In the fall of 2023 the Beerhunters attended the 17th Austrian Icehockey Classic Tournament In Austria.
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Note from the Organizer - Mike Upton
Entry:
Our entry into the 2023 Austrian Ice Hockey Classic has been accepted.
As of now we have 10 skaters and a goalie that have expressed interest in participating. I would like to add a couple more.
Invitations have been extended to Mike and Ian Bell.
Financials:
I have not received any financial info from the organizers (entry fee including the gala at the castle and hotels)
Tournament Details:
The tournament games are Wednesday September 27 to September 30. The castle party is September 30.
I will try and arrange the following
September 24 - Oktoberfest.
September 25 - Pick up game in Fussen/Kaufbeuren.
My tentative plan is to fly into Munich arriving Sept 23 (depart Sept 22 from Toronto)
Stay in Munich Oct 1 and return to Toronto Oct 2.
Hotels:
-
- Munich Sept 23, 24
- Fussen Sept 25
- Zell am See Sept 26,27,28,29,30
- Munich Oct 1
Of course your plans may be different but you should be in Fussen for Sept 25 and Zell by Sept 26
NY Times Article About Old Timer Hockey
Trip Summary:
Russ has helped pick out the official 2023 Team outfit for the Banquet
Russ offered to order one if you want - about US $30. I took him up on the offer and got him to order me one!
Roscoe's Blog
Click her to view "Blog - Roscoe Goes to Europe"
In the Spotlight
Here is an “Homage” to Ron… Ron you have come so far over the years!
Hotel Information
The following is the information (e.g. address, phone number) for each hotel during the trip.
Here is the hotel contact information
"Live" Updates to be provided during the trip!
Day 1 - Travel Day Toronto - Munich - Fri Sept 22nd
For those travelling on the Air Canada Flight @ 17:30 (5:30 p.m.) - Dave Meston is bringing a small stick bag and has scheduled a meet for 14:30 (2:30 p.m.) at the Air Canada Check-in location.
Need to coordinate with Phil on how to get to the airport. Fly overnight to arrive in Munich Sept 23rd.
Phil’s wife drove us to the airport - on her birthday no less!! Used the YYZ express which bypasses any line and headed to the domestic lounge for a drink and some food.
Day 2 - Munich - Sat Sept 23rd
Weather Report
Arrived in Munich and toon the SB8 train into Munich and dragged out luggage over to our hotel, Hotel Ibis Munchen City.
We lugged our baggage to the S trains and took to the main Munich train station for 13 Euros.
Since we are arriving at different times in Munich (I think I’m [Mike U] last) let’s meet at the Ibis hotel at 5:30 to head out for Saturday evenings festivities. I think the Augustiner in the pedestrian zone. That will give the ‘Newbees’ a look at central Munich.
Dinner was at the Augustiner in the main square where lots of Schnitzel and Chicken was consumed. Not to mention a few 2-litre mugs of beer, Folks then headed to the Irish bar for more drinks. Ireland was playing Rugby in the World Ruby Championships so there was a lineup to get inside - so we settled for a table outside. Laster we returned to the hotel to have more beer and watch the Blue Jays game,,,
Day 3 - Munich - Oktoberfest - Sun Sept 24th
Today marked our first official day of the trip starting at Oktoberfest.
Our Oktoberfest tickets are for 12:00-5:00 at the Hofbrauhaus tent. It’s not a bad walk so I am going to suggest we leave the hotel at 11:30.
Heads up!! The price of beer went way up this year between 12.60 - 14.90 euros or $13.45-$15.90 for a 1-litre beer!! Luckily, our entry into the tent comes with two beer tickets. We have reserved tables at the Hofbraeu Festzelt: 2 tankards of beer, a Bavarian appetizer and a chicken dinner. Click here for a copy of the menu.
This years tent had us sitting off to the side on the main floor across from the elevated band. Music was traditional Oktoberfest songs as we ate our spread of food and beers.
Some of us stayed till closing as the music slowly changed to more modern dance music. We drank and shared stories with folks from around the world. Eventually, when it was time to leave, many guys forgot the sacred rule of “Leave no Beerhunter Behind!!!” and each of myself and Roscoe were left to find our way back to the hotel alone - amazingly we both stumbled and found our way back sharing details of adventure at the morning breakfast.
Day 4-5 - Kaufbeuren - Mon Sept 25th and 26th
Monday
Monday we travel from Munich to Kaufbeuren (about an hours drive) to meet up with some German friends and have a few drinks. Here we will also meet up with the Portland Maine team and check into the Hotel Goldener Hirsh.
The Hot Docs have confirmed we will be playing a mini round robin "friendly" on Monday night with them, Portland and us. Starts at 8:30 p.m. in Kaufbeuren. They have also arranged for a post skate get together at a local pub.
The “friendly” hockey was played on some very slushy/slow ice with the Beerhunters finishing b the top 3. The banquet was at the local watering hole and once again the Hot Docs insisted on hosting the event - not allowing us to pay for our drinks!! (first 5 min only - photos area has complete video).
Tuesday
The Portland Maine team have arranged for an "optional" 2 hours of ice on Tuesday morning for pick up morning skate. 8:00- 10:00.
Tuesday is also a travel day from Kaufbeuren to Zell Am See. A trip that takes about 3-7 hours to drive.
