Finland XIII: No place like home

(In this 13th and final installment of my blog series regarding NHL Premiere 2010, featuring the Minnesota Wild in Helsinki, Finland, we finally pack up and head for home.)

All good things, must come to an end. And so did our trip to Europe, after ten days and over 11,000 miles, as we packed up in the middle of the night in our Helsinki hotel room, following two losses by the Wild to the Carolina Hurricanes at Hartwall Areena.

And so, here we are, 36 of us mustered in the hotel lobby at 4:20 in the morning to board a bus for the 30-minute trip out to Vanataa Airport, some 18 miles (30KM) north of the city's center. We board, depart, and drive thru the mostly deserted streets of the sleeping city, as the lack of traffic allows us the freedom to move quickly, thru streets mostly devoid of traffic. Not even the trams are running at this hour, those being replaced by special night buses also running on a limited schedule.

From the relative quiet of the city itself, the noise and bustle of Vanataa is a shock to the system, as is the realization that the trip is quickly coming to an end. We check in at Finnair for our flight to Paris, with the connection there for Minneapolis/St. Paul. Thru security for the first time, then down to our gate. I stop to look at all the destinations on the departures board; Las Palmas, Oulu, Berlin, Amsterdam, Oslo, Copenhagen, Moscow, and many, many more.

The concourse, while not wall-to-wall people, is bustling for 6:00 AM, as Europe gets on the move for another day. And the list of airlines is as impressive as the destinations: Finnair, KLM, Aeroflot, MAV (Hungarian), Bulgarian, and offshoots of numerous airlines. Our gate is occupied by an Air Berlin A320 Airbus destined for the German capital. They load, leave, and our plane is dragged into position.

Our Finnair flight, surprisisngly, is not full as we depart a few minutes late, which would hurt us later. A very uneventful flight, as average a flight as one could ask for. And then, there is Paris...

...Charles De Gaulle airport, which is northeast of the City of Lights, and a whole lot different than any other terminal I had ever seen before. The airport is three massive terminals, and for security reasons, all flights across the North Atlantic have been grouped in the same terminal area. All passengers must go thru security again before transiting the airport, even if you went thru security before (you had to go thru it before you boarded your connecting flight inbound, anyways) and that's where our simple trip home, turned into an episode of 'The Amazing Race'.

You need to take a shuttle bus from one part of the terminal to another, the terminals are THAT big. We missed the shuttle by seconds, and then were left to sit for nearly five minutes while the next shuttle loaded. Our bus stop was the second (of three) on the circular route which runs around the terminal, as massive aircraft (Airbus 380's, Boeing 767's, 777's, and the 747-400) occupied nearly every gate as we drive underneath between ends of the massive terminal.

We finally get to the end of the line (for us, anyway) then find out we have to go thru security AGAIN to get thru to the gate areas for aircraft destined for North America. The security line is not moving well. Too many families, too much baggage, too much everything. Throw in the fact that someone put speakers in his carry-on baggage and didn't declare it (and put them in the tray like he should have) and now we were in trouble. We realized, then and there, that we were probably going to miss our flight home, the only one of the day directly from Paris to MSP.

'Go thru', I said, 'let's just go thru. Something may just happen, you never know.' So, we got to our boarding gate just in time...to see the plane being pushed back. It had happened.

We saw our plane leaving. Without us on it.

We saw the agent at the gate, who told us to see customer service at the next counter over. That, believe it or not, is where we finally caught a break.

A kind, intense young woman agent at the Air France customer services counter, took over and really saved our bacon. She worked on our reservation for over an hour in order to try and get us home. We were otherwise stranded in Paris (not the worst place to spend a night, I suppose, but I was out of clean clothes and stamina) and looking at a night in transit somewhere, somewhere we were not prepared for.

'You will be sleeping in your own bed tonight, I promise you'. With those words, she reassured us that we would be going home today, not tomorrow. That really helped what otherwise was a disasterous situation. She found two seats on a 747-400 bound for Logan Airport, Boston, then we would change there for Minneapolis/St. Paul on Delta. She had done it!

With a very heartfelt 'Merci, madame', we took our new boarding passes and then joined the crowd boarding this massive jet for New England and, eventually, our own bed, which was really sounding good right about now.

We had Row 53, Seats 'B' & 'C', near the tail of the aircraft. But, at that point, who really cared? We were just happy to be crossing the North Atlantic at this point, as the 747 departed Paris bound for the USA. I almost wanted to shout 'Hooray! We made it!' or something like that, but I just squeezed my wife's hand and said, 'Here we go'.

They served two meals on this flight, and of course, being an Air France flight, four different kinds of wine. The flight was a long, 7:20 trip across the Atlantic, all in daylight; it was 2:40 PM when we departed Paris, and 2:40 pm when we turned over Quincy, Mass., on final approach to Logan Airport. At this point, we had been on the move for the better part of 21 hours. And, we still had 5 hours to go before arriving at home.

