TAMPA, Fla. _ Lynn White has been planning the Lightning's trip to Sweden for more than a year.
She's not doing it alone, though. White, NHL group vice president of international strategy, leads about 70 people making arrangements for the Lightning's two regular season November games against Buffalo in Stockholm.
They have an eye on everything from finding a plan and booking hotels, to reminding everyone to bring an adapter for cell phone chargers.
After 19 years of international play, White and the NHL have a system in place and a template to follow. They have an idea of what might arise, to help them anticipate the unexpected.
It helps that Sweden is familiar. The NHL has regularly staged games in Stockholm since 2000. Sweden and Finland are the league's strongest markets outside of North America, so the NHL keeps going back. Earlier this month, Swedish native Victor Hedman went on the league's European Player Media Tour in Sweden to help promote the game.
The Ericsson Globe doesn't currently host a hockey team (Djurg�rdens IF plays at the smaller nearby Hovet), but it did and its staff speaks the language.
That means when White and her team send a list of requirements for medical supplies, equipment and coordinating the installation of the rink _ including boards and netting _ everyone knows what they're asking for. It's not always so smooth in markets less native in hockey.
Last fall, shortly after the Oct. 6 game between the Devils and Oilers in Gothenburg, Sweden, and the Nov. 1 and 2 games between the Panthers and Jets in Helsinki, Finland, the NHL started planning this year's games.
"The NHL doesn't compel its teams to play internationally," White said. "Buffalo and Tampa were quick to raise their hands."
The league targets teams with players from the specific country (in this case, that means Hedman and Buffalo's Rasmus Dahlin). International fans don't typically follow teams the way you do when that team is based in your city. They follow players from their countries.
Once teams sign on, the league takes on much of the arrangements. That means travel arrangements, hotels, visas (typically for Russian players), etc.
"We tell them 'We're going to take care of you form the moment you leave the United States to the moment you come back,' " White said.
The first order of business is the plane. Teams' typical charter planes aren't equipped for transatlantic flight. After that, it's the hotel. The NHL works with teams to find something as similar to its usual accommodations as possible.
This trip for two games dictates almost a month of the schedule for the Lightning and Sabres.
It comes immediately after a trip to New York for Tampa Bay (Rangers, Devils, Islanders road trip) because it's easier to fly from there. The Lightning get a week between games to travel and then acclimate to the time zone. Then they have four days between games on the other end.
The NHL also offers advice on shifting sleep patterns to adjust better, starting with flight times and then when to nap.
The league supplies most of what teams will need, but there is a limit.
"We've already said to the Tampa Bay equipment staff: 'If there's something you absolutely need, like a player will only chew peppermint gum, bring it,' " White said.
Usually, especially in European countries, something similar will be available, but it might not be exact.
White ends internal meetings with those simple reminders: Make sure your cell phone is on an international plan and you don't rack up a huge bill.
