title: The Other Russia of E. V. Limonov

text: Since 2014, National Bolsheviks members of The Other Russia participated in pro-Russian unrest in Donbas. Members of the party formed armed troops Interbrigades and two members of The Other Russia were killed during the war in Donbas.


title: The Other Russia of E. V. Limonov

text: On 6 November 2017, several party's activists were arrested in Saint Petersburg for unauthorized protest as they commemorated the Bolshevik Revolution centenary.


title: The Other Russia of E. V. Limonov

text: On 7 February 2018, Kirill Ananiev, a veteran member of the banned National Bolshevik Party and The Other Russia, was killed in the air strikes during the Battle of Khasham.


title: The Other Russia of E. V. Limonov

text: On 22 September 2018, the special congress of the Other Russia party was held in Moscow. Eduard Limonov and another leaders gave their speeches. The congress was attended by delegates from regional branches of the party. Beness Aijo participated as representative of the armed forces of Novorossiya.


title: The Other Russia of E. V. Limonov

text: During the International Security Exhibition in Moscow on 26 October 2018, The Other Russia activist Olga Shalina cut her veins in act of symbolic protest against human rights violations in Russian penitentiary system. Shalina spoke about conditions in Russian prisons and spread leaflets criticizing police, shouting "Freedom for prisoners!"


title: The Other Russia of E. V. Limonov

text: Eduard Limonov died on 17 March 2020 in Moscow. In September 2020, The Other Russia was re-organized and changed the party's name to "The Other Russia of E. V. Limonov", to honor their deceased founder.


title: Jocasta complex

text: In psychoanalytic theory, the Jocasta complex is the incestuous sexual desire of a mother towards her son.


title: Jocasta complex

text: Raymond de Saussure introduced the term in 1920 by way of analogy to its logical converse in psychoanalysis, the Oedipus complex, and it may be used to cover different degrees of attachment, including domineering but asexual mother love – something perhaps particularly prevalent with an absent father.


title: Jocasta complex

text: The Jocasta complex is named for Jocasta, a Greek queen who unwittingly married her son, Oedipus. The Jocasta complex is similar to the Oedipus complex, in which a child has sexual desire towards their parent(s). The term is a bit of an extrapolation, since in the original story Oedipus and Jocasta were unaware that they were mother and son when they married. The usage in modern contexts involves a son with full knowledge of who his mother is.


title: Jocasta complex

text: Theodor Reik saw the "Jocasta mother", with an unfulfilled adult relationship of her own and an over-concern for her child instead, as a prime source of neurosis.


title: Jocasta complex

text: George Devereux went further, arguing that the child's Oedipal complex was itself triggered by a pre-existing parental complex (Jocasta/Laius).


title: Jocasta complex

text: Eric Berne also explored the other (parental) side of the Oedipus complex, pointing to related family dramas such as "mother sleeping with daughter's boyfriend ... when mother has no son to play Jocasta with".


title: Jocasta complex

text: With her feminist articulation of Jocasta Complex and Laius complex Bracha L. Ettinger criticises the classical psychoanalytic perception of Jocasta, of the maternal, the feminine, and the Oedipal/castration model in relation to the mother-child links.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: The 2011 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) , and the culmination of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion Boston Bruins defeated the Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks four games to three. The Bruins ended a 39-year Stanley Cup drought with the win. Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: The Canucks had home ice advantage in the Finals by virtue of winning the Presidents' Trophy as the team that finished with the best regular season record (117 points). They were also the first Canadian team to have home ice advantage in the Finals since the Montreal Canadiens had it for the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: On June 1, 2011, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman made an announcement that Colin Campbell would be stepping down as the league's head disciplinarian to be replaced by former player Brendan Shanahan, though Campbell would continue in his job as director of hockey operations. Mike Murphy, the NHL vice-president of hockey operations, had already been put in charge of disciplinary matters for the Finals, nonetheless there were concerns raised about Campbell's impartiality in handing out discipline since his son, Gregory, was an active player on the Boston Bruins roster.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: The first game of the series was held on June 1, while the seventh game was played on June 15. The games varied widely between those played in Vancouver and those in Boston. Prior to game seven, the Bruins had managed to score only two goals in three games played in Vancouver, against 17 scored in three games at Boston. On the other hand, while posting two shutouts in Vancouver, Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo was replaced with the backup Cory Schneider twice in three games in Boston. It was the fourth consecutive Stanley Cup Finals in which the deciding game was won by the road team. The Bruins scored almost three times the number of total goals as the Canucks, (23–8 in the series), but the Canucks won three games. The eight goals scored by Vancouver is the lowest number of goals scored by any team in a seven-game series in NHL history. The Canucks averaged 1.25 goals per game at home in Vancouver and one goal per game on the road, while the Bruins averaged almost six goals per game at home in Boston, and 1.5 goals per game on the road. In the seven games, the Bruins averaged roughly 3.3 goals per game, while the Canucks averaged 1.14 goals per game.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: The Bruins finished the regular season as the Northeast Division champion with 103 points, earning the #3 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. In their 33rd postseason meeting, Boston eliminated their bitter rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, in the first round of the playoffs in seven games. The Bruins went on to sweep the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round, outscoring the Flyers 20–7 in four games. Later, in the Eastern Conference Finals, Boston defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: This was the eighteenth appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals for the Bruins, and their first since , when they lost in five games to the Edmonton Oilers. It also allowed Boston to join Philadelphia as being the only cities to have had all of their teams play in each of the four major North American professional sports leagues' title rounds since 2000, following the Patriots in Super Bowls XXXVI in 2002, XXXVIII in 2004, XXXIX in 2005, XLII in 2008, XLVI in 2012, XLIX in 2015, Super Bowl LI in 2017, Super Bowl LII in 2018, and Super Bowl LIII in 2019. The Red Sox winning World Series titles in , , , and , and the Celtics in the NBA Finals in and and winning in 2008. In addition, Boston beat out Philadelphia for playing in all of the "big" league championship rounds in the shortest time in the new millennium, as it took 9 years for Philadelphia to achieve this feat; Boston needed only three years and eight months. The Bruins would also play in the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals, so from 2004 to 2015 all four Boston major league teams have each reached the championship rounds at least twice and also won at least once during a decade from 2001 to 2011. From 2007 to 2022, all four Boston teams have each reached the championship rounds at least three times. Following the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, "Boston Globe" columnist Dan Shaughnessy ranked all seven championships during the decade and ranked the Bruins' 2011 Stanley Cup triumph as third, behind only the Patriots winning Super Bowl XXXVI (second) and the Red Sox winning the 2004 World Series (first).


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: The Bruins won their sixth Cup championship, and their first one since defeating the New York Rangers in in six games, which makes Boston the first city to have championships in each of the four leagues in the new millennium.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: The Canucks, in their 41st season (including 2004–05 lockout), finished the regular season with the best record at 117 points, winning their first Presidents' Trophy in team history, and the Northwest Division championship. In the first round of the playoffs, the Canucks met the Chicago Blackhawks for the third consecutive postseason, having lost both previous series in six games. After Vancouver won the first three games, Chicago won the next three to force a game seven. Vancouver won the seventh game in overtime on a goal by Alex Burrows to avoid becoming the fourth team in NHL history to lose a series after taking a 3–0 series lead. The second round saw the Canucks eliminate the Nashville Predators in six games, with each game in that series decided by just a single goal (with the exception of an empty net goal scored by Vancouver in Game 4). Vancouver then went on to defeat the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Finals in five games.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: This was Vancouver's third appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. In their other Finals appearance before 1994, which came during their Cinderella run of , they were swept by the Islanders. The most recent Canada-based NHL team to win the Stanley Cup was the Montreal Canadiens in . The Canucks were the first team from Canada to make it to the Finals since the Ottawa Senators in .


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: With Vancouver having hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics, the Canucks hoped to mirror what had happened following the other two Olympic Games held in Canada, in which the host city's NHL team won the Stanley Cup the following year. Montreal hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics and the following year, the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup. The Calgary Flames won the Stanley Cup in , the previous year Calgary had hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: With the loss, Vancouver became the third team to lose in the Finals after winning the Presidents' Trophy, after the Bruins in 1990 and the Detroit Red Wings in .


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: Center Patrice Bergeron became the twenty-fifth player to enter the "Triple Gold Club", consisting of individuals who have won the Stanley Cup along with gold medals at the Winter Olympics, and World Championships, as a result of the Bruins winning the series. Bergeron also won gold medals as a teammate of Vancouver Canucks' goaltender Roberto Luongo at the 2004 Worlds and 2010 Olympics with Team Canada. Luongo – who also won the 2003 Worlds – would have become the first goaltender ever to enter the "Triple Gold Club", had the Canucks won. Both Luongo and Bergeron later got a second Olympic gold in the 2014 Winter Olympics .


