Stockholm to Naples: Ways to Go

 A story in three parts…

Part 1:  A VERY cautionary tale

Part 2: Stockholm to Italy…Part deux

Part 3: Stockholm to Naples Day 3

Part 1: A VERY cautionary tale: 

Yesterday was as bad a travel day as one could have imagined. We started out from Stockholm, destined for Copenhagen, the first leg of our 5-train, 3-day trip across Europe, after the pair of Minnesota Wild games in the NHL Global series. 

We didn’t get nearly far enough. 

There was an explosion at a sugar refinery near Lund, Sweden, which closed the railway line connecting Stockholm and Malmo. This was not explained to us until we were well on our way.  As we approached, the crew was sounding more ominous (in Swedish) all afternoon. 

We finally came to a halt in the little town of Eslöv, some 10 miles (18 kms)  NE of the refinery site. The local authorities were not allowing any rail traffic thru the area.  All passengers were told to ride charter buses to Malmo, where trains would take them into Copenhagen. 

That was great for most of the 140 people on the train, but not for my wife, Noella, and myself. My lack of mobility, and the fact that buses were called late conspired against us. So, after lots of debate, and massive amounts of alternate planning, we decided to return to Stockholm and start again, after another nights sleep.  The SJ railway people were doing their best, to handle a situation which was way out of their control. 

(Mind you, in my Amtrak days I was the guy calling the buses in for train replacements; so I knew how bad this was for the SJ managers, as they had to now do the same thing.)

So, after sitting in Eslôv for nearly two hours, our train started again, this time to return to Stockholm. There were people trying to go everywhere, but the explosion was having none of that. I suppose the fact that it was Monday afternoon and people were where they needed to be already factored Into it as well. 

The trip back was very uneventful, as after dark all signs of where our train was disappeared. We finally made it into Stockholm Central Station at 9:08 PM, nearly 13 hours after we had started.  Only one thing remained: 

Bed.

Part 2: Stockholm to Italy … part deux…

Ok, so Monday sucked.  Didn’t get 300 miles from home, and forced to turn back. Granted, the day yesterday WAS salvaged… for a flight.

A Swiss Air A320 did the honors, as the sun was setting as the sun set over Arlanda airport…which is about 45 kilometers (26 miles) from Downtown Stockholm…

…and we flew one off thru the really early sunsets which this part of Northern Europe is famous for.  ‘Ya, but it’s already -18 in north Sweden,’ the flight attendant said. Thanks for cheering me up…

Anyway, arrived in Zurich, one of Europe’s most expensive cities to spend the night at the somewhat aptly-named Walhalla Hotel.  We were now back on schedule, as Tuesday was basically a rest day before the last lap on Wednesday, a day which back home would have included lots of Noella food prep. Instead, she was sound asleep minutes after the lights went out. 

Come to think of It, so was I…

Part 3: Day 3 of Stockholm to Naples: 

Started out in the mid-40’s (F) as we taxied over to Zurich Main Station (a.k.a. the Hauptbahnhof) for the thru train over Gotthard Pass to Milan. After some cajoling with various Swiss railway people, the train was finally ready to board.  Took seats and we were back on achedule! 

While on the northern part of the Gotthard Panoramique route was in rain and low clouds, once thru the 9-mile long ‘old’ Gotthard Tunnel, the south half of the pass was bathed in sunlight, something we had precious little of in the past week.

Reminded me of the line from the Bangles’ song ‘Manic Monday’:

‘…I was kissing Valentino 

          near a crystal blue Italian stream.’

Anyway, the line is swamped with rail traffic, as the new, 57km (35 mile)-long Gotthard Base Tunnel is closed until well into 2024 due to a freight train derailment. 

As we ventured south into Italy, we were venturing into Lombardia, the Italian state whose largest city, Milan, was our destination.  Would have made it on time, too, had it not been for massive train congestion in and out of Milano Centrale station. 

Off of our EuroCity equipment and onto one of TrenItalia’s Freciarossa 1000 high-speed trains for a 4 1/2-hour run down the leg of Italy to Naples, where the train — and, us — would terminate. Again, it was a sunny, warmish fall afternoon.