Another round of security, this time inbound, for both baggage and passengers, then re-check the bags onto the Minneapolis-bound flight, then cross the Logan concourses to the 'A' concourse for our connecting Delta flight for MSP.

We went thru security (for a fourth time), then made the long walk to the very far end of the 'A' concourse, and waited for our Minneapolis-bound flight. Another packed plane, but we were able to sit together for the last 2:15 as the familiar sights of Minneapolis approached, we felt a great sigh of relief.

We were finally at home, after 26 hours on the road. Turned on the TV at home, just as the Yankees' Nick Swisher put the final nail in the Twins' playoff coffin, with a home run off 'Moon Shot' Scott Baker. And then we knew.

All was right with the world, once again.

(end of series)

Minnesota Wild in Finland: Failure to Launch

The point of the matter was, that those NHL Premiere games the Minnesota Wild were supposed to play in Helsinki against the Carolina Hurricanes? Those were supposed to be confidence builders for the rest of the 2010-2011 season.

The reality, however, was much, much different. If the Wild actually had played two decent periods over the two games, they should consider themselves lucky. Confidence builders, they weren't, by any stretch of the imagination.

The way the series played out, the biggest disappointment is the lack of intensity right now amongst the current players. No urgency whatsoever in anything that they do. Time's a wastin', and the season has already started. The same players are making the same mistakes. Niklas Backstrom got caught out of his net twice (once in the exhibition game at Tampere, and again on Friday in the second Carolina game) and got burned both times. Greg Zanon leads in penalties (granted, he's second in time on ice to Brent Burns) but it's not only why you take penalties, it's also when you take them. None of Zanon's penalties came at good times for the Wild.

And, continued poor shooting by Martin Havlat and Antti Miettinen did the Wild in also in the Friday game. Both had wide open chances to score. Both missed the net. Dumb puck luck? Hardly. Bad ice? Perhaps (the ice at Hartwall Areena seemed slushy and snowy). Poor aim, where a picture of a barn should be placed in a net? Probably.

You could tell that the Finnish players for the Wild (Backstrom, Mikko Koivu, Miettinen) were under a lot of pressure to do well in front of their countrymen. And, the media circus which the NHL put all six Finns thru was unrelenting. Daily press briefings, very little time for themselves to just go out and enjoy the town, etc., was their daily grind, as the time change screwed up their internal clocks, as well as those of the fans who came over from North America to see them (about 350 Carolina fans came to Finland, as did about 125 Wild fans from Minnesota).

The end result was, that for a trip which was to promote team unity, as Coach Todd Richards had hoped it would, the mission was NOT accomplished. The team seems as fragmented as ever. The Wild are about as inconsistent a hockey team as there is right now. And that is an ill wind which blows no good, for an organization trying desperately to sell tickets these days.

Go See Cal! Go See Cal! Go See Cal!

Clutterbuck makes Finnish SM-liiga team pay for concentrating on countrymen, as Wild finally get off pre-season schneid with 5-1 win


By Wild Road Tripper

HELSINKI, FINLAND -- Cal Clutterbuck. You can't forget him. You can only hope to contain him.

Did you ever think Wild fans would say that?

In Tampere, Finland Monday night, the Ilves Tampere (Tampere Lynx) were shown that they coudn't contain him, either, as the Minnesota Wild came away with a 5-1 win, the only win the Wild will have in pre-season, before an announced 4,625.

The Finnish locals, who came out despite the ticket prices of upwards of 75 Euros each, gave both sides a standing ovation at the end of the game for a great show, despite the fact that for the first two periods, the Wild looked like once again they were going thru the motions. Fans in the Wild official cheering section were noticably disappointed, in the first two periods of this one.

But Clutterbuck went about his work, not exactly setting a single-game record for hits, but being in the right place, at the right time, sure helped the Wild to their first win of the pre-season, in their last pre-season game.

That entire line -- Clutterbuck, John Madden, and Chuck Kobasew -- proved to be the difference last night. But the fact was that the Finns were so intent on shutting down the Wild's No. 1 line, Mikko Koivu-Antti Miettinen-Andrew Brunette, that they quite literally forgot that with the expanded SM-liiga 22-man active roster, the Wild could roll four lines and four full seats of defense. And, they did.

Practice was cancelled for Tuesday, as the team awaits the arrival of the Carolina Hurricanes from St. Petersburg, Russia, where they lost last night to Evgeni Nabokov and SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL, 5-3, after 'Canes coach Paul Maurice benched star forward Eric Staal, after it was said that the Russians were going after his knees.