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: Alternatively, Bergeron has also won a gold medal at the 2005 IIHF World Junior Championships, joining fellow Canadians Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, Chris Pronger, Joe Sakic, and Scott Niedermayer as the only players to have won the Stanley Cup and gold medals at the Olympics, World Championships and the World Juniors.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: Raffi Torres's goal with 18.5 seconds left in regulation broke a scoreless tie to give the Canucks the victory. The entire game was seen as a duel between the two opposing goaltenders; both Vancouver's Roberto Luongo and Boston's Tim Thomas were Vezina Trophy finalists for the 2010–11 season. Thomas stopped 33 of 34 shots while Luongo made 36 saves for his third shutout of the 2011 playoffs. Both of Luongo's two previous shutouts of the 2011 playoffs had also occurred in a game one (a 2–0 victory against Chicago in the first round, and a 1–0 victory against Nashville in the second round). This was the first time since that the opening game of the Cup Finals was scoreless through two periods.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: Both teams killed off all penalties in the game, including a five-on-three power play Boston had in the second period, and a double minor high-sticking penalty called on Vancouver's Daniel Sedin in the first. At the end of the first period, Vancouver's Alex Burrows was called for a double minor roughing penalty on Boston's Patrice Bergeron, while Bergeron also got a roughing minor. Replays showed that Burrows could have bit Bergeron's finger, but the evidence was inconclusive. Despite Bergeron's pleading to the referees, no additional penalty was assessed to Burrows. However, despite biting being a suspendable offense, Burrows did not receive a suspension from the NHL on the grounds that no conclusive evidence that Burrows actually bit Bergeron could be found.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: In the second-fastest overtime in Stanley Cup Finals history, Alex Burrows scored 11 seconds into the first overtime to give Vancouver a 3–2 win. Burrows faked a shot, causing Boston goalie Tim Thomas to move out of position, then skated around the net to put the puck into the empty net for the game-winning goal; Thomas was not able to recover his position. This was Burrows's second goal of the game. He opened the scoring with a goal in the first period during the final seconds of a power play. Boston responded with two goals in the second period, one by Milan Lucic and a power play goal by Mark Recchi. However, Daniel Sedin tied the score at 2–2 about midway through the third period.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: The game featured the return of Vancouver's Manny Malhotra, who had not played a game since March 16, when he suffered a severe eye injury after taking a puck to the face. Both Thomas and Roberto Luongo still had good games, stopping 30 of 33 shots and 28 of 30 shots, respectively. With his second period goal, 43-year-old Recchi became the oldest player to score in the Cup Finals.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: Burrows led all players with three points, including his two goals and his assist on Sedin's goal. Before playing, Burrows promised his father that he would have a big game so that his controversial biting incident in the first game would be forgotten. Burrows' play only drew attention that he had not been suspended and was galling to Bruins fans as well as critics who did support a suspension. Analyst Mike Milbury was extremely vocal about the league's non-suspension during NBC's telecast, saying that it was "a disgraceful call by the league ... They're impacting this series by a non-call". Still, Boston head coach Claude Julien, Patrice Bergeron, and the rest of the Bruins refused to make it an excuse for not winning the game.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: Before the game, the Boston Red Sox baseball club moved their game against the Oakland Athletics at Fenway Park from 7:10 p.m. EDT to 1:10 p.m. EDT to allow for Bruins fans to watch the game. This decision proved valuable as it took 14 innings for that game to end (ending at approximately 6:30 p.m. ET), pre-empting about 1/2 hour of NESN's pre-game Bruins coverage.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: Boston scored four goals in the second period, and another four goals in the third, which resulted in an 8–1 rout. Mark Recchi scored two of them; Brad Marchand and Daniel Paille each scored shorthanded; and Andrew Ference, David Krejci, Chris Kelly and Michael Ryder each tallied one of the other four. Tim Thomas stopped 40 out of 41 shots, only allowing a third period goal by Jannik Hansen.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: At 05:07 into the first period, Vancouver's Aaron Rome received a major penalty for interference and a game misconduct for a blindside hit to the head of Boston's Nathan Horton. Horton was taken off the ice on a stretcher and was then transported to a hospital for further observation. However, the Bruins did not score on the ensuing five-minute power play. Following a disciplinary hearing on June 7, Rome was given a four-game suspension for the late hit which assured that he'd miss the remainder of the 2011 playoffs, the first multi-game suspension in the history of the Stanley Cup Finals. Rome and the Canucks maintained that the play was a good hit that went bad, but the NHL determined that the hit came more than a second after Horton gave up the puck. The NHL considers a hit to be late if it comes more than half a second after a player gives up possession. A "Boston Globe" column by Dan Shaughnessy noted that Rome's hit on Horton inflamed the rivalry against Vancouver for that series, making it comparable to the long-running grudges that Boston's professional sports clubs held against other teams, saying "The Red Sox are playing the Yankees this week, but it is the Vancouver Canucks who '(expletive)' (rhymes with 'nuck')."


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: In contrast to game two, which featured only 10 minutes of penalties for the entire game, game three had 145 total penalty minutes, the most in a Cup Final game since 1990. The 8–1 score was the biggest goal differential in the Stanley Cup Finals since , when the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Florida Panthers in game two by the same score.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: Tim Thomas made 38 saves and Rich Peverley scored two goals as Boston shut out Vancouver, 4–0, to even the series. Roberto Luongo, who stopped only 16 out of 20 shots, was replaced by backup goalie Cory Schneider after giving up the fourth Boston goal at 03:39 of the third period. Thomas' shutout was the first for the Bruins in a Stanley Cup Finals since Gerry Cheevers' 4–0 win over the Montreal Canadiens in game three of the 1978 Stanley Cup Finals.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: Roberto Luongo made 31 saves and Maxim Lapierre scored the game's only goal to give Vancouver a 3–2 series lead. This was the second 1–0 victory for Vancouver in the Finals; game one ended with the same score. Lapierre's goal came at 04:35 into the third period. Kevin Bieksa's shot went wide and rebounded off the end boards to Lapierre on the other side of the net, who then beat Tim Thomas after the Boston goalie was unable to recover his position in time. Thomas made 24 saves in the loss.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: Luongo joined Frank McCool as the only goalie to have two 1–0 shutouts in the Stanley Cup Finals; McCool's victories came 66 years earlier in .


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: Boston defeated Vancouver 5–2 in front of a roaring TD Garden crowd to force a deciding game seven, the 16th in Finals history. The Bruins scored four goals in a span of 4:14 in the first period, breaking the record for the quickest four goals tallied by one team in the Cup Finals. For the second time in the series, Roberto Luongo was replaced by backup goalie Cory Schneider; this came after Luongo gave up Boston's third goal at 08:35.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: Vancouver's Mason Raymond suffered a fractured vertebra 20 seconds into the game on an awkward hit into the boards by Johnny Boychuk, and had to be taken to a hospital for treatment.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: With the loss, the Canucks fell to 3–5 in the 2011 playoffs in games in which they had a chance to clinch a series with a win.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: In Boston's first-ever game seven of a Stanley Cup Finals, Tim Thomas made 37 saves as Boston shut out Vancouver, 4–0, to win the Stanley Cup. Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand each scored two of Boston's goals. Bergeron scored first at 14:37 in the first period, then had a shorthanded goal at 17:35 in the second. Marchand's first goal came at 12:13 of the second period; he then scored on an empty net late in the third. Roberto Luongo stopped 17 out of 20 shots in the loss. The game was the last of Mark Recchi's 22 year NHL career; he announced his retirement immediately afterward, during the post-game celebration.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: In Canada, the series was televised in English on CBC and in French on the cable network RDS. In the United States, NBC broadcast the first two and final three games, while Versus (now NBCSN) televised games three and four.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: Game one on NBC drew the best television ratings for a first game since game one of the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, drawing a 3.2 rating, up 14 percent from game one of the Finals. The rating was boosted by heavy interest in Boston's large market, which posted a 25.5/39, topping the 19.1/34 for game one of the 2010 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: In contrast, game two drew just 3.37 million viewers for NBC, making it the least-watched Stanley Cup Finals broadcast on U.S. network television since game five in , which also was the last time a Canadian team (the Ottawa Senators) advanced to the Cup Finals.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: Games six, five and one are the third, fourth, and fifth most-watched CBC Sports programs with an average Canadian audience of 6.6 million, 6.1 million, and 5.6 million viewers respectively, after the men's ice hockey gold medal game between Canada and the United States at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Game seven was the highest rated game on both sides of the border; in Canada, it was second most-watched CBC Sports program, drawing an average of 8.76 million viewers and trailing only the men's gold medal game in ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics; In the US, NBC's broadcast drew a 5.7 national overnight rating and a 10 share (numbers that equaled game seven of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals), a number later updated to 8.5 million viewers, making the game the most-watched NHL broadcast in the US since 1973; in the Boston market alone, the broadcast pulled in a 43.4 rating and a 64 share.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: The final game of the series attracted huge crowds on the streets of Vancouver who gathered to watch the game on outside monitors and cheer the home team on. Shortly before the game ended with the apparent loss for Vancouver, fires were set on West Georgia Street. After the game ended, cars were set on fire and fighting broke out. Soon, a riot was in progress in downtown Vancouver, with police cars set on fire, shops looted and attendant destruction of property. The damage was expected to be greater than the 1994 Vancouver riots that occurred after Vancouver lost the Stanley Cup Finals to the New York Rangers.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: Years indicated in boldface under the "Finals appearance" column signify that the player won the Stanley Cup in the given year.