After all that, we’d finally made it! (Yay us!!) Across the street to our hotel. dinner (spaghetti — what else?) and, finally, the highlight of the night:

🛌🛌Bed!

2022-23 Schedule: The trips you WANT to do

 Greetings, Folks. Long time no see. Thought I’d jump on here and point out a few idiosyncrasies in the Minnesota Wild’s 2022-23 schedule, recently released: 

— Like to see Edmonton? Look fast! All 3 games vs. the Oilers (2 in St. Paul) will be between Dec. 1-12. 

— Only two games (both vs. Colorado) between the Wild and last season’s final 4 teams after Feb. 1st. 

— For once, the annual Florida trip is during a time when snowbird Minnesotans can actually enjoy Florida (Jan. 21 and 24). 

— Thinking of the game in Vegas? You might want to think again. Reason: the game is scheduled for April 1, right in the middle of the NCAA Mens Division 1 Basketball Tournament. Hotel rooms will run about $300/night and up. Way, way up. 

— How about Arizona? Brand new arena, on the correct side of town (Tempe, so no more Glendale); however, the arena they’ll play in for the next two-plus seasons (Arizona State’s new D-1 facility) only seats 5,000.  Tickets will start at $100 each (plus fees) and go sharply up from there. It will be interesting when cold-weather teams (like the Wild and Blackhawks), who have plenty of residents who escape rotten Midwest winters overrun the local residential fandom. 

And now, as promised, my list of the road trips you want to do:

October: 25-30. At Montréal, at Ottawa, at Detroit, at Chicago.  Given the Wild’s record against the Eastern Conference last season, this should be a fun trip. And, not too cold! 

ADDED: Nov 8-9-11. At LA Kings, At Anaheim, At Seattle.  3 games vs. Pacific teams that the Wild have handled relatively easily last season. SoCal in November? Nice. Seattle? Bring raincoats. 

Jan 10 & 12.  New York, New York, Two games in 3 nights vs. the Rangers and Islanders. Might not be the holidays, but who doesn’t love a shopping trip? 

Jan. 17-24. At Washington, at Carolina, at Florida, at Tampa Bay. This could be a really good trip…or a total disaster. Wild were 14-2 vs. the Metropolitan Division last season. 

March 21 & 23. At New Jersey, at Philadelphia. Will either of these two teams show any sign of hope? Of course, now that I say that, the Wild do seem to be the franchise which breathes life into otherwise moribund playoff hopes. 

March 29, April 1. At Colorado, at Vegas. If you can afford the Vegas hotels (see above) this could be the Wild fighting for their playoff lives… or not. Who knows? 

Even if you can’t afford a road trip, two seven-game home stands will satisfy any Wild fan’s hockey jones; one over the Thanksgiving period, the other will keep you tied down from Feb. 9-21, with a home game. Every. Other. Night. 

And don’t forget there’s EIGHT different home game starting times! 

Get ready...this is going to be a hell of a season... hopefully...

Keepin' On, Into the Uncertain Future

Well, for the most part, it looks like we in the USA (at least) have mostly made it thru the pandemic of the last 18 months, despite the best efforts of numerous people to assuage us otherwise. Now, on to the future...

(You notice, of course, I'm not even going to TRY and encapsulate the last 18 months, in any person or team's life. That has been hashed and re-hashed into oblivion. But, at that point, I regress.)

I'm looking ahead to the Minnesota Wild's 2021-22 season. Trying to get a handle on that is kind of like herding cats when the fish monger is waiting with your order outside. The first order of business is, of course, finding out exactly when they will play. And, if you like to attend games on the road (like me), where. But even THAT is fraught with all sorts of potential pitfalls. Do we know if the NHL/NHLPA will participate in the Olympics in February, 2022, in Beijing, China? Not as of today, we don't. 

Yes, the NHL has released a 2021-22 schedule. Not THE schedule. mind you, just A schedule. It may hold up to become THE schedule, or it may not, becoming this year's 'Schedule version 1.0'. Remember, Wild fans: last season we made it to Version 3.2 before the 56-game regular season ended. So the schedule you receive next week at the Minnesota State Fair (or that you've already got committed to memory) might be the correct schedule...or not. The people who know? They're not talking to the fans. And it's quickly becoming time to talk. Time's running out on all sides -- the League, the  Players, the IIHF and the IOC -- to figure this out. Or, not. The Russia-based KHL has already started their pre-season schedule. They are planning to go. Will the NHL follow suit? Or are the Olympic teams for the USA and Canada to be made up of mostly college kids and unsigned pro free agents?

