Scotty's Swiss Diary Part 7

9:10 pm, October 2nd, 2008

As I get my luggage repacked for my morning flight out of Switzerland, I figured I would throw out some last thoughts on the experience, international hockey and the Rangers:

*It doesn't matter that it was an exhibition game, a four-goal comeback is a four-goal comeback. The Rangers need to keep this game in mind over the grind of season and remember never to say die. Times will get tough - they always do - but they did it in a foreign land against a foreign team playing like in the biggest game of their lives and in front of an international audience.

*After the Rangers went down 2-0, some Metallurg fans started singing and I yelled down at them "We won in Rocky IV, we'll win here!" Someone, not the Russians, called me something in German that I am sure was unsavory but let's face it, I was proved scarily right ...

*If Hank has a bad day, this team is doomed. The team only recovered when he found his game. It has pretty much been a fact since the lockout, but sooner or later you would think the powers that be would do something about it? Do they really think Wade Redden is that something?

*NHL fans, for the most part, know the game better than their international counterparts but we could and should take a page out of their books in terms of getting into the game and creating a loud, powerful and fun atmosphere to back our team. I'm not saying we need to add a drum section or wave massive flags, but chanting something other than "Potvin Sucks" every five minutes would be great.

*With the lockout as the exception, players head to the Swiss league when they want to play under no pressure with little physicality. The large ice is awesome, but these guys appear unable to take full advantage of it, playing a small, slow game. They get away with it because this style is all the fans here really know - much like the fans I met in Basingstoke, England. They were just happy to be out of the house for the night and they don't really follow the sport outside of their home building or league.

*I mentioned the larger ice, which really does have an impact. The players association should flex their muscles to force the owners to blow out some of the expensive rows of each rink to move to the Olympic-sized surface. The skills really can come out when there is more room to play with.

*The Russians were far above the Swiss in terms of talent, but don't for one second think they were NHL caliber. They played their best game against an unsteady Rangers squad that has yet to find their form. If you need to find a basis of comparison for the Russians, think the old IHL back when it was at the height of its talent - better than the A, but certainly not as good as the NHL.

*Bern is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here. Maybe it is because everyone primarily speaks German (and I don't), maybe it is because this 'city' has one main strip, I wouldn't really want to be here for an expended amount of time. Unless I get assigned to cover the IIHF World Championships here in April, I don't think I will come back. I saw most of the sights (missing only the Bear Pits), they were pretty, I'm good.

And on that note, I'm just about out of here. I am going to try to make it to that beer garden on Saturday to watch the season opener from Prague so I hope to see you there!

Scotty's Swiss Diary Part 5

11:39 am, Wednesday, October 1st

I woke up late this morning and rushed through breakfast to get to the rink on time, where the cleanup from last night continued. I, of course, got there on time and the Rangers went on the ice 20 minutes late ... typical luck, right?

This morning skate was much more typical than yesterday's grinder. The Rangers stars took it off and Renney wasn't running it so there was less of a crowd on the ice and no line drills ran. The skate lasted less than an hour but the last guys on the ice were Aaron Voros, Colton Orr, Corey Potter, Miika Wiikman and I think Brian Fahey so you can expect them to ride the bench. I guess they aren't expecting a physical game by the Russians so they are keeping Voros and Orr out while keeping an experienced defense on the ice just in case. I eavesdropped on a conversation by one of the Rangers scouts and he said that someone was out with a bad stomach but I didn't catch who - I think Lauri Korpikoski but don't quote me on it.

In the extra drills Voros scored on a sweet shot over Wiikman's shoulder, which got Nik Zherdev banging on the boards in approval. Zherdev hung out for a while talking to Valley on the bench and watching the boys finish their work outs. I spoke with Rod Gilbert for a bit and among the things he said - at least the ones that I can type in this family-friendly blog (let's just say he wasn't impressed with the Swiss atmosphere) - was that 20 goals is a more realistic expectation for Z than the 30 that has been floated.

Gilbert was hilarious. He was hanging out talking to Mike Pelino's dad, who had mistaken me for some Swiss chocolatier that he had met. He gave me a puck and I felt obligated to tell him the truth anyway, that I was just a Ranger season ticket holder. Some cameraman came over and shot me smiling holding my new souvenir so who knows, maybe it will make tonight's broadcast?

Gilbert later asked if I was headed to Prague and I explained the cost was too high; he just kind of nodded. I wasn't all that broken up about it initially but now I'm disappointed at having cheaped out, no matter the cost. Ah well, cest la vie ...

Scotty's Swiss Diary Part 4

8:58 pm, September 30th, 2008

Wow, where to begin?? Let's get the usual out of the way first. The Rangers sucked. They were terrible; they fumbled the puck, they blew scoring opportunities, they had bad defensive lapses and if they played an NHL team, they would have lost badly. Now the good thing: they didn't play a NHL team, they played SC Bern and won 8-1.