title: 2011 Stanley Cup Finals

text: The 2011 Stanley Cup was presented to Boston Bruins' captain Zdeno Chara by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman following the Bruins' 4–0 win over the Vancouver Canucks in the seventh game of the finals.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is a 2009 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. Set a century after "" and its sequel "", the storyline follows the current incarnations of Link and Princess Zelda as they explore the land of New Hyrule to prevent the awakening of the Demon King Malladus. Players navigate New Hyrule, completing quests that advance the story and solving environmental and dungeon-based puzzles, many requiring use of the DS's touchscreen and other hardware features. Navigation between towns and dungeons is done using a train, which features its own set of mechanics and puzzles.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: Production began in 2007 following the release of "Phantom Hourglass", with half the team including director Daiki Iwamoto and producer Eiji Aonuma returning. Aonuma got the concept from a children's book, and incorporated some of its elements into the game. Originally planned as a quickly-produced sequel similar to "", production lasted two years due to the new features. The character of Zelda was given more agency and a key role in both the narrative and several puzzles, breaking away from her earlier passive characterisations. The game was lauded by critics from both dedicated video game outlets and general journalistic sites. Praise was directed towards its narrative and gameplay concepts.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: "Spirit Tracks" continues its style of gameplay from "", in which players use the stylus to control Link and use weapons and items. The game is divided into an overworld, which Link traverses using the Spirit Tracks, and towns and dungeons which he travels by foot. The player alternates between exploring the overworld and exploring towns and dungeons in order to complete the game's main story, but may opt to complete sidequests for further rewards. In the overworld and dungeons, the player is able to make notes on their current map as an aid in puzzle solving and continuing the story.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: In the overworld, Link is able to direct his train across land, with the ability to control speed and forward or reverse direction, to turn at track intersections, and to blow the train's whistle to scare animals off the tracks. The player is able to automatically set a route for the train by drawing on the map, though not all locations are immediately available. Later, Link is given a cannon that he can use to defend the train from attacks. Link also eventually gains a cargo car, which he can use to move goods between towns. Some missions require Link to transport a passenger along the rails, and require the player to keep the passenger happy.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: As the game progresses, the player opens more of the map. In towns and dungeons, the player controls Link using the stylus, directing the character where to go. The stylus is also used to perform attacks and dodges and to select items such as bombs and a boomerang, used for combat and puzzle solving. Certain items, in particular Zelda's pan flute, require the player to blow into the DS's microphone. In the case of the pan flute, completing songs can unlock new magical songs, reveal hidden secrets, heal Link, or restore more of the Spirit Tracks. In certain dungeons, the ethereal Zelda can inhabit Phantom Guardians. The player can direct the possessed Phantom along a stylus-drawn path to attack enemies or simply follow Link. Several puzzles of the game require the player to manipulate Link and the Zelda-possessed Phantom to complete a goal. In towns, the player can have Link speak to its residents, buy goods at local stores, and learn helpful tips.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: Unlike "", "Spirit Tracks" does not feature Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection multiplayer. However, up to four players can also play via DS Download Play, using only one game card, and only one game system per player. This multiplayer mode is non-canonical, as all four players play as different Links, each with different-colored tunics (a style that was used in ""). Each player attempts to collect as many Force Gems (of varying sizes, value and number) as possible within a set time limit. Opposition includes the other players, a varying number of non-partisan Phantoms, who will attack any player on sight; and the play stages themselves, with environmental hazards. Results of the most recent game played will show up on a bulletin in most in-game towns and cities. "Tag Mode", an item trading system, is also available between local players.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: Similarly to "Phantom Hourglass", "Spirit Tracks" features a central dungeon, which uses a spiral staircase to access upper floors instead of having the player traverse the same floors multiple times as in the previous game. Also, although safe zones are still present, being used to hide from Phantoms, the dungeon does not feature a curse that Link needs to protect himself from for a limited amount of time.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: "Spirit Tracks" takes place at the end of the "Adult Timeline" within the "Zelda" continuity: it takes place a century following the events of "" and its direct sequel "". In the past, the Demon King Malladus engaged in an endless war with the Spirits, who eventually sealed him away using the Spirit Tracks, train lines stretching across the land, and the Tower of Spirits. A century prior to the game, new settlers arrived from the flooded land of Hyrule and made their home there, calling it "New Hyrule".