Now, the Wild have some issues of their own, which will occupy their minds as the September 18 training camp report date looms large. Will Kirill Kaprizov even show up for camp? Which Kevin Fiala will the Wild get, with only a one-year contract in his pocket? Will the patched-up defense even be at the level of last year's group, which kept the Wild in games many nights? Can Cam Talbot hold up at the same level as he did last year when he may play against almost every team -- all 31 of them -- not just the same 7 teams, over and over and over, and over again...

When everyone is back in the same pool, unlike last season's 'chopped-and-formed' format, things will happen. Teams will have good hot streaks, and others will fail miserably. Which Wild team will actually show up starting Oct. 14 at Anaheim? 

Who will fill in for the players lost? Yes, free agents did actually sign to play here, but will they actually coalesce into an actual unit? And, can this group stay healthy enough to make it thru an 82-game schedule? As the 'Schedule 1.0' indicates, the post-Olympic schedule has the Wild playing 20 (yes, 20) home games in March and April. So, if  '1.0' holds up, the schedule turns favorable for the Wild after their return from Beijing. If they go. and, that's a big IF right now. 

Talk again, soon, folks. Be good, and please GET VACCINATED. Help us all out. Please. 

Coronavirus Blues

Well, here we are. All of us holed up at home (hopefully), while a full-blown pandemic grips the World. The fact that governments massively screwed up, didn't plan (or failed to execute plans that were already in place), or are all caught up in 'He said, She said' battles ad nauseum, are really a total waste of time and effort. And, cash. Lots and lots (and LOTS) of cash. While emergency rooms and ICU's around the world are overrun with COVID-19 patients, Federal and State governments are lining up against each other in a battle for supplies -- and subsequently, power -- that would make ol' J. R. Ewing's head spin.

Basically, everything that my life is occupied with right now is on hold. No NHL hockey (in fact, no sports, professional or athletic, of ANY kind) for the foreseeable future. No travel advised to anywhere beyond your local area. The only people we see on the TV these days are epidemiologists and infectious disease specialists; nothing else matters right now. Meanwhile, other businesses that make our lives palatable -- the shopkeepers that own restaurants, bars, department stores, specialty retailers, and so on -- sit on the sidelines, no money coming in as their stores sit idle, the bills mounting, but there really is NO WAY that they can safely open...

Transit? Trains to anywhere? Forget it for the most part. Providing essential travel, Amtrak's long-haul Western trains still operate, but few Eastern trains still run. Most of the remainder of the fleet has been shunted into the yards, as have most long-distance buses. And, we all know of the perils of the airlines, with their $5 Billion request for bailout funding. And if you are in the Dominion of Canada, it's even worse: VIA Rail Canada is only running their 'Corridor' (Quebec City-Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto-Windsor/Sarnia) sparingly, if at all; and any trains outside of that? Fuhgeddaboutit. Canada lost its' long-haul buses two years ago when Greyhound Canada, Ltd. retrenched. Little else remains in the Great White North.

Even local transit has pulled back. Way-y-y back. And with good reason. No one's out there to take to places anymore. It's like someone just told everyone to stay home.

Which the doctors did.

Stay safe, Minnesota. Stay home.

Back to the Future: Welcome Back to 'The Six-Pack of Suck', the All-St. Paul edition

Greetings, fellow damaged Wild fanbase. It's been a long while since I have felt compelled to write in this format; however, the crappy season that has just concluded (with YET another 'thud' in Dallas) begs me to pull the ol' 'Six-Pack' out of the vault for your perusal and, well, putting off your lunch.

This is a special edition of the "Six-Pack': all of the losses mentioned below happened right in Downtown St. Paul. Not two or three time zones away. Right here, in front of all of the Wild faithful, we saw this season disintegrate, right in front of our very eyes. Let's face it; when all was said and done, two words screamed out of the mouths of the Xcel Energy Center crowds:

WE SUCK.

So, with that as a base for our frustrations, let's reminisce in how the Wild blew their season right out their collective ...-----...

