Outside of Stockholm, about 15 minutes by subway, lies the UNESCO heritage site of Skogskyrkogården (the woodland cemetery). It is an amazing work of architecture as well as landscaping and the final resting place of some of Sweden's most famous sons and daughters. One such person is Pelle Lindbergh, who's grave in a quiet corner is not unlike the thousands of others - anonymous and unknown to most people that visit the cemetery. Only the Flyers symbol and engraved "#31" tell the tale of one of the greatest goalies Sweden has ever produced and one of the greatest the NHL has ever seen. Someone who's life was tragically ended at just 26.
He is remembered by many. Occasionally small items are left as tokens of appreciation from fans both local and far away (such as the puck in the picture.) The guest book in the information center bares an unusually high number of addresses from the Philadelphia area. It's an emotional thing to see, and one can never quite escape the thought of "what could have been" as a Flyers fan. At the same time one reflects on what was: a bronze medal winner at Lake Placid in 1980, a Vezina Trophy winner, a two-time All Star and the highest vote getter in 1986 posthumously, and loved in a city far from his home...
My brother, who was visiting from the States, and I were there last week. It's close to where I live, but when you stand there and see the name "Pelle Lindbergh" you are far away, 22 years back in time. We were kids on a bus going to elementary school where we heard the news report that shook the foundations of Philadelphia sports and made anyone at that age destined to love the sport of hockey and the Flyers for the rest of their lives. And there you stand for a few minutes and remember, and then you go...
There is an excellent website about Pelle Lindbergh in both Swedish and English that can be found at PelleLindbergh.se. It contains a great deal that cannot be found anywhere else including videos and interviews.
Tickets went on sale this morning for the two games that will be played here in Stockholm on the 4th and 5th of October to start the 2008-09 season. Prices are between 400-1100 SEK which really is better than what was expected. Globen is not very big (compared to other venues) and of the 14,000 seats made available for hockey games few can be considered bad.
As of writing this, tickets are still available for both games, with the Saturday game being the more popular of the two. You can book yours at ticnet.se.
The image to the right comes from one of the daily papers in town, that ad was in all of them...
More info on the games can be found on Globen's home page here.
The only annoying thing about all of this is that now that I have tickets I have to wait 9 months for the game....
On Friday night myself and about 3,000 others braved the sub-freezing temperatures to watch Hammarby (a team here in Stockholm) play Bollnäs in bandy. The game was played at the one bandy rink that is actually in the city of Stockholm and if anything defined being there it was the word cold.
The game itself was a good one, with the team's alternating leads and Hammarby finally winning 5-4 with the last goal coming with only 90 seconds left. I got some footage from the game including a couple of goals and the three Zambonis that are used to clean the ice at half time. The highlight of which is probably a guy behind me yelling "Icing" when Hammarby clears the ball down the ice.
There are two games left in the season before the playoffs start with the finals traditionally being held March 15th in Uppsala.
UPDATE FEB. 19th Info has finally been posted on Globen's website. Prices start at 395kr (cheaper than expected) which is a little less than: $65-€45-£35. Info in Swedish here. Start times either 6PM or 8:30PM (to be determined).
The official date and time of release for tickets to the two NHL games here in Stockholm is February 20th at 9AM Swedish time. The prices of the games, scheduled for October 4th and 5th, has yet to be announced on Globen's website. In fact I contacted them about this earlier today and the answer I received is that they have not yet been determined but that when they have they will be posted here. Speculation is around 700SEK (roughly $100) at present.
The official site to purchase tickets for the matches is ticnet.se. Tickets will also be available for physical purchase at Globen itself on the 20th. (I'll probably opt for that option, and get over there at about 6 AM next Wednesday to line up.)
Seating capacity in Globen for a hockey game is roughly 14,000 people and both games are expected to sell out quickly as interest is high in not only Stockholm and Sweden but also northern Europe and the Baltics.
The NHL made it official over the weekend by announcing that 4 teams will start the 2008-09 season in Europe by playing 2 games a piece in 2 cities.