As the cute German girl who works for Ovation Sports said to me, 'its like a different level, with everything.' To find an equal for SC Bern, you probably have to go down to the ECHL. They were soft, they had trouble passing, their shot selection poor, their shot power poor, their positioning poor and their conditioning was terrible.

And the worse part for them? Don "Have another donut you fat pig" Koharski didn't do Bern any favours by calling a tight NHL game. He gave the Rangers two 5-on-3 power plays, he cut what little momentum they were able to build with dubious calls and his fat ass was in the way more than once.

Now for the good stuff. The fans were incredible. Once you got past the fact that they are snotty Europeans who smoke like chimneys (smoking was allowed in the arena and I nearly choked), they are as passionate and involved as any I have ever seen. Their team lost by seven goals and no one, NO ONE left. They sang, they banged drums and they waved flags. It was awesome and I can't even imagine a Garden like that at all. How sad, because Ranger fans are some of the most passionate in all of sport and if they channelled it properly, they would be the best fans in all of sport. Why hasn't the Garden bought the Misfits "I want to be a New York Ranger" song yet? It is perfect to sing along to and a fun song, look it up.

They played the Ranger goal song after every goal, but I didn't even cheer for the Blueshirts' second and third goals as Koharski basically handed them over. They resulted in a weird feeling for me that I have never had before - I felt bad rooting for the Rangers ... To properly capture the atmosphere, I would have to say that it was like someone told the SC Bern fans that Santa Claus didn't exist. But, like any kid, they bounced back and were happy to get presents anyway - singing all the way to the end.

And it hasn't ended yet - the arena folks don't throw people out when it is over. They are still serving beer and selling souvenirs as I type this - an hour or so after the game ended - and there are still people hanging out drinking, smoking and having a good time.

Tomorrow should be a better game but I am sure the fans won't be as into it. And who knows how many there will be? There were at least two sections of seating today that were empty (the standing room was utterly packed though) and they kept advertising the game against Metallurg on the big board.

Before I bounce, and if you are still reading this, some more quick things: the building booed when there were television timeouts, apparently they don't have them normally and they felt they ruin play (and they were right). There were more Ranger jerseys than I expected and believe it or not, I saw a 88 Lindros and a 20 Robitaille among them; weird. I mentioned drumming before, they have a permanent drum section in the standing room area with some tough-looking guys and girls going at it all game - so cool.

And, one last thing (for now): many of the standing room fans claim their spots by the iron posts with stickers and ribbons and take their time showing up. Some girl actually expected me to move because her sticker was there. Ha! Doesn't she know I'm from New York? Doesn't she know I'm Scotty Hockey? I would have felt bad but her boyfriend was right next to me and he didn't offer to move to give her the spot by the rail so I don't feel bad, she deserves it by being with a loser.

I'm sure that more will pop into my head later or tomorrow, so until then Es-C-S.C.B, Es-C-S.C.B!

Scotty's Swiss Diary Part 3

1:03 pm, Tuesday, September 30th
After much running around, I was able to find someone who would let me use my work ID to get into the Rangers morning skate. I don't like to pull out the ID, but its Switzerland - and that pretty much says it all for me. So while you guys get ready for work, or are at work, here are some notes:

*It looked like the whole team skated. Jim Ramsey passed by me and I asked if everyone was healthy and he gave the thumbs up but later I saw him talking to someone and pointing to his wrist, so maybe someone is dinged up. My ID couldn't get me in to the Renney presser, so I can't say for sure.

*I can say with certainty that Nigel Dawes, Markus Naslund, Marc Staal, Paul Mara, Henrik Lundqvist and Miika Wiikman won't be playing against Bern. They stayed for an extra practice with Mike Pelino playing the Herb Brooks "Again!" role for the skaters while Beniot Allaire first worked with Hank, then with Miika.

*The team skated hard, with Renney mixing things up - as per usual. He did a few two-man drills so I won't even wager a guess at the lines for this evening. He also pulled Dubi aside and did some extra face-off work with him.

*As you could see from the pictures earlier in the day, the building is really beautiful inside and visually it should be stunning on TV.

*Adam Graves and Rod Gilbert were lurking around, with Graves looking like he wanted to grab some gear and jump on the ice.

*While I saw the Jim Von Boxmeer, the SC Bern coach, they didn't have a large contingent hanging around. The Metallurg folks, however, did. Their team took the ice just now so I think I am going to run back across the street to the rink to watch them.