Game 1: vs. Buffalo, Nov. 17. Wild hold a 2-1 lead on the then-hot Sabres (having won 9 in a row at that point). Rasmus Dahlin tied it up with 7:02 left in the 3rd, then ex-Wild Jason Pominville struck back at the team that let him go with 90 seconds remaining in regulation to win it for the Sabres, who went on to win a few more games after that. For the Wild? A harbinger of things to come...

Game 2: vs. Arizona, Nov. 27. This post-Thanksgiving turkey of a game allowed the Coyotes to come from a 3-1 deficit with 3 third-period goals, two of which from Josh Archibald, in a 5:32 span to blow down the Wild's house of cards. Mind you, the 3 'Yotes goals came through on only 7 shots. This Arizona game would haunt the Wild until the final Sunday of the season, when the 'Yotes trampled the Wild 4-0 in Glendale, Az., snuffing out the Wild's playoff hopes.

Game 3: Santa's Lump of Coal came to the Wild, in the form of a 2-1 Overtime loss to the Dallas Stars, when Alexander Radulov scores with :10 left in OT. 10 (bleeping) seconds! You can't hang on for 10 more seconds? Of course, the fact that this game had to GO to OT should have panicked the Wild, who haven't exactly embraced the extra session in their history. Devan Dubnyk's 'giveup' of the short side shot was another harbinger of things to come. Merry Christmas, everyone, be sure to watch your step on the way out...

Game 4: Motor City Mayhem: Jan. 12 vs. Detroit. With the Wild leading 2-1 following a Nino Niederreiter (remember HIM??) power-play goal, that's when two of the most familiar last names in Wild history -- Vanek and Bertuzzi -- took over.

Thomas Vanek (who the Wild are still paying for against their salary cap, after they terminated his contract) scored twice to take the lead at the end of two periods. Then, Tyler Bertuzzi (the nephew of Todd, everyone's favorite Wild foil) scored his second and third goals of the night, to preserve the victory for Detroit. The Red Wings were a prime example of the Wild's 'Play up -- or, down -- to the level of the opposition' theory of team engagement. It burned them frequently this past season, but rarely to this level.

And then, there was the ultimate 'quit game'...

Game 5: The Devil(s) made them do it: Feb. 15 vs. New Jersey. Since when do you lose when you score FOUR goals in the first 28 minutes? This Wild team somehow found a way to do it, as the Devils stormed back in the last half of the game, allowing this pig to go into OT. In the OT, Kyle Palmieri takes the puck away from a surprised Dubnyk, and quickly passes to Nico Hischier, who puts the Devils (and Devils goalie Cory Schneider, who had not won in the previous 453 calendar days) in the win column. The Wild? That would be the 3rd of another 5-game loss string; 4 of those 5 would be at home.

Game 6: 'Ryan Johansen Night': Mar. 25, vs. Nashville. With their backs to the wall, the Wild did what got them to that point so far this season: Fail to score even once at home. Johansen's shorthanded tally following another errant Kevin Fiala pass (way too many of those, no?) and Johansen's wrister, as no one covered him in the high slot doomed the Wild, who only won two more games all season. In fact, the Wild managed to lose all 4 games vs. the Predators, while being out-scored 13-8.

Dishonorable mention to the following:

Oct. 6. Home opener vs. Vegas; Max Pacioretty scores with 1:31 left in the 3rd to tie the game. Eric Haula ends it in the shootout. Ugh.

Nov. 13 vs. Washington: A good old fashioned dismantling by the defending Cup champs. Ended the Wild's 5-wins-in-7-games winning streak.

Dec. 18 vs. San Jose: Whitewash City. A 4-0 'clean sheet' by the Sharks. Logan Couture 2 goals.

Jan 17 vs. Anaheim: Against the lowest of the low in the Western Conference, Team 'Crash and Burn' (the Wild) stops the Ducks' losing streak.

Feb. 12 vs. Philadelphia: Ahead 3-1 8 minutes into the second period, the Flyers come back with 4 unanswered in the next 23 minutes to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Mar. 14 vs. Dallas: when Joel L'Esperance scores on you, you should be embarrassed beyond belief. The beginning of the end had even the most optimistic Wild fans booing after this pig ended.