Hopefully they won't say the same things, after Thursday night's NHL Premiere regular season opener.

Next Game: vs. Carolina, Thursday, October 7, 11:00 AM Central Time (7:00 PM East European Time), Hartwall Areena, Helsinki. (TV: Versus).

Finland VI: Diversions

(In this sixth installment of my blog series leading up to NHL Premiere 2010, featuring the Minnesota Wild in Helsinki, Finland, we look at other diversions which interferes with trip planning, and we look at planning what to take...and what not to.)

It is now the end of the summer. Labor Day. A holiday set aside to honor the American worker, and the efforts of labor to build a great nation. Of course, in Minnesota, there is another event passing today.

The end of the Minnesota State Fair signifies the end of 'deep-fried' season, when any food stuff that can be breaded and fried, is then sold to nearly 2 million normally very hungry patrons, throughout the fair's 12-day run.

It's also start time to think about what's ahead. Specifically, four weeks from today, when the Minnesota Wild take the ice, at the Tampeeren jäähalli against the Tampere Lynx (Ilves Tampere) for their lone European exhibition game, prior to the NHL Premirere 2010 series against the Carolina Hurricanes.

So, for me (and my wife), what's ahead?

We need to make a list for exactly what we want to take, how much, and where we will put it en route, as we will be extremely limited as to the amount of baggage we will be able to carry. Unlike Amtrak (and VIA Rail Canada), European railways generally do NOT handle checked baggage. It's kind of the 'You tote 'em' theory of travel; you can bring along what you can carry on, and that's it. Period. Most people cannot carry more than two pieces of baggage, anyway, so that kind of limits what people take onto European trains (most trains between major centers run often enough, that a lot of business is done as same-day trips, anyways.)

We are already resigned to probably buying a bag in Finland, in order to take all the souvenirs back from Helsinki that we will have collected en route, for friends and others who ask.

The looming big question: will the hotel we are staying at in Helsinki have a guest laundry? (By Day 5, we will need to be washing clothes. Definitely, will need to wash clothes by that time.) The rest of the Helsinki details (since we are part of a tour this time, for the first time in our personal history) will either be taken care of once we get there, or are items we do not need to worry about, as they have been arranged in advance.

So let's see, here... underwear, socks, shirts, slacks, Wild jerseys, Wild hat, Wild pins... and of course, passport...

(to be continued)

Finland 2010, Part V: And now, the hockey part

(In this fifth installment of my blog series leading up to NHL Premiere 2010, featuring the Minnesota Wild in Helsinki, Finland, we look at the other planning, now that the overland European rail segments are complete. And, we get team news.)

The planning is complete for the land portion of this Grand Adventure. The air portion is secured, save for seat assignments on the Helsinki-Paris segment on the return (since the flight is an Air France codeshare, {actually, it's a Finnair flight} we are bound by the rules of Air France, who do not pre-assign seats on flights within Europe). I still think that one of us will be waiting for the other one at Charles deGaulle when we land. But, that's just me, I guess.

We then turn our attention to the games themselves, as the Wild post a brief video showing the inside of Helsinki's Hartwall Areena, the site for the two NHL regular-season games between the Wild and the Carolina Hurricanes. Hartwall is large by European standards, but in the NHL, this arena would stand some expansion. Especially if the team was actually GOOD.

We also hear that Pierre-Marc Bouchard is healing well from his concussion, and is skating in open scrimmages in and around his native Montreal. That is another good sign for a team which, quite frankly, could have used a few down the stretch last season. Also, as summer drags on, the good news continues as the Wild have their developmental camp at the 'X', one which hopefully will bear fruit, in the form of young, hungry NHL-quality players. And soon, as the roster turnover continues, and the mistakes of the former regime are, one by one, politely shown the door.

We call our travel advisor about the game in Tampere. We are, indeed, hoping that the trip from Helsinki to Tampere (115 miles, or the distance from the 'X' to Willmar, Minnesota) will be by 220 KPH (135 MPH) 'Pendolino' tilt train, especially since the arena where Ilves Tampere plays is less than 2 KM (1.2 miles) from the train station. No suck luck; the trip is billed as a motor coach excursion.

"Oh, well," I kind of resignfully tell him. "Yeah, we'll do it anyway."

So, it will be off to Tampere we go on that Monday, Oct. 4, leaving around 2 PM Finnish time (6:00 AM at home) for a 7:00 PM Finnish time start (again, 11:00 AM in Minnesota). The trip is billed to return to the hotel at about 12:30 AM, so it will make for a long, long day. That will be a real jet-lag day for the rest of the group, who will have just landed the night before, after their all-air journeys from Minneapolis-St. Paul.

(Here's hoping everyone isn't too grouchy...)