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: The story opens with Link going through his final exam and graduation ceremony as an Engineer, who both drives trains across the land and serves the royal family currently headed by Princess Zelda. The ceremony is disparaged by Zelda's chancellor Cole, who claims trains are futile as the Spirit Tracks are vanishing from the land. Zelda contacts Link and he helps her escape the castle to investigate the disappearing Spirit Tracks. When the tracks to the tower vanish mid-journey, Cole, revealing himself as a demon in service to Malladus, steals Zelda's body for Malladus to use as his host with help from his accomplice Byrne. Cole fragments the Tower of Spirits in an attempt to loosen Malladus' chains, and the different levels of the tower are suspended in space.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: Link and the disembodied Zelda find their way to the now-fragmented Tower of Spirits, where they meet Anjean, a Lokomo who serves the Spirits of Good. She asks Link and Zelda to restore the Spirit Tracks and the Tower of Spirits to prevent Malladus' return. Link must explore the floors of the Tower to retrieve glyphs that function as maps of the Spirit Train, a train located within the tower. While doing so, Link is nearly killed by a Phantom, a deadly guard of the tower, but he is rescued by Zelda, who discovers her ability to possess and control Phantoms. With the help of the Lokomos across New Hyrule, Link and Zelda restore the Spirit Tracks and most of the Tower of Spirits. Byrne eventually ambushes Link in the Tower, with Anjean revealing Byrne to be a rogue Lokomo before teleporting Link and Zelda away and battling Byrne herself.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: After fully restoring the Tower and the Spirit Tracks, Link and Zelda return to the Tower, but are too late to prevent Malladus possessing Zelda's body. Malladus betrays Byrne and escapes with Cole to the Dark Realm. Anjean and a now-reformed Byrne direct the two to find two artifacts they will need to find and defeat Cole and Malladus: the Compass and the Bow of Light. After retrieving both, Anjean gives Link the Lokomo Sword and joins Link and Zelda as they head for the Dark Realm where Cole and Malladus await. In the Dark Realm, Link and Zelda successfully banish Malladus from Zelda's body, and Byrne sacrifices himself to give Zelda the time to return to her body. Malladus then possesses Cole, but Cole's body is unable to contain Malladus' spirit for long, and Malladus vows to destroy the world before vanishing. Link and the restored Zelda work together to defeat Malladus with Zelda's magic, the Bow of Light and the Lokomo Sword, destroying Malladus and Cole. With Malladus no longer a threat, Anjean, Byrne's spirit, and the other Lokomos return to the Spirits' realm. Depending on how he answered a question from Zelda concerning his future, Link either remains an engineer, becomes a royal guard, or his future remains unknown.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: "The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks" was developed by Nintendo EAD. It was developed by one part of the "Legend of Zelda" team, the other working on "". Director Daiki Iwamoto and producer Eiji Aonuma returned from "Phantom Hourglass", along with half the original staff. The team were so pleased with the touchscreen design of "Phantom Hourglass" that they wanted to develop a sequel on the same platform. Their plan was to produce "Spirit Tracks" on a short schedule, similar to "" sequel "", using ideas that had been proposed and not implemented in "Phantom Hourglass". Due to a number of factors, development was extended to two years, double the estimated time. Despite the increased production time, Aonuma described this as a smooth production compared to other protracted or turbulent development cycles of earlier "Zelda" games. The graphics were chosen, similarly to "Phantom Hourglass", as a result of the decision that toon shading would be best to deliver the games on their chosen platform. Aonuma commented that with realistic graphics, it would make the characters poorly scaled to their surroundings, adding that though possible, it was not ideal. The music in the game was composed by Toru Minegishi, Manaka Tominaga, and Asuka Ota. Minegishi wrote the main overworld music and shared the work on field, character and event themes with Tominaga. Series sound composer Koji Kondo contributed the ending theme, while Ota was responsible for some of the music in the multiplayer mode.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: The concept for "Spirit Tracks" came to Aonuma while he was reading a children's book to his son. The book, titled "Senro wa tsuzuku", concerned a group of children creating a railway line in a magical countryside region. Iwamoto felt that "Spirit Tracks" should not be too like other "Zelda" titles, citing an argument that occurred that the train was not a good fit for the series, splitting the staff between those who thought the train should be changed, and those who successfully fought to keep the train. Aonuma felt that the team had created new ways of playing, while retaining several elements from the series. Aonuma commented that because the puzzles were designed by a designer who was formerly a programmer, they felt different to him. The use of the train was fixed early on, but the concept of players building train tracks was discarded as Aonuma saw it as a "nightmare" to manage. The Tower of Spirits was originally going to function the same way as the Temple of the Ocean King from "Phantom Hourglass", requiring the player to climb the tower each time they restore a new floor by going through the tower again from the bottom until they reach it. As development neared its end, Anomua made a comment about this never giving the feeling of climbing a tower, resulting in the spiral staircase included in the final design.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: Using feedback from "Phantom Hourglass", the team adjusted the controls so players would find performing Link's actions on the touchscreen easier. They also removed elements that had met with negative feedback from players, such as the time limit imposed on players when going through the previous game's main dungeon. The Spirit Flute was brought up early in the game's development. Because the microphone capabilities were featured so prominently in the game, the team decided to incorporate it into the flute. At an early stage, the team decided to focus on the ability to control and work cooperatively with a Phantom, originally used in "Phantom Hourglass" as a Wi-Fi battle mode-exclusive character. In questioning why an enemy character would aid Link, the team came up with the idea that a second character would take control of the Phantom; Zelda was ultimately chosen because she was "an interesting and appropriate character". The multiplayer was incorporated based on Miyamoto's liking for "", wanting something more than the earlier game's battle mode.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: A survey conducted in the United States signified consumers preferred more independent female characters, including Zelda's alter egos Sheik (from "Ocarina of Time") and Tetra (from "The Wind Waker" and "Phantom Hourglass"). Iwamoto expressed an interest in making Zelda "a more integral part" of "Spirit Tracks", in addition to being a more independent character. As a result, Zelda actively adventures alongside Link in spirit form, in sharp contrast to the damsel-in-distress role she fulfills in some earlier installments in the series. There was also a conscious effort to contradict the "princess" aspect of Zelda's character to defy the player's expectations. She was designed and written to behave like any girl her age would, despite her royal status, particularly in her friendship with Link. This is particularly displayed in several comedic scenes early in the game when she is still getting used to being a ghost, and when she becomes hysteric over her missing body.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: Aonuma felt that the inclusion of Zelda as Link's partner in both storyline and gameplay was his favourite part of the game, commenting that "Spirit Tracks" highlights her personality and characteristics better than other titles in the series. While taking place in the same continuity as "Wind Waker" and "Phantom Hourglass", all the characters except supporting character Niko were new; Niko was used to explain the game's history and setting to players. The team were careful not to focus too much on events from "Wind Waker" and "Phantom Hourglass", allowing first-time players to enjoy the game. The Japanese names of Lokomos characters were all puns on either train parts or specific models of trains. The antagonists were written to have more personality than in previous entries, with Byrne and Cole being played as contrasting rivals while also being Link's main opponents. Despite the clear signs of peace being restored, the ending was left a little ambiguous so players could imagine what Link and Zelda were doing, and were given a little choice with the question Zelda asks before the final battle.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: The game was officially confirmed in March 2009. The game's subtitle differed between English and Japanese. The English version was decided early on before the Japanese subtitle "Daichi no Kiteki" ("Train Whistle of the Wide World") was finalized. Originally using the Spirit Flute, known in Japanese as the "Whistle of the Wide World", was used in the subtitle. Feeling this title would be too long, and after toying with using the English title as inspiration, the current subtitle instead emphasised the train travel across large areas. The Japanese names of world regions paid homage to the subtitle. A limited edition tin was released in Europe for "Spirit Tracks". It features a tin box that contains two models from the game - Link and a Phantom.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: When it was revealed, the fan reaction to "Spirit Tracks" was stronger than the reaction to the Nintendo DSi reveal beforehand. In his impressions, IGN's Craig Harris found the storyline to be "compelling" with an "interesting premise". He felt that the gameplay was much like "Phantom Hourglass", and the plot was enough to get him "jazzed" about "Spirit Tracks". IGN UK's Emma Boyes, in her impressions of the multi-player mode, commented that how players can lose the majority of their Force Gems in one hit makes the mode have tension and balance. She called the single and multi-player modes a "huge amount of fun". IGN's Mark Bozon commented that it had a lot of "déjà vu" as well as several great additions to the series. He commented that the controls for Princess Zelda were simple, though her "constant chatter" and "slow movement speed" caused the game to slow down at some parts, but ultimately felt that it was overall a good addition. IGN commented that "Spirit Tracks" was set to be a "worthy sequel" to "Phantom Hourglass". In discussing its potential appearance at E3, IGN's Craig Harris felt that if a playable demo wasn't featured for it, Nintendo would show an "absolutely epic trailer that will bring fanboys to tears in the same way the company did with "" in 2004". They awarded it Best Action game for the Nintendo DS at E3 2009, as well as runner-up for best DS game E3 2009 and best handheld game at E3 2009.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: GameSpot's Sophia Tong commented that it was "well on its way to being a worthy sequel" to "Phantom Hourglass", adding that the ability of the characters to "convey the mood" of the game was well-done enough without using voice acting. She also praised its improved visuals over "Phantom Hourglass". Fellow GameSpot writer Tom Mc Shea commented that it looked as "charming" as its predecessors. Crave Online's Erik Norris called it "hilarious and awesome". He praised the change from sea to land, calling it a "guaranteed must-buy". GamesRadar's Brett Elston questioned the inclusion of train travel, considering how much criticism sailing received, but noted that it would be a strong addition to the series, though only if they were "no more obnoxious than sailing". In his hands-on of "Spirit Tracks", Eurogamer's Christian Donlan described the train travel as "natural", calling the railways a "perfect fit" for the cel-shaded world of "Spirit Tracks". He called it "another chunk of simple delight; another sweet-natured adventure". It was nominated for best-of-show at the 2009 Gamescom.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: "The Daily Telegraph" included it as one of the top 20 most anticipated games of E3, calling its cel-shaded visuals "beautiful" and "innovative" touch-screen controls. Ars Technica's Ben Kuchera praised it for how it exudes a "very pleasant mood and feel". He adds that he has always anticipated it, but the Phantom and train mechanics give it a "flavor of its own". He also commented on the E3 2009 trailer, stating that fans of the series will "be in heaven". Kotaku's Stephen Totilo criticized the use of the microphone for items, specifically the "Whirlwind" item, commenting that it would make it difficult to play on the subway with dignity. In his "sneak peek" at "Spirit Tracks", "Toronto Sun"s Steve Tilley called it one of his "must-have" video game for the holidays, calling it both "very Zelda-y" and "very fresh". "The Independent"s Michael Plant called it "anticipated". Wired named it the third best portable game at E3 2009, with Gus Mastrapa praising it for its "killer dungeons" and "challenging puzzles".


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: "The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks" received generally positive reception, according to review aggregator Metacritic. "Nintendo Power" called it one of the best handheld "The Legend of Zelda" titles, commenting that fans of the series would get it either way. "Games Master" called it "delightful" in spite of how similar it was to "". IGN's Mark Bozon commented that while it can "drag on from time to time", praising it as superior to "Phantom Hourglass" as well as praising it for its bosses, dungeons, and challenge. Computer and Video Games' Mike Jackson commented that while it "doesn't rewrite the rules", it was "engrossing". He also called it an exception to the DS' library in 2009, which was otherwise not exciting.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: "Official Nintendo Magazine"s Fred Dutton agreed with it being familiar, calling it a "wonderful game nonetheless". 1UP.com's Jeremy Parish commented that it "doesn't simply coast along on its legacy", calling it a "fine game in its own right". Game Revolution's Blake Morse called it a "fun take on "Zelda" games", as well as praising how Princess Zelda accompanies Link. However, he criticized the stylus control issues and when the train rides take too long. Eurogamer's Oli Welsh called it a "tighter and more rounded game" than both "Phantom Hourglass" and even "most modern games for grown-up consoles". He also commented that the environments are "sometimes shockingly basic", while the characters were "so detailed, so expressive, so exquisitely animated". GamesRadar's Dave Meikleham called it "one of the best "Zelda" games yet", calling its control scheme intuitive. He adds that the best use of the DS' controls were its items, specifically citing the Spirit Pipes which make use of the DS's microphone. Fellow GamesRadar writer Brett Elston praised the overworld theme, commenting that it put him in an "adventurous mindset", as well as calling it similar to the overworld themes of "Phantom Hourglass" and "The Wind Waker".


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: Nintendo World Report's Neal Ronaghan praised the addition of the train and the quality of the dungeon designs, though criticizing the lessened exploration and control issues, but he specifically praised the Phantom controls. "PALGN"s Jeremy Jastrzab commented that while it doesn't stray from its predecessor much, it features "genuine improvements" over it, citing specifically the flute as a major addition to the gameplay. Despite praising some aspects, he commented that it wasn't right for a portable game. GameTrailers commented that it "addressed the shortcomings" of "Phantom Hourglass", calling it "one of the better outings in the series". GameSpy's Brian Altano praised the game's dungeons and bosses as "some of the most imaginative" in the series. He also called it "one of the series' shining moments", but he criticized the train travel, saying that it makes backtracking tedious. GameSpot's Randolph Ramsay called the dungeons "exciting and well-designed", while also praising its side-quests, boss fights, multi-player, and Phantom gameplay, which he says "adds new depth to the series". Video Gamer's Wesley Yin-Poole praised the controls for Link and Zelda, as well as the visual quality of the characters, but criticized the train mechanic and its "tired features", commenting that the series needs changes to structure and gameplay rather than visuals.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: "Game Informer"s Andrew Reiner commented that he has not seen a game that "fluctuates between highs and lows as frequently" as "Spirit Tracks". He called it his least favourite title in the series, praising its controls, while also praising the inclusion of Zelda's effect on the gameplay. However, he criticized Zelda's character, describing her as teenage-angsty Hannah Montana than the calm-yet-troubled princess in previous series iterations. He added that this makes the adventure "taken off course". In a second opinion, fellow "Game Informer" staff member Phil Kollar similarly called the game mixed, comparing its reception to the NES video game "". He adds that while glad that Nintendo did something different, it hurt the game more than it helped. RPG Fan's Kyle E. Miller commented that he went into "Spirit Tracks" with "low expectations", expecting a similar reaction to "Phantom Hourglass", which he described as "far from amazing". On the other hand, he still found the title disappointing due to the train mechanic, which he states was a "foolish" idea by the developers to build a game around. He adds that while the dungeons and puzzles are good, it all feels "a little tired, brief, and empty", calling it "most likely the series' worst entry". Giant Bomb's Jeff Gerstmann also found it disappointing in some ways, though he added that the flaws were offset by "terrific puzzle design and a great, fun story that feels noticeably different from the standard "save the princess" saga that series fans are used to seeing".