I really can't summarize this season properly in this blog context; suffice it to say, the Wild have a lot of work to do to regain the trust of the fan base. Getting rid of the 'Our Ice' ad campaign would be a start. This campaign really has NO shelf life. Shut it down, and get on with life. On to the future...

Once upon a Schedule...

A look at the Minnesota Wild's 2016-2017 schedule...

I've been looking at the 2016-17 schedule for the Minnesota Wild. The NHL scheduling team did the Wild no favors; indeed, it seems as if the Wild are being punished for what happened last season. While there are some significant highlights, the lowlights are also glaringly apparent. So, having said all of that, here we go...

The good:

1. Only one trip west of Winnipeg after Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 5). This will invariably prove vital for the team's well-being, as the Wild never do all that well on West Coast road swings. Speaking of the West Coast...

2. Only one trip to California, the weekend after New Year's. For those of you who are sick of the holidays, along comes your favorite hockey team, giving you something else to do after the New Year's resolutions are broken on Jan. 2.

3. All your favorite holiday games are covered at home, with games on Thanksgiving Eve (Winnipeg), 'Black Friday' (Pittsburgh), New Year's Eve (Columbus), and even Valentine's Day (Anaheim), all at Xcel Energy Center.

4. A massive, eight-game homestand (including the CBA-mandated five-day 'break'), as the Wild occupy the 'X' from Feb. 8-27. Two games vs. Chicago, and single games vs. Tampa Bay, Detroit, Anaheim, Dallas, Nashville and the LA Kings. Of course, as you will see below, there is the other side of this equation. Times two.

5. Six of the Wild's last 10 games are against teams who did not make the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2015-16.

And now, the bad:

1. Four 4-game road trips, including two Western Canada swings which wind up in Canadian cities not in the West. A few 2-3,000 mile trans-Canada flights in the future. Ugh.

2. Nine weeks (Sunday-to-Saturday), when the Wild play four games in that seven-day time frame. This include the last five weeks IN A ROW, after the Wild's CBA-mandated 'break'. (BTW: The break was a CBA-negotiated change, in order to allow players to play in the World Cup of Hockey in Toronto in September).

3. The Wild play 9 Saturday home games, 5 Sunday home games, and 3 Friday home games. All three days feature afternoon games. In fact, the Wild play AT HOME at 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, 5:00, 6:00, 7:00 and 8:00. As I've said in previous seasons: 'Have a nice time!'

And now, the ugly:

1. The Wild play at least one game at 5:00 PM (or earlier) 13 times in 2016-17, 7 home, 6 away.

2. The Wild play four games per week each of the last 5 weeks. 20 games in the season's last 33 days. 10 home, 10 away.

Start your planning, folks...

NHL Arenas: New and noteworthy

The NHL arena scene is changing once again. Arenas built in the 1970's and early 1980's (before the beginning of the suite era) are quickly becoming dinosaurs, as billions of dollars (both public and private funding) are being poured into new concrete and new concepts, as NHL teams still primarily rely on the box office for team revenues.

The newest ones, those opening soon (or, recently opened) and the ones currently on various drawing boards represent the best in modern construction. The most energy efficient, most bang-for-the-buck buildings ever devised by human hands.

Let's talk about the newest of the new, shall we?

1. Rogers Place, Edmonton. The new home of the Oilers will open in late July, 2016, ending a controversy which has raged in Alberta's provincial capitol for nearly a decade. This new arena, built on former railway land on the north side of Downtown Edmonton, will feature a tri-level party area in the area where the visitors will attack in the first and third periods. Placed at a stop along the Metro LRT line of Edmonton Transit, most Oilers (and, WHL Oil Kings) fans are already used to 'the train to the game'. Replaces Rexall Place (originally the Northlands Coliseum), which opened in 1974 (yes, that's pre-Gretzky).

2. Little Caesars Arena, Detroit. The new home of the Red Wings, replacing the venerable (opened in 1979) Joe Louis Arena, features three levels of suites, and will be located near the current Ford Field (NFL Lions) and Comerica Park (MLB Tigers) along Woodward Avenue, where hometown-headquartered Quicken Loans has already sponsored the QLine streetcar, which will conveniently have a stop near the arena's front door. This new facility will be ready for the 2017-2018 NHL season. Will the new arena have the same magic as the Joe? Only time will tell. Interesting fact: 40 per cent of the construction workers on the project are residents of the City of Detroit.