Now we begin looking almost daily at exchange rates between the US dollar and the Euro, as we will need spending money while we're there, and there is no point giving the banks any more than we need to, in order to get this done. The Yo-Yo nature of currency exchange shows that it's up one week, and down the next. "We have to get this right," I tell my wife, "or otherwise we could be paying upwards of $100 more than we need to, for the same amount of money."

"That's your department, dear," she replied.

(to be continued)

Finland 2010, Part I: The dream begins

(This is the first of a series of blog entries on my upcoming trip to Helsinki, Finland, for the 2010 NHL Premiere games featuring the Minnesota Wild vs. the Carolina Hurricanes. I will be doing these on a (hopefully) weekly basis throughout August and September, leading up to the departure date for Europe. Comments, as always, welcomed and encouraged. Enjoy!)

Ever had a dream to travel somewhere really exotic? Somewhere that the world would be all anew and vibrant? Somewhere that really would surprise you, in a good way, with new places to see, new things to do and new experiences to share with the friends 'back home'?

Welcome to my world, folks. For the next two months, leading up to departure day for the 'Old Country', I will be giving you background information on this Minnesota Wild fan's trip to Helsinki, Finland, for the 2010 'NHL Premiere' games vs. the Carolina Hurricanes at Helsinki's Hartwall Areena. (No, I didn't mis-spell 'arena'. That's how the Finns spell it. Don't blame me.)

When the NHL announced that the Wild were participating in this back in late January (at least, that's when I first heard about it) my brain immediately went into another level. I asked myself: "What would it be like to actually GO over there to see that?"

That's when the practical side of me said: "You don't speak Finnish, WRT."

Fanatical side: "Details, details, that can all be worked out in the end..."

Practical: "And, it will cost a small fortune. Europe isn't cheap for Americans."

Fanatical: "If I start saving now, and put enough away fast enough, it will not only be bought, but paid for, before departure day."

Practical: "You haven't had a savings account for years, except for retirement."

Fanatical: "But just think of all the possibilities! All the cool stuff you can DO over there! All the places you'll GO!"

Practical: "OK, cool it with the Dr. Seuss. You're creeping me out."

Fanatical: "Sorry."

Practical: "Well, it's worth looking into, at least. If you can save for it, and get your wife to go along, you might just be able to pull this off. Europe is a lot more tourist-friendly now than in the past. And, you two might just enjoy all the new things along the way."

Fanatical: "So?"

Practical: "Look into it."

Looking into it further, we decided that the language barriers would be somewhat formidable, especially in Finland, where everything seems (at first, uneducated glance, anyways) like there's about 2 or 3 extra consonants to most descriptive words. We decided there's definitely 'safety in numbers', especially when those numbers actually include a few tour guides, who can actually SPEAK Finnish. So, we decided to break from our usual 'do our own thing' practice, and actually join the 'Official Wild Road Tour' group, for the first time ever.

Moving ahead to April, they announce the costs for the trip packages: $2,013 for the land portion (the part on the ground in Finland, you make your own way there), or a relatively whopping $3,217 when the airfare is thrown in (per person, double occupancy, or PPDO).

At least, that's what the brochures said. Well, when we did some more intensive digging, we found...

(To be continued)

Wild to start 2010-11 season in Finland

Two games vs. Carolina Hurricanes to start NHL season, game vs. Finnish club highlight overseas start in October

By Wild Road Tripper

The National Hockey League announced Tuesday afternoon that the Minnesota Wild will be one of six teams who will begin the 2010-11 season in Europe, playing back-to-back games vs. the Carolina Hurricanes on October 7 & 8, Thursday and Friday, in Helsinki, Finland, at Hartwell Arena, the nation's largest hockey facility. In addition, the Wild will play against TPS Turku, the Finnish Sm-liiga team partially owned by Wild team captain Mikko Koivu, in his hometown.

Other teams and locations announced Tuesday for the 'NHL Premiere' games will include the San Jose Sharks vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets in Stockholm, Sweden, and the Boston Bruins vs. the Phoenix Coyotes in Prague, Czech Republic. There will be two games per day for two of the four days of NHL Premiere. All NHL Premiere games will be carried on the NHL Network; no local TV arrangements were announced Tuesday.

The Wild and Hurricanes currently roster three Finns each: Koivu, Helsinki-native Niklas Backstrom, and Antti Miettinen make up the Finnish Wild contingent, while Jussi Jokinen, Joni Pitkanen and Tuomo Ruutu make up the 'Canes roster of Finns. The trip will shove the pre-season earlier into September as they will play primarily the other five teams going overseas (so they all can stay on the same schedule) before crossing the Swamp -- er, North Atlantic -- to the Land of the REAL Reindeer (hey, Lapland is only a few hours' train ride away!)

And, of course, Finnish saunas...more on this story as it develops.