STOCKHOLM (WTVF) — The Predators arrived in Stockholm shortly after 1 p.m. on Tuesday, and players were quickly shuttled off to Avicii Arena for stretching and a light workout to get them activated after the long flight from New York City.
The Predators’ next task was to stay up through at least dinner and try to get their body clock adjusted to the 7-hour time difference between Nashville and Sweden. Still, everyone in the organization was glad to finally be on the ground for the NHL Global Series just about 40 hours after they left home for this extended road trip.
“The air was clean when you came off the plane, that’s nice,” Predators star and Leksand, Sweden native Filip Forsberg said. “And obviously excitement’s through the roof being here.”
The toughest part of the trip, of course, came after Monday night’s 6-3 loss to the Rangers. That’s when the 100-person travel party boarded buses at Madison Square Garden, which then fought the New York traffic on the way to Newark International Airport.
Once there, the travel party boarded a Delta 333 Charter plane and settled in for the overnight flight.
“Lots of water,” Predators forward Michael McCarron said about his travel routine. “Usually, [I drink] a water per hour.”
The players and coaches get lay-down seats to ensure they sleep on the overnight flight. They also got specially packed kits that included a sleeping mask, socks, slippers, toiletries, and nutritional and sleep supplements to aid in their rest and recovery.
“I got a little bit of sleep,” McCarron said. “I’m a big body, so those lay-down chairs don’t necessarily fit 6’7, so I got a couple hours, but I wish it was more.”
The plane touched down at Stockholm Arlanda Airport at around 1 p.m. local time, exactly nine-and-a-half hours after the final horn of their game in New York. To continue their recovery, the team quickly shuttled players on buses over to this week’s game site, Avicii Arena, to try to get their legs back under them after the long trip.
“The guys, when we land, will go and stretch and do a quick workout just to get their legs moving,” Predators Director of Team Operations and Player Relations Brandon Walker said. “And hopefully that first night you go for dinner and get to be early and try to figure out your times from there because it’s hard to catch up once you’re messed up.”
Over 22 seasons with the Predators, Walker has planned thousands of road trips. But a weeklong journey to another country raises new challenges.
Walker has to plan travel to and from airports, between cities, and to and from the arena for the eight-day trip. The final six days will come in Stockholm, a city the Predators have never played in before.
“You've got to a place you’ve never been before (and) we don’t know how far it is to the rink or what time you have to get back for morning skate or all the different logistical things that come up,” Walker said.
He’s spent months planning those logistics and managing all the various player ticker requests. He’s also organized the transportation, lodging and comforts for a larger-than-normal travel party, which includes ownership, doctors, sponsors and invited guests.
More recently, Walker has turned his attention to making sure more than two dozen team meals throughout the week will look familiar, but with a little bit of Swedish flair.
“We have the same meal pretty much every time we have a pregame meal,” Walker said. “It’s the chicken, the salmon, the pasta, the steak, the salad, the vegetables. But there’s a little bit of local stuff Fil’s thrown in there. There’s some meatballs, there’s some lingonberry jam and that stuff, so that part’s exciting.”
The goal is to make sure nothing gets lost in translation so players can both enjoy the trip and be ready to perform at their best at the end of a grueling travel week.
Once Walker and other members of the Predators staff provide the planning and tools to manage their mental and physical health on the trip, it’s up to the players to take care of the rest. Many have their own regimens for handling travel and the day-to-day grind of the season.
It is all done in an effort to help the Preds get two much-needed wins on one of the biggest stages of the NHL’s season. Walker admits that playing a well-known franchise like the Penguins and perhaps the best player of his generation in Sidney Crosby adds pressure to the desire of making sure everything comes off just right and the team represents itself well on the ice.
It is hard work, but it’s worth it to Walker to help players, coaches and the entire travel party experience this once-in-a-lifetime road trip.
“What a great experience,” Walker said. “You’re thankful for the pictures in your phone to look back on. You’re thankful to share it with some family who are able to come. But it is nice to have that experience, to have it have gone well and then look and say, ‘okay, that trip to Chicago next week with an hour and 10-minute flight to Midway, that’s a bit more manageable.’”