The Senators and Penguins will play two games on back to back nights in Stockholm, Sweden while the Rangers and Lightning will play two in Prague, Czech Republic. The complete description and player reactions can be found at NHL.com in this article here. Jagr will finally get the chance to play in front of his fellow countryman, as well as Alfredsson.
Here in Stockholm this has obviously been big news and interest in tickets covers not just the immediate area but most of Northern Europe. Tickets haven't officially been released, the games aren't for another 8 months, but they will no doubt go quickly as soon as they become available.
As I mentioned in another post, this is really huge for Swedish hockey - especially in Stockholm where interest and resources have waned to some degree. Bringing two of the best teams in the world as well as some of the most notable players here will be a huge boost in getting the sport back into the spotlight. Despite what many believe about this country ice hockey comes in at a resounding second behind football/soccer in popularity. All this in combination with the Victoria Cup and Champions League, which is to start following next year's season, should be a major lift for European hockey.
If only there was something we could do about the issue with timezones...
As I mentioned in the previous post I was at the game yesterday between AIK and Leksands IF here in Stockholm. To give some idea of what's going on, both these teams are currently in tier two in Sweden (Allsvenskan), although both have spent the majority of their existence in the Elite League. Leksand currently sits atop the standings (way atop - they've only lost 3 of 31 games played) while AIK is struggling in the upper third fighting for a playoff spot. Now, much like the rest of the world, the Swedish hockey leagues work on a system that sends the lowest teams in the standings down at the end of the season and move the highest teams up. The playoffs in question here we would provide the teams that go up and which don't, it gets a little more complicated since the lower teams in the upper leagues actually play the best teams in the lower division for the spots. So, this game did have some importance in regards to the standings for AIK. Leksand on the other hand is already selling tickets to the playoffs.
Despite being in tier two, Leksand has probably gotten more press in the last 5 months than any other team in Sweden. A big part of that being the signing of Ed Belfour over the summer, and more recently the rumors of Teemu Selanne coming back to hockey and signing with them. It looks like Selanne will however stay in Anaheim. Besides Belfour the team has another great goalie in the 20 year old Eddie Läck and the two have been splitting duty in goal. Belfour is something of an attraction, as you can imagine, and has been a major boost for not only Leksand but for attendance at all the away matches as well. In the case of last night's game the crowd was more than 4 times as big as AIK's average, with a total of about 5,700 people. That is a ten fold increase in profits from the gate alone (Leksand tickets cost more). Of those nearly 6,000 a good 1,500 were supporters of Leksand who are either living in the area or traveled down for the game. The atmosphere was great, and you could see that the quality of the match was greatly lifted with the fact that the place nearly full (and loud).
As it turned out Belfour did in fact start in goal, which was cool to see. If for no other reason than the sheer bizarreness in seeing the guy in a Leksand jersey at a game in Stockholm on a Wednesday night. Say what you will about Ed Belfour, but at least take a look at his stats and awards before you comment on his ability to tend goal. Even at 42! The fans even have a sort of chant on his behalf that amounts to "Save Belfour" or "Hej Belfour" (hard to distinguish which really) that they yell whenever he makes an impressive stop.
So, to get to the game. Being that I have adopted AIK as my "team" here in Sweden, for the simple reason that I married into it, I was hoping they'd pull out a win. (Just saying that makes half of the city and probably a good part of Sweden hate me. That's the reputation AIK has, which is fine since I'm a Philadelphia fan and am pretty use to this type of thing.) However, this was not to be the case. I won't over analyze the game by saying things like, "If you don't shoot you don't score." or "How can you ice the puck on a power play?", but needless to say the more dominant Leksand won 3-2. I have to admit they looked quite good offensively and should have a good chance of moving up this year. They are by far the most offensively coordinated team I've seen this season, with precision passing that not only impresses you, but is effective as well.
Belfour did play goal for Leksand, which was good since a lot of people were there just to see it. He looked confident and handled things pretty easily. Of the 22 shots on him he turned away 20. The first goal AIK put in wasn't going to be stopped, the second was easily put in due to a huge rebound Belfour left after what looked like an easy stop. But overall he made it look like he was in pre-game practise. Not because he made it look easy, but because he made it look so routine. But, I guess when you've been playing goal at a professional level for more than 20 years (which is longer than some of his teammates have been alive) you have that ability.