3. Ottawa Senators. The Sens' ownership wishes to build a new arena in Downtown Ottawa, on a 22.5 acre (9.3 hectares) site in Lebreton Flats, southwest of Parliament Hill on the west side of Downtown Ottawa, south of the Canadian War Museum. Sens' majority owner Eugene Melnyk told CBC television in December, 2015, that the current Canadian Tire Centre in far-suburban Kanata 'wasn't designed to last 30, 40 years', and he was right. The 20-year-old arena (built 1996), has looked better; Sens' fans have complained of things, such as having Wi-Fi pulled out of the arena in the last few seasons. The arena was the first large-scale development in Kanata, a far-western suburb of Canada's Capital Region. Fact: the Senators had to pay the Province of Ontario, to construct an expressway interchange for fans to access the arena's parking lots prior to opening. While 2018-19 might be doable, looks more like 2019-2020 before Sens' fans won't have the long drive towards Petawawa, in order to see NHL hockey in the Ottawa Valley.

And now, two that are just waiting for teams to occupy them:

4. T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas. The new home of the NHL Las Vegas expansion team (which may be awarded this summer), this 17,500-seat anchor next to the New York, New York casino has already opened, and the arena will have already hosted everything from multiple Garth Brooks concerts to the WWE by the time the NHL arrives for the 2017-2018 season. Five levels; two of suites, one full club level, party towers (like Columbus and Arizona), if you can think of it, they will have it; this IS Las Vegas, after all. Just announce the franchise already, Gary Bettman. Due to the nature of the work week of most Vegas locals (not available on weekends), expect games to be mostly on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and very rarely in the afternoon.

5. Videotron Center, Quebec, PQ, Canada. Possibly the future home of the Carolina Hurricanes? Perhaps. But, for now, it's the home of the Quebec Remparts (QMJHL), and it's just waiting to be occupied by an NHL franchise. Owned by a division of Quebecor, the world's largest magazine and catalog publisher, this 18,259-seat wonder is loaded with more bells and whistles than most NHL arenas currently have. The Quebecor board includes former Canadian PM Brian Mulroney, who has quietly championed this project from the start. The Nordiques may have failed in Quebec City, but this arena is just waiting for an NHL team to make it a success.

Now, there are others, rumored or just hung up in bureauratic red tape: Calgary, where the Flames are wanting to get away from the flood-prone Stampede grounds, where the Saddledome has sat since opening in 1983; New York, where the Rangers' Madison Square Garden air rights above Penn Station may possibly be rescinded, as part of the Tri-State (NY/NJ/CT) Access to the Region's Core project (this, after spending $900 Million to rebuild the NHL's oldest arena); and then, there's the Islanders, where the Russian-controlled developers who own the Barclays' Center (and hold the operating rights to the Isles' old home, the Nassau County Coliseum, in Hempstead) have proposed to rebuild the 1972-era Coliseum as a 13,000-seat 'boutique' arena and put the Islanders back in their old home, albeit now with all the premium seating and suites that forced Isles' owner Michael Wang to abandon Long Island, forcing the Isles to go to Brooklyn in the first place.

Arizona, where the Coyotes are desperate to get closer to Scottsdale and Mesa, where the money lives in the Valley of the Sun, is so desperate to get out of their lease in Glendale (Gila River Arena) that they are even considering moving into the 13,730-seat Veterans Memorial Coliseum, which opened for the minor-league Phoenix Roadrunners in 1965, rather than stay in Glendale; any brand new arena for the Coyotes would have to be built in the East Valley, in either Scottsdale or Mesa; there has been talk that the Coyotes and Arizona State University would go in on an arena together, but, as we know, talk is cheap.

Watch as more of the late 80's-early 90's arenas are slowly replaced in the next few years; the preponderance of club/suite revenue-producing seating is simply too alluring for most franchises to stand pat. New revenue streams, such as the ultra-premium club seating in Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Edmonton, where subscribers are guaranteed access to all events in the arena, with complimentary iPad at-seat computers and at-seat service, are now becoming more common every year.