2:39 pm, Tuesday, September 30th

Well, that was dull. The Russians sleepwalked their way through an hour long practice. There were still a few guys out there working on skills, but being as I didn't recognize any of them, I left. If they play like they practiced, then they will be offsides on at least half of their rushes, and Hank won't have to take his stick off of the ice. They will have their deceptively-good goaltender A-Mezin in net so you never know what will happen. I saw Andrei play a half dozen or so games back in the UHL and he was a Ron Tugnutt kinda guy - sometimes good, usually average, occasionally bad but on rare occasions he was absolutely stellar beneath a barrage of shots, like Tugnutt in that famous Bruins/Nordiques game.

I wish I had gotten everything settled earlier in the day so I could have watched SC Bern, but what can you do? Apparently having a credential really didn't matter as the supposedly media-only skate had a dozen or so fans hanging out, trying to get autographs. For the most part, whoever they asked came over to sign and one lucky kid got Hank's old practice stick, which was very cool. Some other things:

*When I said construction was still going on, I meant it. There was a cacophony of buzzsaws, drills and cleaning machines that made it hard to eavesdrop inside and left a mess outside with nails and other construction garbage laying about.

*The media will have a sweet center ice view with press desks in the lower bowl - an even better position than the Rangers' old radio box and the Blog Box in the Mausoleum.

*The arena folks tested fog machines at one point ... that's right, fog machines. Looks like they will be putting on a show, should be fun.

*And when the players get penalties, they will literally go to the penalty box (where they will feel shame), check it out:


Just a few hours to go before gametime, woo hoo!!

PostFinance Arena

I got the camera working with the laptop and put up some random photos from here in Bern on my Flickr (link on the right). But I wanted to share a few here, after sneaking across the street to check out the venue:

This is the PostFinance Arena:


And, unfortunately, so is this:


The building is a complete construction site which, honestly, really bothers me. Why would the IIHF hold the Victoria Cup, something they want to be a big deal, at a arena that is a mess? I guess the Cup - which was meant to be a challenge between the European champ and the Stanley Cup champ - is as much a work in progress as the arena is ... but at least they have a nice logo:

Interesting Note ...

NHL.com put up a preview article for the Victoria Cup, the match between the New York Rangers and Metallurg Magnitogorsk in Switzerland on October 1st. The full text is here but the best news is this:

In order to foster the best competition, Szemberg said a provision was added to the contract stating how many rookies or minor-league players the Rangers would be allowed to play. That alleviates any concern that New York would treat the exhibition as a showcase for some of their up-and-comers while resting some of their regulars.

"This is specified so a team can't come with their America Hockey League lineup," Szemberg said. "When discussing this, the Rangers and the NHLPA people said, 'We are not bringing over a minor-league team.' We realize that if the Rangers want to test a promising rookie, why shouldn't they? But, they not test 11 promising rookies."

*Whew*

I had pulled out my new Hartford Wolfpack jersey to bring with me to Switzerland but I can rest assured that I will indeed be watching at least some of the big boys. And you can expect my usual post-game insight/ramblings here from Bern as I will be there for both the exhibition against SC Bern and the Victoria Cup. As I mentioned before, I had to pass on Prague because the Rangers couldn't guarantee tickets without me buying a $3 or 4k package ... Booooooo.

Swisssssssssssssss

Swiss is just a fun word to say. Say it.

Swissssssssssss.

Now I am just hoping that Switzerland is a fun place to go. Tickets are on sale now for the Rangers games against SC Bern and Metallurg. Direct from Ovation Sports, the promoters:

The first edition of the Victoria Cup will be held on 30 September and 1 October 2008 in PostFinance Arena in Bern. The defending European Club Champion 2008 Metallurg Magnitogorsk plays the world famous New York Rangers to win the first Victoria Cup. It has been 17 years since a Russian Club has played an NHL Team. The first highlight of the event will already be on 30 September 2008 when SC Bern will face off against the New York Rangers; this is the first time in history that a NHL Team plays in Switzerland.

Tickets for these two nights of exciting ice hockey action will be available from 3 July 2008, 10.00h CET at www.ticketportal.ch, the official ticketing partner of the 2008 Victoria Cup.

We would like to offer you privileged conditions for the purchase of your tickets. The below-mentioned PIN code enables you to book your tickets already from 30 June 2008, 10.00h CET.

Please find enclosed a summary of the most important information:

- Privileged right to purchase tickets from 30 June 2008 (10.00h) CET
- Official start of the ticket sales: 3 July 2008, 10.00h CET
- Website Ticketportal: www.ticketportal.ch
- Please follow the Victoria Cup top banner
- PIN: victoriacup08

Profit from this exclusive offer and book your tickets for Victoria Cup from 30 June 2008.

I bought mine and would like to thank the Rangers for nothing. Its July 1st and they still have yet to announce anything in regards to next season. Nothing in regard to season ticket costs, nothing in regard to a season-opening trip overseas, nothing in term of free agents (as of 3:30pm). But at least I know they can get me tickets to see New Jersey's own Bon Jovi!