The crowd was good, I mentioned before about this contest between the two team's supporters, and AIK put out a good effort. I haven't been to a Leksand home game but I imagine they've got things seriously together there. On the other side we had a guy come over to our section and more or less give us a yelling for not being more supportive and involved with the game. The fact that half the people where I was sitting were cheering for the other team obviously hadn't attracted his attention. Nor had the guy who was, and I'm serious here, knitting a hat three row down from me. If anybody needed to be told to "get involved" it was that dude.
The following is some video I shot of the game, about 5 minutes worth. I am in no means anything of a photographer let alone a videographer, but this will give you some idea of what it's like at these games. There is a lot of the cheering/songs/chants and you can see some shots of the Leksand fans jubilant after they score. There are a couple shots of AIK going for the net - one off the post - as well as some serious annoyance from the crowd when they fail to accomplish anything. You can't see it clearly, but AIK has the Harley Davidson logo on their socks which is an interesting sponsor to say the least.
I finally got tickets to see the "show on ice" that is Ed Belfour playing in tier two here in Sweden. The game tonight involves Leksands IF (Belfour's team) versus AIK (being the Stockholm based team that I support). The game starts at 7 tonight, and can be followed live (in English) via Swehockey.se. Note that this is live stats not live coverage. Web radio is available of the game for free, however as it is in Swedish I think that it would do few any good. It hasn't officially been announced who is starting in goal, but even if it isn't Belfour the match looks to be a good one since plenty of tickets have been sold. AIK usually has a crowd of about 1,200 for their games - as of this afternoon they had already sold more than 5,000 tickets. This isn't just to see "The Eagle", it actually has to do more with the fact that the team is fighting for a playoff spot and the chance to move up to the tier one Elite League.
Besides the game at hand Leksand has challenged AIK to a "who has the best, loudest, most supporters" contest which will certainly be seen this evening with so many people at the game. Websites for the team have strongly encouraged fans to show up with scarves, hats, confetti, flags, banners, octopi you name it...
Should be amusing to say the least.
I'll take some pictures of what I can and post them after the game.
Well, this is interesting, if you happen to live in Stockholm, Sweden - which I do. For the rest of you this is this year's matches in London again. The only difference is that next year the season will start with Ottawa vs. Pittsburgh playing two games at Stockholms Globe Arena (more commonly known as Globen).
The source for this bit of information is not NHL.com, but rather Eurosport's Swedish website so one will have to take it with a grain of salt. However they cite a "reliable source" for giving them the heads up. A spokesperson for the arena merely said that they cannot confirm the event.
NHL exhibition games have been played in Stockholm before, most notably when hometown hero Mats Sundin and the Maple Leafs played here a few years ago. These would be the first official matches ever played in Sweden.
If you ask me this all seems a bit too good to be true, I mean Ottawa vs Pittsburgh? That is just a little too close to, "What is the best possible matchup we could see?" Not that I'd complain if this turns out to be the case, but I wouldn't put any money down on this or mark it my calendar for next October quite yet.
BUT, what if it did happen? Well, it certainly would be a major help to Swedish hockey, especially in Stockholm where things are none too good. Of the three teams here only one is in the Elite League, the other two are tier 2, one in the middle of the pack the other dead last and very much in danger of bankruptcy and worse.
The odd thing is that hockey is just not big in Sweden's capital and largest city. (Soccer, football, by comparison is mammoth. )Attendance at games is paltry at best, with the Elite League games topping out at less than about 5,000 and other games getting as few as 500 on some nights. They've moved games from the fore mentioned Globe Arena to a smaller venue because the atmosphere is hardly conducive when 80% of the seats are empty.
The chance to turn the focus once again towards hockey in the media, even if it is for two games, would be a much needed kick start to what was once a thriving hockey town. Crosby, Malkin and Alfredsson coming to town would be huge. (All we've got right now is Ed Belfour.)