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: "GamePro"s Aaron Koehn praised it for its use of the DS's capabilities, calling the game's offerings a "deep experience", but criticized it for taking too long to get going in the beginning and for doing little to differentiate itself from "Phantom Hourglass". RPGamer's Adriaan den Ouden praised the gameplay, commenting that it was "refined" from "Phantom Hourglass"; on negative side, he criticized its travel as "slow and tedious", also calling the side-quests "weak delivery subquests". Ars Technica's Ben Kuchera praised the train travel, calling it a "solid length" game and praising it for its touch screen usage. He did however criticize it for its slow beginning and lack of innovation. Stephen Totilo praised the characters and towns, commenting that the characters have "good senses of humor". He also praised the train travel, commenting that while it feels long to use the train sometimes, it can be fun if players multi-task. He called it one of the five best-looking games for the DS, but criticized some aspects of it, specifically its flute item, which he says can be unusable if players are playing on a train for instance. IGN UK's Matt Wales called it a "stunningly presented package", praising the graphics as "packed with personality". He called its soundtrack one of the "franchise's best audio offerings in ages". "The Daily Telegraph"s Nick Cowen called it both one of the best DS games of 2009 and the best video game for all ages of 2009, calling it "challenging and fun" and "chock-full of side-quests". "The Daily Telegraph" also included it as the ninth best Christmas gift for teenagers, while Cowen and fellow writer Tom Hoggins included it as their honourable mentions in their top 10 list of video games for 2009.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: "The Guardian"s Adam Boult commented that while it wasn't a "huge leap" from "Phantom Hourglass", it is "brimming with innovation", strongly recommending it. While he admits that train travel seems restrictive compared to "Phantom Hourglass", these restrictions are eventually "put to good use", making traveling an "engaging challenge". Fellow "The Guardian" writer Greg Howson found "Spirit Tracks" to be enjoyable, though criticizing the execution of the Spirit Flute. He listed it as his second favourite DS game.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: "USA Today"s Jinny Gudmundsen called it an excellent game for kids who enjoy the intellectual challenge of puzzles inside a captivating fantasy story filled with interesting characters. She also commented that kids are able to control both a hero and a heroine. "The Independent"s Rebecca Armstrong called it "endlessly inventive" with "new features galore", citing its usage of the microphone for items. She also called it "pacy, absorbing and very, very playable".


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: "Spirit Tracks" was nominated for best handheld game in the Game Developers Choice Awards. It was given the GAME Award of 2009 in the BAFTA through a reader's choice nomination. Nintendo Life named it runner-up for best Nintendo DS game of 2009, and its readers chose it as their runner-up for best game of the year. It was nominated for several DS-related awards, including best action game, visual excellence, sound excellence, best story, best multiplayer game, and game of the year. It was the readers' choice in every category except for best multiplayer game. IGN, however, named it only one of the runners-up in all of these categories.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: "Spirit Tracks" ranked second in its debut week in Japan, selling 291,496 copies. The next week, it fell to third place, selling approximately 126,000 copies. It fell to fifth place the following week, selling approximately 49,000 copies, and falling to eighth place next week, selling approximately 22,000. For the first half of 2010, "Spirit Tracks" ranked as the 14th best-selling game in Japan, selling 376,054 copies with total sales at the time at 696,995.