We decided to opt out of the optional skate as it was another late night of drinking and some folks decided to not take the autobahn in favour of the more scenic back routes thru the mountain passes. Myself and Gord put our lives in the hands of Phil and took the mountain roads all the way to Zell Am See. The trip on the extremely windy and at times treacherous mountain roads took us about 7 hours. Despite the time it took us to navigate our way, Michael Church holds the record for the length of time to drive as his navigator “Navigator Paul” entered the wrong address into the GPS for our hotel in Austria, sends in Mr.Church and the lovely Mrs. Church to completely the other side of Austria. Despite leaving about an hour before us - he arrived at the same time!! Not a happy camper who was in desperate need of a large scotch!!!
Needless to say, dinner was delayed a bit but finally the team sat down to have a nice meal and head to bed early in prep for the 5am wake up call to start off the tournament.
Day 5-9 - Zell am See - Tues - Sat Sept 26, 27, 28, 29, 30th
Weather Report
There is lots to see and do do in Zell Am See during any free time between games. You can go on hikes, ride the gondola to the top of the glacier, ski, golf, hike, do guided tours, etc.
Just go to the website at; https://www.zellamsee-kaprun.com/en Or you can load the Apple iOS app:
Click here to download the IOS tourist app for Zell Am See
Tuesday
Arrive and check into the Hotel Zum Hirschen.
Tournament Schedule:
- Wednesday 06:00 (yes that’s am) Vs Team Jensen Can/USA
- Thursday 13:00 Vs EHC Bulach Oldies Sui
- Friday 13:00 Vs Veivarit Tuusula Fin
- Saturday 18:00 Vs Delta Hockey Club USA
- Banquet at Kaprun Castle to follow Saturday’s game.
Wednesday
With the game being scheduled for 6 a.m., against team Jensen Can/USA, today is a good day to do some sightseeing, skiing, etc. Mike Upton is planning to drive the Grossglockner High Alpine Road. It is a 47 km drive with 36 curves/switchbacks (wish I was driving a sports car not an SUV) that has stunning scenery. Grossglockner.at
After the several hours of driving from Munich, folks decided to opt for a walk around the late in lieu of doing some more driving. The walk took just over 3 hours to circumnavigate the lake.
The Old Musketeers
Dinner Options
Instructions for ordering: By table (either table 20 or table 22) pick your main (fish, pork or spaghetti), and desert (ice cream or strudel). No mixing and remember your order!
Thursday
Today's game is against the Swiss EHC Bulach Oldies.The weather was spectacular! The game was at 1pm followed by beers and schnapps in the parking lot… It was a hard fought game that could have gone either way, however the Swiss got a few bounces and took out the Beerhunters.
After a fabulous dinner, the team took in the light show down by the lake under a full moon.
Video of the end of the show;
Friday
Today's game is against Finland's Veivarit Tuusula.
After the team dinner, many of the guys watched the first round of the Ryder cup where Russ shared some scotch and “Russ’issms”.
Saturday
We close out the tournament with a game against the Delta Hockey Club from the U.S. followed directly after by the castle party.
Phil, Mike U, and Roscoe took the opportunity to head out and drive the “switchback highway” up to the highest mountain peak in Austria.
Day 10 - Munich - Sun Oct 1st
Today we head to the Movenpick Hotel at the Munich airport.
Tribute to Mike Upton
Michael Church and Dave Meston (long time members of the squad) helped honour Mike Upton for all his work in “herding the cats” yet again!! A fitting ending for our time in Europe.
Special thanks to Michael Church and Sandra Church for co-ordinating the gifts and ceremony (first 5 min only - photos area has complete video).
The majority of the team headed back to Munich to the Movenpick hotel at the airport. Not to be out done by Michael Church, Ron Perryman decided to head to the wrong Movenpick in downtown Munich instead. He got the hint when he passed the entry gates to Oktoberfest that he was likely at the wrong destination! Most folks dropped their cars in favour of taking a taxi from the hotel in the morning. Phil did not have a good experience in returning the car as Hertz claimed he added some damage to the car - something that I did not witness and that he plans to follow up on as they doubled his bill.
The last team dinner was had in the dinning room at the Movenpick where many folks got their last taste of genuine German schnitzel. This was followed by watching the last Toronto Blue Jays game to see where they would be playing in the post season. Go Jays Go!
Day 11 - Munich - Toronto - Travel Day - Mon Oct 2nd
Head to the airport to catch flights back home.
To get to the airport, there is no airport shuttle anymore. So we arranged a 6 person taxi to take us to the airport which ended up being 45 Euros (we paid her 50 euros). Once at the airport the check in at Air Canada was not well organized with ling lineups. The staff were not trained well and did not know if the Aeroplan services to allow for free baggage. I ended up giving up and paid 70 euros, got a receipt and will try to get a refund. From discussions with others - Some others would not leave the line until they honoured the free bag.
Our plane was changed to a Boeing 787 “Dreamliner” that are very smooth and quick as they can fly over 40,000 feet and combined with the fact that I had an aisle seat in the exit row, made for a very enjoyable flight (exit rows are worth the upgrade for long flights).
Ron’s experience at duty free was met with a serious setback when he approached the store only to find the following sign.
I guess no discount alcohol or presents for the folks back home !!
Phil discovered that his high-end (and fee) Amex card does not get him access to the premium lounge, making him question why he is paying the annual fees. Something else to look into back at the ranch.
In Toronto, we all said our goodbyes, I grabbed the stick bag and headed back home by limo - another successful and extremely enjoyable trip for the Beerhunters!!
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