I imagine winter in Siberia, Nunavit, and Alaska, are quite similar to Stockholm, Sweden.
The air is cold. Snow covers every square inch of the landscape. The sun rises late in the morning, and sets in the early afternoon. In some places, it won’t rise at all.
Yet its here, where the world’s brightest minds come every December, to be honored with the Nobel Prize, arguably the most famous academic award in the world.
On Saturday morning, I was woken by my aunt and uncle at 7:00am. Groggily, I showered, dressed, ate a quick breakfast, and was whisked away to the Stockholms Universitet, the site of the Nobel lectures in physics and chemistry.
We arrived just as the sun was rising, though we were not even close to being first there. A mish mash of native Swedes and foreigners lined the halls waiting for the doors to open and enter. Everyone picked up a few posters and packets explaining the works of the Nobel Laureates. This proved a wise decision later on.
Upon entering the massive auditorium and taking our seats, the first of the Nobel Laureates, Serge Haroche, of France (born in Morocco, and Jewish!), took the stage at 9:00 am. His talk on physics was fascinating. Unfortunately for me, it was the last talk I’d enjoy all morning.
The next three speakers (one on physics, two on chemistry) were so technical, that the lay person like myself, would have absolutely no idea what was going on. I suspect that no one told them they had to make their lectures relatable to those who are not in the know. If they were told this, yet defied it anyways, there is always a special place in the antarctic where they can spend years in the snowy desert and play with penguins, a fate worse than hell.
Thought it may be a prestigious event, and a cliche Stockholm experience, I would advise against attending, unless you work in the field of the lectures being given. One time was more than enough for me.
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If attending a Nobel Prize lecture in the morning is somewhat cliche, the opposite of that would be attending a local hockey match in the afternoon, right?
Without a ticket, I ventured down to the Globen complex, in Southern Stockholm, hoping to get a chance to see the home Djurgårdens take on the visiting Södertälje. I was able to buy one of the last tickets available, grabbed a Djurgårdens scarf, and entered the small but cozy Hovet.
Though the Ericsson Globe next door has a capacity of over 13,000, most of the hockey matches in Stockholm are held in the 8,000 seat Hovet, which allows fans to be even closer to the action.
The row are stacked on top of one another, and it is legitimately tiring to walk up to the 25th row, while a drunk person may tumble to their death if they take one wrong step in the other direction. This structural design no doubt was a key to Djurgårdens, who were buoyed by the tremendous support from the Ultras all game long.
Over the summer, I argued that a big reason for the recent success of Major League Soccer is the atmosphere at the matches, and that if brought into NHL and NBA arenas, they’d have more sellouts and fans coming to the games. After Saturday’s match at the Hovet, I’m an even more ardent believer.
The Djurgårdens (pronounced Yur-GOA-den) Ultras were situated behind one of the nets, taking up an entire four to five sections from the top to the bottom, singing and creating a great atmosphere from well before to well after.
And they had plenty to cheer about early, as it only took Djurgårdens three minutes and 56 seconds (the clock counts up in European hockey) to get on the board. A quick break out of the zone created a three-on-two for Djurgårdens. Defenseman Kim Lennhammer skated into the offensive zone, before laying off a pass to teammate Pontus Åberg. Lennhammer skated to his right, screening the goalkeeper, while Åberg snapped a wrister that trickled past the goalies “five-hole”, and gave Djurgårdens the 1-0 lead.
The rest of the first period was marked by multiple penalties on both sides, including a couple of rough penalties from Canadian born American defender Cam Fowler, of Södertälje. Likely the only player in the game who had played OHL hockey, and it showed.
The game overall was marked by great fluid passing, but at the same time, on both sides, some silly mistakes or poor passes. There were numerous times that Södertälje couldn’t get the puck out of their zone because they were being a bit too fancy, instead of just clearing it to change their lines.
The second period began the same way the first did, with another goal for Djurgårdens. Forwards Phillip Holm and Tim Eriksson played a one-two with one another, and after a pretty spin and pass from Eriksson to Holm, the latter’s backhand shot again went past the goalie, and slowly crossed the line.
Midway through the second, Södertälje hit one back. The sequence began when Djurgårdens star center Patric Hörnqvist went to the sin bin with a four minute double-minor penalty for slashing. Just a minute later, Djurgårdens had another mental lapse, when Kristofer Ottosson went to the penalty box for holding, giving Södertälje a two-man advantage.
It only took 15 seconds for SSK to capitalize, as winger Johan Anderson fed a pass across the crease to teammate Matt Read, whose quick wrister was in the back of the net in the blink of an eye.
In the final stanza, neither team could manage many chances, despite Södertälje adding a sixth attacker in place of the keeper in the final two minutes. Djurgårdens, on the backs of the tremendous support from the Hovet faithful, kept a tight defensive effort at the end, and recorded the massive 2-1 win over the nearby rivals.
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On the way home from the game, I was stopped by a college-aged male on the metro platform. He noticed me wearing my beanie with the “IU” logo on it, and asked if I went there. Turns out, not only was this guy from my neck of the woods back home, but he’s a senior at IU (studying abroad), and was at the match as well! So much for thinking I was the only tourist in the house.
It just goes to show, there are Hoosiers everywhere.
Follow Dan on his travels abroad on Twitter: @DanKarell15
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