title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

text: Forbes' Brian Caulfield anticipated that "Spirit Tracks" would strengthen DSi sales for December. IGN predicted that DSi sales would remain steady, due to "Spirit Tracks" in part. Nintendo listed "Spirit Tracks" as a title that will have appeal to a wider age group in its financial report. Former Nintendo of America Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Cammie Dunaway used "Spirit Tracks" as a show of its holiday contenders in 2009. "Spirit Tracks" was anticipated to be the best-selling video game of December 2009 in North America by video game sales analyst Michael Pachter. "GamePro" predicted that "Spirit Tracks" would be the fourth best-selling game of December, expecting sales in excess of 725,000 copies. For its debut week, it ranked number one for Nintendo DS games. It retained its position in the following week. "Spirit Tracks" debuted at 12th place in the United Kingdom's video game sales chart. It was the fourth best-selling DS game in the UK. During the financial year ending on March 31, 2010, "Spirit Tracks" sold in excess of 2.61 million copies.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: The NHL Winter Classic () is an annual regular season outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on or around New Year's Day, generally in a football or baseball stadium in an area with a resident NHL team. The Winter Classic is distinct from the league's two other series of outdoor games, the NHL Heritage Classic and the NHL Stadium Series. The first Winter Classic was held in 2008 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (now Highmark Stadium) in Orchard Park, New York, between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins. Thirteen Winter Classics have been held as of January 2022. The most recent game was played during the 2021–22 NHL season at Target Field, with the St. Louis Blues defeating the Minnesota Wild 6–4.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: After the success of the Cold War at Michigan State University in 2001 and the 2003 Heritage Classic, the NHL's first regular season outdoor game, the league inaugurated the Winter Classic in 2008. It eventually caught on as an annual tradition for the league, suspended in 2013 due to 2012–13 NHL lockout and 2021 due the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2014 game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings set a new NHL attendance record of 105,491. The Winter Classic has been contested only in the United States, while the Heritage Classic has been held exclusively in Canada. The Winter Classic featured only American teams for its first five games, until the Maple Leafs' appearance in 2014.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: Along with the NHL All-Star Game, the Winter Classic is considered one of the NHL's premier events; with matchups generally booked to showcase the league's most popular teams and players, the event garners the league its highest attendance and among its highest television ratings. The event is typically promoted as a return to the sport's outdoor roots, meant to evoke memories of pond hockey. Its popularity has led to the scheduling of additional outdoor hockey games, both in the NHL and other leagues worldwide. In May 2014, the "SportsBusiness Journal" and "SportsBusiness Daily" named the Winter Classic its "Sports Event of the Year," the second time in five years the Classic has won that distinction.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: The Winter Classic was last played on January 1, 2022, at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The game featured the Minnesota Wild against the St. Louis Blues. This game was supposed to be played in January 2021 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: The Winter Classic as a television event was presented by NBC Sports Executive VP Jon Miller. He pitched the idea to the NHL in 2004 "but they didn't find the concept workable." In December 2006, Miller found an ally in then Executive VP/Business & Media John Collins, who embraced the idea.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: The first Winter Classic was held January 1, 2008, between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, New York. The game had a then-NHL-record crowd of 71,217 fans in attendance. The success of the 2008 NHL Winter Classic led the NHL to schedule a second one for 2009, held at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois, on January 1, 2009, matching the Detroit Red Wings against the Chicago Blackhawks. That game had the highest American television ratings of any hockey game in 33 years.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: Weather has proven to affect the game, with the 2011 and 2012 classics being delayed due to rain and other weather. Outdoor effects of wind and sun glare may give an unfair advantage to one team, so the NHL sometimes modifies the third and overtime periods. In this case, play is stopped at the midway point and teams switch directions. This option was exercised in 2008, 2011, 2014, and 2018. The 2008, 2014, and 2018 games also featured the teams switching ends halfway through the five-minute sudden-death overtime period for the same reason. In 2008 and 2014 the games went into a shootout, where both goaltenders alternated defending the same goal, rather than the normal practice of defending opposite goals.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: The Winter Classic was made a part of the NHL schedule through at least January 1, 2021, as part of the league's television contract, initially with NBC and Versus, then just NBC after Comcast (the parent company of Versus) bought NBC and merged Versus into the NBC Sports banner.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: The 2012 Winter Classic in Philadelphia was not played on New Year's Day, as that fell on a Sunday in 2012 and conflicted with the NFL's final week of regular season games. Instead, following precedent set by college football's bowl games (which move their games to Monday when January 1 lands on Sunday) and to prevent the risk of a weather delay pushing the game into the timeslot for "NBC Sunday Night Football", the game took place on January 2, 2012. The game was played at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Neighboring Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles, was reportedly preferred, but as the Eagles hosted a home game on January 1, the NHL could not undertake the required week-long renovations needed to construct the outdoor playing arena. The New York Rangers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 3–2.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: The sixth Winter Classic was scheduled for Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor in 2013, with the Detroit Red Wings hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs in an Original Six matchup. However, the 2012–13 NHL lockout disrupted the season, leading to the game's cancellation on November 2, 2012. The matchup was rescheduled for the 2014 Winter Classic, at the same venue with the same participants. It was the first time a Canadian team participated in the Winter Classic. An NHL-record total of 105,491 tickets were sold, greater than the Guinness World Records-certified world-record attendance of 104,173 at The Big Chill at the Big House, also held at Michigan Stadium. However, on January 24, 2014, an NHL source reported that the certified attendance, based on tickets scanned at the venue, fell short of the world record.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: In 2017, the Winter Classic was the second of two outdoor games to be held over the New Year's weekend, with the NHL Centennial Classic being held in Toronto on January 1 and the Winter Classic following on January 2. The St. Louis Blues defeated the Chicago Blackhawks by the score of 4–1, scoring 3 goals in the third period.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the first Winter Classic, the NHL announced on May 10, 2017, that the Buffalo Sabres would take part in the 2018 game against the New York Rangers at Citi Field. Due to a 1982 agreement with New York City and state tax laws that give their home arena Madison Square Garden tax-exempt status, the Rangers must not "cease playing" home games at MSG (which is generally interpreted as meaning playing a home game at any other venue), and thus Rangers hosted the game but played as the visiting team. The arrangement gave the Sabres only 40 games for the 2017–18 season in their home city of Buffalo, while the Rangers played 42 games (not counting away games against the New York Islanders) in New York City. The NHL had used a similar policy for the Rangers in the 2014 Stadium Series and the 2011 NHL Premiere. The game was played on January 1, 2018.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: On November 18, 2017, the NHL announced that the Chicago Blackhawks would host the Boston Bruins in the Winter Classic scheduled for January 1, 2019. The game was played at Notre Dame Stadium, in Notre Dame, Indiana, and was the first instance of a Winter Classic being played in a different state and media market than the host team—the stadium is located less than from Chicago but is served by television stations in South Bend.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: The NHL announced on January 26, 2019, that the Dallas Stars would host the Nashville Predators in the 2020 Winter Classic at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. It would be the first Winter Classic to take place at a warm-climate city and the first outdoor game for both the Predators and Stars. The Stars won the game 4–2 in front of 85,630 fans, the second largest attendance in an NHL game behind the 2014 Winter Classic.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: The league originally announced on January 1, 2020, that the 2021 NHL Winter Classic would feature the Minnesota Wild at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The league later confirmed the St. Louis Blues as the opponent. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic delaying the conclusion of the 2019–20 season to September and postponing the start of the following season, the event was moved to 2022 at its earliest. With a temperature of -5.7 °F at puck drop, the 2022 Winter Classic became the coldest outdoor game in NHL history as the Blues won 6–4.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: In 2021, the NHL ended its relationship with NBC and signed new agreements with ESPN and Turner Sports. As ESPN has a full slate of college bowl games on New Year's Day, Turner will hold rights to the Winter Classic throughout the entire broadcast contract.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: On February 4, 2022, the NHL announced that Fenway Park will be the site of the 2023 NHL Winter Classic. As a result, Fenway Park became the third outdoor stadium to host multiple outdoor games, and the first to host two Winter Classics.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: Due to the popularity of the event, every NHL team has requested to participate in the Winter Classic either as the host or the visiting team. While proposals have been made for nearly every outdoor National Football League stadium to host, with the end of the NFL season taking place at the same time of the Winter Classic followed by the NFL Playoffs starting the following week, in order to host the game the stadium's NFL team would have to play a Thursday Night Football game in Week 17 followed by an away game in Week 18 to even consider the possibility of hosting (as was the case for the 2011 game). Stadiums with natural grass fields such as Acrisure Stadium have already ruled out this possibility as there would be no time to resod the field or correct any other field damage caused by the game. The tight timeline would also rule out the ability for other support events such as alumni games or local college/lower level hockey games as the rink would have to be de-constructed immediately after the Winter Classic to ensure venue availability for NFL Playoffs games.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: While some NCAA College Football stadiums are unavailable to host due to already existing bowl games, most of these games are held in warmer weather climates opening up the possibility of the largest Big Ten Conference Stadiums such as Michigan Stadium (which hosted in 2014), Ohio Stadium, Beaver Stadium, and other large stadiums such as Notre Dame Stadium (which hosted in 2019). Most Major League Soccer soccer specific stadiums have seating capacities significantly lower than the other available facilities. With Major League Baseball in its offseason and with few other uses for MLB Stadiums during winter, more MLB stadiums have hosted than other type of venue and are expected to be contenders for hosting most future Winter Classics.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: Non-sports venues like the National Mall or Central Park have also been proposed, but present logistical challenges the league is unlikely to want to overcome given the other options available.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: Any future games in New York City will have to have the Rangers play as the away team because their home arena, Madison Square Garden receives tax-exemption status which means the Rangers "must not cease playing any home games at MSG" which is interpreted as playing a home game outside of MSG.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: The league prefers to play the game at night in primetime to avoid issues with sun glare on the ice. However, competition from the College Football Playoff, other New Year's Six bowl games, and in 2023 Monday Night Football has resulted in most games having an early afternoon start to finish before football games start, even though since 2015 it is impossible for the Classic to not directly compete with either a New Year's Six game or Monday Night Football. This means that neither the Los Angeles Kings (who hosted a Stadium Series game in 2014 at Dodger Stadium) nor Tampa Bay Lightning will play a Winter Classic as their host cities host a bowl game on New Years Day. It also means that should the Anaheim Ducks host a future Classic, it would most likely be played in San Diego at Petco Park as Orange and San Diego Counties share a border.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: For the Winter Classic, participating teams typically wear throwback, or retro-style sweaters, and occasionally retro-styled equipment. The throwback sweaters are popular with fans, and teams have often continued to wear them after the Winter Classic. The Penguins and Blackhawks made their Winter Classic sweaters their alternates the following season. The Flyers went a step further and made their 2010 Winter Classic sweaters their permanent road sweaters, beginning with 2010–11. The Sabres had already been using a variation of their throwback sweater prior to their appearance (that particular season, there were no third sweaters anywhere in the league) and adopted a slightly updated version of the sweaters as their main uniform in 2010–11, while the 2011 contestants, the Penguins and Capitals, wore their classic uniforms as third jerseys in 2011–12. The Capitals continued to do so through the 2014–15 season, the same year the Flyers adopted their 2012 Winter Classic sweaters as their third jerseys.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: The Winter Classic has proven to be a ratings success for the league in the United States and is regularly the league's most watched regular season contest (in the US), rivaling the ratings for the Stanley Cup.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: The 2014 Winter Classic between the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs had a television viewership in the U.S. and Canada of 8.2 million television viewers, a North American record for a regular season game; in addition to setting an NHL-record paid attendance of 105,491. Sportsnet's Chris Johnston said, "The feeling when the players walked into the 87-year-old stadium in front of more than 100,000 fans was truly something special. The biggest and best Winter Classic of them all lived up to its advanced billing." The game went down to the wire, ending in a 3–2 Toronto victory in a shootout.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: Despite the overwhelming popularity of the original Heritage Classic between the Montreal Canadiens and the Edmonton Oilers in 2003, the popularity of the Winter Classic in Canada is not as high as it is in the United States. On Canada's CBC Television network, the Winter Classic has lower ratings than its weekly regular season telecasts "Hockey Night in Canada". This has been attributed to the lack of Canadian teams in any of the Winter Classics and has led to both the revival of the all-Canadian Heritage Classic and the scheduling of the Maple Leafs in the 2014 Winter Classic and the Canadiens in the 2016 edition. Nevertheless, the Winter Classic continues to air on Canadian television, but since 2016 the games are moved to Sportsnet. In addition, Sportsnet elected to simulcast the American broadcast feed of the Winter Classic as opposed to sending their own broadcast crews, except when a Canadian team is involved (as was the case in the 2016 Winter Classic featuring the Canadiens).


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: The Winter Classic games usually rank among the most watched regular season NHL games on NBC reacquiring the rights to the NHL in 2005. Early entries in the Winter Classic ranked among the highest ratings for professional hockey in the United States since the 1970s, prior to that, the highest rating for an NHL game since then had been Wayne Gretzky's final game, which aired on Fox in 1999. Winter Classic viewership peaked in 2011 (due to it being rescheduled to primetime) and, with the exception of one-year bumps in 2014 and 2019, has been in a mostly steady decline since then.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: For the 2022 edition, the Winter Classic was broadcast by TNT. This was the first time that the Winter Classic aired exclusively on American cable television. 1.36 million people watched the game on TNT and it earned a 0.6 rating. This rating was a decline of 48% from the 2019 edition. However, the game had the widest audience in history of any NHL regular season game broadcast on cable.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: In 2010, the NHL and HBO announced a four-part documentary series as part of the build-up to the 2011 Winter Classic. The series, entitled "24/7: Road to the NHL Winter Classic", gave HBO exclusive access to the teams that were participating in the game. HBO went on to air two more editions in 2012 and 2014.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: For the 2015, 2016 and 2017 Winter Classics, the NHL partnered with Epix to air another series of four-part documentaries. The first two editions carried the "Road to the NHL Winter Classic" brand, but the 2017 edition was retitled "Road to the NHL Outdoor Classics" with the inclusion of the NHL Centennial Classic as part of the buildup.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: Starting with the 2018 Winter Classic, the NHL opted to distribute the "Road to the NHL Winter Classic" series to its broadcast partners. In addition, each episode was made available on NHL.com and the league's social media pages.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: From 2010 to 2020, episodes of the series were produced by Ross Greenburg in conjunction with the NHL. Beginning in 2021, NHL Studios will oversee production of the series, with Steve Mayer as executive producer, and Jay Nelson and Steve Stern as producers.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: For the 2022 edition, the "Road to the Winter Classic" was aired as a five or eight-minute segment on the NHL on TNT postgame show as opposed to a standalone episode during the Greenburg era. Unlike previous seasons, the season finale did not include highlights of the Winter Classic itself. Each episode was made available on the Bleacher Report YouTube page.