Hopefully this does come to pass, because if anywhere needed this kind of hockey savior it is Stockholm.
The article on Eurosport (in Swedish) can be found here.
A brief, and somewhat questionably, translated English version can be found here.
Imagine if you will hockey played with the same rules as soccer, or for that matter field hockey on ice...well, then you have the sport of bandy. 10 players and a goalie on a rink the size of a soccer field (even played indoors), an orange rubber ball slightly smaller than a tennis ball, and full on helicopter swings with a wooden stick like a hurling club...
Bandy, if you aren't familiar with it, is played across most of northern Europe (Sweden, Finland and Russia imparticuarily) but has roots stemming back hundreds (if not thousands) of years. (More history can be found here. And it is a very interesting read...)
Here in Stockholm we have one bandy rink in the center of town and one team in the top division. Tickets are about ten dollars per game and last about as long as a regular hockey game. This year the NHL will play their first official game in the US outdoors when the Penguins meet the Sabres in the Winter Classic (Ice Bowl). Ironically Stockholm is in danger of losing their one top division team (Hammarby) due to a ruling that teams must have indoor rinks by 2009. Considering what it's like to skate on snow covered ice, let alone compete at an international level at sport on it, one can understand the logic. However, the shear cost of building such a rink is another matter entirely....we shall see what happens.
The following is one of the few examples of the sport you will ever see with English commentary (it's been about a hundred years since it was played in England, and the Minnesota teams don't get on TV too much...unfortunately). Long live "bando".
(Watch the second goal they show scored by Finland, amazing stuff...)
Some of you may be aware, some of you may not, but Ed Belfour has not retired, died or even moved back to his hometown of Carman, Manitoba. No sirree, it's even more surreal, the 42 year old veteran of nearly 20 years in the NHL is now playing for the Leksand Stars. Where's Leksand? Well, it's pretty much smack dab in the middle of....Sweden.
Yes, the Leksand Stars. Now I know what you're thinking, "Hey, that's the Swedish Elite League!" Umm...no...it's not. It's the league below the Swedish Elite League (Allsvenskan as it is known...) So, let's just say that the man obviously loves hockey enough to move to central Sweden to play for a lower division team. If you can't respect that you have never been to Leksand or you have never been a professional goaltender....just respect it ok.
But what does Sweden think of having a former NHL star (who is not Swedish...Forsberg) playing here? I can tell you, since I read the papers daily, we are in the midst of Belfour fever. It's an epidemic and nearly everyone has come down with it. This is big, and it's especially big for Leksand. How big? His debut was yesterday and that game broke the attendance record, not just for the club, but for the league...ever. Their website, Leksandsif.se garnered over 750,000 hits in October. You can even buy children's t-shirts with his image on it ALREADY. As I said, he's only played one (1) game. (They won that game by the way 4-1, Ed let in the very first shot against him. I can only imagine the reaction of the record breaking 6,795 people at the game must have had. After that he was flawless.)
On November 12th, the Leksand Belfours Stars come to Stockholm and, if tickets aren't sold out already..., I will be there. Because, to be honest, I think this is the best thing to happen to Swedish hockey since they won the Olympic gold, no that was last year, the best thing to happen to Swedish ice hockey since they stopped wearing Jofa VM helmets!
FOOTNOTE: 1) No, I will not be at that game. I misread the table, it's in Leksand. Damn. 2) I'll have you know that they are charging more for games against Leksand around the league now.
FOOTNOTE 2: I got to the game in January, video and a full report can be found here.
Outside of Stockholm, about 15 minutes by subway, lies the UNESCO heritage site of Skogskyrkogården (the woodland cemetery). It is an amazing work of architecture as well as landscaping and the final resting place of some of Sweden's most famous sons and daughters. One such person is Pelle Lindbergh, who's grave in a quiet corner is not unlike the thousands of others - anonymous and unknown to most people that visit the cemetery. Only the Flyers symbol and engraved "#31" tell the tale of one of the greatest goalies Sweden has ever produced and one of the greatest the NHL has ever seen. Someone who's life was tragically ended at just 26.
