), and then moved to Albany to become the Albany River Rats (1993-2010), and moved to Charlotte in 2010. The 2018-19 season was their most successful winning the regular season championship and the Calder Cups - the American Hockey League championship. 

Laval is a city and suburb of  Montréal and is the 13th largest city in Canada. It is situated on  Île Jésus and Îles Laval. Jesuits were the first European settlers in Laval, arriving in 1636 and granted a seigneury (land). In 1675, François de Montmorency-Laval  gained control of the seigneury. In 1965, 14 municipalities were merged with Laval.  The  Montréal Canadiens of the National Hockey League have their American Hockey League affiliate in Laval - the Laval Rocket. The Rocket are the eighth incarnation of the franchise which started in 1969-70 season as the  Montréal Voyageurs. They have also been in Nova Scotia, Sherbrooke, Fredericton, Québec City, Hamilton, and St. John's. The Rocket have not won the American Hockey League's Calder Cup.