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: "Sports Illustrated" columnist Dan Shaughnessy said of the new Winter Classic, "[N]ow hockey owns New Year's Day the way baseball owns the Fourth of July and football owns Thanksgiving."


title: NHL Winter Classic

text: Its popularity in the United States led to the American Hockey League adopting a similar contest in 2010, the AHL Outdoor Classic, which it continued to organize each season through 2017–18. Both the Winter Classic and the earlier Cold War contest helped repopularize outdoor hockey at the college and university level, and several college organizations, minor and junior hockey leagues hold outdoor games each year. The Winter Classic also led to the revival of the Heritage Classic, an outdoor game featuring only Canadian NHL teams; and the creation of the NHL Stadium Series, another regular season event held at an outdoor venue.


title: Silent treatment

text: Silent treatment is the refusal to communicate verbally and electronically with someone who is trying to communicate and elicit a response. It may range from just sulking to malevolent abusive controlling behaviour. It may be a passive-aggressive form of emotional abuse in which displeasure, disapproval and contempt is exhibited through nonverbal gestures while maintaining verbal silence. Clinical psychologist Harriet Braiker identifies it as a form of manipulative punishment. It may be used as a form of social rejection; according to the social psychologist Kipling Williams it is the most common form of ostracism.


title: Silent treatment

text: The term originated from "treatment" through silence, which was fashionable in prisons in the 19th century. In use since the prison reforms of 1835, the silent treatment was used in prisons as an alternative to physical punishment, as it was believed that forbidding prisoners from speaking, calling them by a number rather than their name, and making them cover their faces so they couldn't see each other would encourage reflection on their crimes.


title: Silent treatment

text: In a relationship, the silent treatment can be a difficult pattern to break and resolve because if it is ingrained, relationships may gradually deteriorate. The silent treatment is more likely to be used by individuals with low self-esteem and a low tolerance for conflict. In order to avoid conflict, an individual will refuse to acknowledge it and will sometimes use silent treatment as a control mechanism. Enactors of the silent treatment punish their victims by refusing to speak to them or even acknowledge their presence. Through silence, the enactors "loudly" communicate their displeasure, anger, upset and frustration. The consequences of this behavior on the person at the receiving end by silence are feelings of alienation, confusion, incompetence, frustration, and self-worthlessness. These feelings can elicit a maladaptive response from victims with high rejection sensitivity levels, which can often lead to violence and more physical displays of aggression.


title: Silent treatment

text: Purposeful silence is a form of attention seeking behavior and can generate desired responses, such as attention, or a feeling of power from creating uncertainty for the victim. Unfortunately, the avoidance of conflict in the form of silent treatment is psychologically exhausting for all involved parties and leads to the irreparable deterioration of meaningful romantic, and familial relationships.


title: Silent treatment

text: Research by the Workplace Bullying Institute suggests that "using the silent treatment to ice out & separate from others" is the fourth most common of all workplace bullying tactics experienced, and is reported in 64 percent of cases of workplace bullying. The silent treatment is a recognized form of abusive supervision. Other forms include: reminding the victim of past failures, failing to give proper credit, wrongfully assigning blame or blowing up in fits of temper.


title: Silent treatment

text: Silence and non-responsiveness are not only passive aggressive forms of manipulation and attention seeking; they can also be used as tools to promote changes in behavior. Tactical ignoring is a strategy where a person gives no outward sign of recognizing a behavior, such as no eye contact, no verbal or physical response, or acknowledgment that a message has been read. However, it is a very active process as the person remains acutely aware of the behavior and monitors the individual to observe what the individual has planned and ensure their safety or the safety of others. It is a technique that is often employed in parent-child relationships and is similar to the silent treatment because tactical ignoring is a behavioral management technique that, when correctly applied, can convey the message that a person's behavior will not lead to their desired outcome. It may also result in the reduction of undesirable behaviors.


title: Silent treatment

text: One of the principles of tactical ignoring is to analyze the behavior to see the message that is being communicated by the individual. This message, the need for attention or to gain a reaction, requires a response. The aim is to provide the person with positive and quality attention for displaying appropriate behaviors, or for not displaying the undesired behavior. When the person displays the undesired behavior in order to gain attention, the tactical ignoring strategy is to ignore the behavior. This strategy uses the same foundation as that underlying positive behavior support and applied behavior analysis in that positive behavior is encouraged with reinforcement, and unwanted behaviors are discouraged with negative reinforcement or punishment. The use of tactical ignoring is taught in parent management training, but is also suitable for changing or shunning adult behavior.


title: Silent treatment

text: Tactical ignoring can be one element of a behavior management plan when there are a variety of challenging behaviors being addressed. Because it is a method that involves not responding to an undesirable behavior, it should be complemented by differential reinforcement for an alternative behavior, as seen in functional communication training, a procedure to teach a more appropriate attention-seeking behavior. Planned ignoring can be used for mild and low impact in terms of helping behavioral issues stemming from attention seeking and power struggles. Power struggles are when a child refuses to do something and it is an ongoing battle of insisting the child to comply.


title: Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C.

text: Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., are distinguished by their history, culture, architecture, demographics, and geography. The names of 131 neighborhoods are unofficially defined by the D.C. Office of Planning. Neighborhoods can be defined by the boundaries of wards, historic districts, Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, civic associations, and business improvement districts (BIDs); these boundaries will overlap. The eight wards each elect a member to the Council of the District of Columbia and are redistricted every ten years.


title: Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C.

text: As the capital of the United States, Washington's local neighborhood history and culture is often presented as being distinct from that of the national government.


title: Caernarfon

text: Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is to the north-east, while Snowdonia fringes Caernarfon to the east and south-east. Carnarvon and Caernarvon are Anglicised spellings that were superseded in 1926 and 1974 respectively.


title: Caernarfon

text: Abundant natural resources in and around the Menai Strait enabled human habitation in prehistoric Britain. The Ordovices, a Celtic tribe, lived in the region during the period known as Roman Britain. The Roman fort Segontium was established around AD 80 to subjugate the Ordovices during the Roman conquest of Britain. The Romans occupied the region until the end of Roman rule in Britain in 382, after which Caernarfon became part of the Kingdom of Gwynedd. In the late 11th century, William the Conqueror ordered the construction of a motte-and-bailey castle at Caernarfon as part of the Norman invasion of Wales. He was unsuccessful, and Wales remained independent until around 1283.


title: Caernarfon

text: In the 13th century, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, ruler of Gwynedd, refused to pay homage to Edward I of England, prompting the English conquest of Gwynedd. This was followed by the construction of Caernarfon Castle, one of the largest and most imposing fortifications built by the English in Wales. In 1284, the English-style county of Caernarfonshire was established by the Statute of Rhuddlan; the same year, Caernarfon was made a borough, a county and market town, and the seat of English government in north Wales.


title: Caernarfon

text: The ascent of the House of Tudor to the throne of England eased hostilities with the English and resulted in Caernarfon Castle falling into a state of disrepair. The town has flourished, leading to its status as a major tourist centre and seat of Gwynedd Council, with a thriving harbour and marina. Caernarfon has expanded beyond its medieval walls and experienced heavy suburbanisation. The community of Caernarfon's population includes the highest percentage of Welsh-speaking citizens anywhere in Wales. The status of Royal Borough was granted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1963 and amended to Royal Town in 1974. The castle and town walls are part of a World Heritage Site described as the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd.


title: Caernarfon

text: The present city of Caernarfon grew up around and owes its name to its Norman and late Medieval fortifications. The earlier British and Romano-British settlement at Segontium was named for the nearby Afon Seiont. After the end of Roman rule in Britain around 410, the settlement continued to be known as ' ("Fort Seiont") and as ' ("Fort Constantius or Constantine"), of the "History of the Britons", cited by James Ussher in Newman's life of Germanus of Auxerre, both of whose names appear among the 28 "civitates" of sub-Roman Britain in the "Historia Brittonum" traditionally ascribed to Nennius. The work states that the inscribed tomb of "Constantius the Emperor" (presumably Constantius Chlorus, father of Constantine the Great) was still present in the 9th century. (Constantius actually died at York; Ford credited the monument to a different Constantine, the supposed son of Saint Elen and Magnus Maximus, who was said to have ruled northern Wales before being removed by the Irish.) The medieval romance about Maximus and Elen, "Macsen's Dream", calls her home ' ("Fort Seiontmouth" or "the caer at the mouth of the Seiont") and other pre-conquest poets such as Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd also used the name '.


title: Caernarfon

text: The Norman motte was erected apart from the existing settlement and came to be known as ', "the fortress in Arfon". (The region of Arfon itself derived its name from its position opposite Anglesey, known as ' in Welsh.) A 1221 charter by Llywelyn the Great to the canons of Penmon priory on Anglesey mentions '; the "Brut" mentions both ' and "". In 1283, King Edward I completed his conquest of Wales which he secured by a chain of castles and walled towns. The construction of a new stone Caernarfon Castle seems to have started as soon as the campaign had finished. Edward's architect, James of St. George, may well have modelled the castle on the walls of Constantinople, possibly being aware of the town's legendary associations. Edward's fourth son, Edward of Caernarfon, later Edward II of England, was born at the castle in April 1284 and made Prince of Wales in 1301. A story recorded in the 16th century suggests that the new prince was offered to the native Welsh on the premise "that [he] was borne in Wales and could speake never a word of English", however there is no contemporary evidence to support this.


