Love the Game has been fairly vocal about the role that the NHL must play in reducing the hockey’s carbon footprint. Fans and teams alike should do their bit to reduce the environmental impact of hockey.
As discussed in Reducing Carbon Footprint in Hockey, air travel is one of the biggest contributors to global warming, and the NHL produces about 300 metric tons of carbon emissions from travel alone.
Reducing hockey’s carbon footprint isn’t as difficult as it may seem, and this October would be the perfect opportunity to take advantage of overland travel—flightless travel by rail, road or sea—when six NHL teams open the 2010-11 regular season in Europe.
For those planning to see the Carolina Hurricanes and Minnesota Wild in Helsinki, Finland; the Columbus Blue Jackets and the San Jose Sharks in Stockholm, Sweden or the Boston Bruins and Phoenix Coyotes in Prague, Czech Republic, here are some tips for planning your overland travel:
to/from Helsinki and Stockholm:
The grounded route between Helsinki and Stockholm is very easy, involving a ferry from Stockholm to Turku, which is a short train ride away from the Finnish capital. If you were considering visiting Western Europe, from Stockholm you can easily travel into Denmark, and onwards into the Netherlands, Germany and beyond. If you wanted to travel to/from London to Helsinki and Stockholm, you can make the overland journey in less than 48 hours, passing through some of the best parts of Europe in the process.
to/from Prague:
Prague is a fantastic destination, one that can easily be reached overland, and a great base for travel into other parts of Europe. One of the best services to Prague is the City Night Line sleeper service that runs to/from Cologne, Germany. European sleeper trains are much like hotels on wheels, with options of private bedrooms, shared couchettes, or reclining seats. The best part of catching the sleeper train is that you save on hotel bills! From London, Prague is reachable via Paris and Cologne in less than 24 hours.
Planning and booking an overland journey can be just as simple as booking an air ticket. My advice is to find out the operator for your specific route, and try to book directly through that operator if possible. This should help you achieve the cheapest fares, and you can be sure that you are booking the right service.
There are plenty of useful resources on the internet such as www.groundedtravel.com to research your own overland travel journeys.
So if you are thinking of catching some hockey in Europe later this year, why not visit some other parts of Europe, enjoying an overland journey or two in the process.
Ed is the founder of GroundedTravel.com, a website dedicated to providing accurate and detailed information on a wide variety of overland travel routes. Ed started the website in 2008 with an aim to help promote a large-scale shift towards sustainable travel alternatives.
Whether you’re playing ice hockey in college now or planning to, here are six simple effective tips to excel as a hockey player in college.
When you use these helpful tips on networking and skill development, you can get noticed by recruiters and scouts, who can take you far, maybe even to the professional leagues such as NHL or CWHL.
1. Network – Like anything, the more people you know the better. Sure, you’re going to need to have skills on the ice, but if you know the right people, they will be able to get you to the right places. Networking does not have to be a difficult task—it’s simply striking a conversation with the people you meet in your normal routine. You never know who may have an aunt or a brother or a friend in the field of ice hockey.
2. Attend camps and clinics – If you’re serious about becoming a professional player, it’s important that you find and attend reputable camps and clinics. I know, many of us are broke during college and you will find that many camps and clinics are expensive [depending on the duration and location, the cost could be $100–$6,000, but don’t be discouraged—be sure to check for scholarships]. Not only will camps and clinics help you to perfect your dekes or butterfly style, it could help you get recognized by coaches, recruiters, and scouts. Your local hockey club should have information on hockey camps, and how to contact them for more information.
3. Find a trainer – Yes, a trainer is going to cost you money, but with finding the right trainer, the benefits outweigh the costs because trainers will identify problem areas and provide solutions. With a hectic schedule, it’s easy for some to forget good eating habits, but as an athlete, it’s important that you maintain a healthy eating regime. Not only can the trainer help you with conditioning, s/he can help you with sports nutrition and avoid the freshman 15. No one is perfect in sports, but a trainer can help you out big time!
4. Practice, practice, practice – You’re going to have to balance school and hockey, but if you practice whenever you have free time—practicing should become an integral part of your regular route—and show your coach that you can maintain a good work-life balance, this is a huge plus. Hard work has its benefits: a coach will notice hard work, which could lead to more playing time and the more playing could get noticed by different teams.
5. Buy instructional DVDs – There is a wide selection of hockey training videos and DVDs that features some of the best players in college and professional ice hockey. But the training videos should complement, not replace, actual on- and off-ice training with a coach or trainer. To save money, you should either borrow the videos from friends or the library.
6. Learn from the pros – Many young hockey players dream of becoming professional. If this is indeed your goal (I’m sure it is), it’s great to read success stories of players you admire to find out how they become an elite player.
As we all know, it takes a lot to become a pro. It’s going to take hard work, great work ethics, and more. As long as you’re serious about the game and you’re willing to work, anything is possible and these six tips can help!
This is a guest post written by Tom Tessin. Tom runs FindCollegeCards, a student credit card college blog helping students get tips, tricks, and more that’s related to everything college!
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