title: Caernarfon

text: Caernarfon was constituted a borough in 1284 by charter of Edward I. The charter, which was confirmed on a number of occasions, appointed the mayor of the borough Constable of the Castle ex officio. The former municipal borough was designated a royal borough in 1963. The borough was abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in 1974, and the status of "royal town" was granted to the community which succeeded it. Caernarfon was the county town of the historic county of Caernarfonshire.


title: Caernarfon

text: In 1911, David Lloyd George, then Member of Parliament (MP) for Caernarfon boroughs, which included various towns from Llŷn to Conwy, agreed to the British Royal Family's idea of holding the investiture of the Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle. The ceremony took place on 13 July, with the royal family visiting Wales, and the future Edward VIII was duly invested.


title: Caernarfon

text: In 1955, Caernarfon was in the running for the title of Capital of Wales on historical grounds but the town's campaign was heavily defeated in a ballot of Welsh local authorities, with 11 votes compared to Cardiff's 136. Cardiff therefore became the Welsh capital.


title: Caernarfon

text: On 1 July 1969, the investiture ceremony for Charles, Prince of Wales was again held at Caernarfon Castle. The ceremony went ahead without incident despite terrorist threats and protests, which culminated in the death of two members of Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (Welsh Defence Movement), Alwyn Jones and George Taylor, who were killed when their bomb – intended for the railway line at Abergele in order to stop the British Royal Train – exploded prematurely. The bomb campaign (one in Abergele, two in Caernarfon and finally one on Llandudno Pier) was organised by the movement's leader, John Jenkins. He was later arrested after a tip-off and was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment.


title: Caernarfon

text: In July 2019, Caernarfon hosted a rally for Welsh independence. The event, organised by AUOB (All Under One Banner) Cymru, included a march through the town centre. Organisers estimated that roughly 8,000 people joined on the march on the town square; local authorities confirmed at least 5,000 attendees. The event featured a number of speakers including Hardeep Singh Kohli, Evra Rose, Dafydd Iwan, Lleuwen Steffan, Siôn Jobbins, Beth Angell, Gwion Hallam, Meleri Davies and Elfed Wyn Jones. Talks covered criticism of Brexit and Westminster with advocating Welsh Independence.


title: Caernarfon

text: The history of Caernarfon, as an example where the rise and fall of different civilizations can be seen from one hilltop, is discussed in John Michael Greer's book "The Long Descent". He writes of Caernarfon:


title: Caernarfon

text: Caernarfon is situated on the southern bank of the Menai Strait facing the Isle of Anglesey. It is situated south-west of Bangor, north of Porthmadog and approximately west of Llanberis and Snowdonia National Park. The mouth of the River Seiont is in the town, creating a natural harbour where it flows into the Menai Strait. Caernarfon Castle stands at the mouth of the river. The A487 passes directly through Caernarfon, with Bangor to the north and Porthmadog to the south.


title: Caernarfon

text: Caernarfon's historical prominence and landmarks have made it a major tourist centre. As a result, many of the local businesses cater for the tourist trade. Caernarfon has numerous guest houses, inns and pubs, hotels, restaurants and shops. The majority of shops in the town are located either in the centre of town around Pool Street and Castle Square (Y Maes), on Doc Fictoria (Victoria Dock) or in Cei Llechi (Slate Quay). A number of shops are also located within the Town Walls.


title: Caernarfon

text: The majority of the retail and residential section of Doc Fictoria was opened in 2008. The retail and residential section of Doc Fictoria is built directly beside a Blue Flag beach marina. It contains numerous homes, bars and bistros, cafés and restaurants, an award-winning arts centre, a maritime museum and a range of shops and stores.


title: Caernarfon

text: Pool Street and Castle Square contain a number of large, national retail shops and smaller independent stores. Pool Street is pedestrianised and serves as the town's main shopping street. Castle Square, commonly referred to as the 'Maes' by both Welsh and English speakers, is the market square of the town. A market is held every Saturday throughout the year and also on Mondays in the summer. The square was revamped at a cost of £2.4 million in 2009. However, since its revamp the square has caused controversy due to traffic and parking difficulties. During the revamp, it was decided to remove barriers between traffic and pedestrians creating a 'shared space', to force drivers to be more considerate of pedestrians and other vehicles. This is the first use of this kind of arrangement in Wales, but it has been described by councillor Bob Anderson as being 'too ambiguous' for road users. Another controversy caused by the revamp of the Maes was that a historic old oak tree was taken down from outside the HSBC bank. When the Maes was re-opened in July 2009 by the local politician and Heritage Minister of Wales, Alun Ffred Jones AM, he said, "the use of beautiful local slate is very prominent in the new Maes."


title: Caernarfon

text: There are many old public houses serving the town, including The Four Alls, The Anglesey Arms Hotel, The Castle Hotel, The Crown, Morgan Lloyd, Pen Deitch and The Twthill Vaults. The oldest public house in Caernarfon is the Black Boy Inn, which remained in the same family for over 40 years until sold in 2003 to a local independent family business. The pub has stood inside Caernarfon's Town Walls since the 16th century, and many people claim to have seen ghosts within the building.


title: Caernarfon

text: In and around the Town Walls are numerous restaurants, public houses and inns, and guest houses and hostels.


title: Caernarfon

text: Gwynedd Council's head offices are situated in the town. The local court serves the town and the rest of north-west Wales, and in 2009 moved to a multimillion-pound court complex on Llanberis Road. The Caernarfon parliamentary constituency was a former electoral area centred on Caernarfon. Caernarfon is now part of the Arfon constituency for both the UK Parliament and the Senedd. The town is twinned with Landerneau in Brittany.


title: Caernarfon

text: At the local level, Caernarfon Royal Town Council consists of 17 town councillors, elected from the wards of Cadnant (3), Canol Tref Caernarfon (3), Hendre (3), Menai (4) and Peblig (4). The current Mayor is Councillor Maria Veronica Sarnacki.


title: Caernarfon

text: The population of Caernarfon Community Parish in 2001 was 9,611. Caernarfon residents are known colloquially as "Cofis". The word "Cofi" is also used locally in Caernarfon to describe the local Welsh dialect, notable for a number of words not in use elsewhere.


title: Caernarfon

text: Within Wales, Gwynedd has the highest proportion of speakers of the Welsh language. The greatest concentration of Welsh speakers in Gwynedd is found in and around Caernarfon.


title: Caernarfon

text: According to the 2011 census, 85.8% of residents were born in Wales, one of the highest proportions in Gwynedd, and 77.0% reported a 'Welsh only' national identity.


title: Caernarfon

text: The present castle building was constructed between 1283 and 1330 by order of King Edward I. The banded stonework and polygonal towers are thought to have been in imitation of the Walls of Constantinople. The impressive curtain wall with nine towers and two gatehouses survive largely intact. Caernarfon Castle is now under the care of Cadw and is open to the public. The castle includes the regimental museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers.


title: Caernarfon

text: The medieval town walls, including eight towers and two twin-towered gateways form a complete circuit of around the old town and were built between 1283 and 1285. The walls are in the care of Cadw but only a small section is accessible to the public. The town walls and castle at Caernarfon were declared part of a World Heritage Site in 1986. According to UNESCO, the castle and walls together with other royal castles in Gwynedd "are the finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe".


title: Caernarfon

text: Dedicated to Saint Peblig, the son of Saint Elen and Macsen Wledig (Magnus Maximus), the church is built on an important early Christian site, itself built on a Roman Mithraeum or temple of Mithras, close to the Segontium Roman Fort (200m away, in the care of Cadw). A Roman altar was found in one of the walls during 19th century restoration work. The present church dates mainly from the 14th century and is a Grade I listed building.


title: Caernarfon

text: The statue in Castle Square was sculpted by W. Goscombe John and was erected in 1921 when Lloyd George was Prime Minister. David Lloyd George was the Member of Parliament for the area from 1890 to 1945.


title: Caernarfon

text: The Old Market Hall in Hole-in-the-Wall Street and Crown Street was built in 1832, but the interior and roof were rebuilt later in that century. It is a Grade II listed building. It now acts as a pub and music venue.


title: Caernarfon

text: The old County Hall, which went on to become a courthouse, is situated inside the castle walls, next door to the Anglesey Arms Hotel. The old courthouse is built in the Neo-classical style. The courthouse was replaced in 2009 by a new complex designed by HOK on the former Segontium School site in Llanberis Road. The old courthouse adjoins what used to be Caernarfon Gaol, which has been closed since the early 20th century and was subsequently converted into council offices.


title: Caernarfon

text: There is a small hospital in the town, 'Ysbyty Eryri' (i.e. "Snowdonia Hospital"). The nearest large regional hospital is Ysbyty Gwynedd, in Bangor.


title: Caernarfon

text: Previously, Caernarfon had been chosen as the location of a new prison. HMP Caernarfon would have held up to 800 adult males when constructed, and would have taken prisoners from all over the North Wales area. However, in September 2009 the UK Government withdrew plans to construct the prison.


title: Caernarfon

text: Caernarfon Barracks were commissioned by John Lloyd, County Surveyor of Caernarfonshire, as a military headquarters and completed in 1855.


title: Caernarfon

text: Caernarfon was at one time an important port, exporting slate from the Dyffryn Nantlle quarries. This traffic was facilitated from 1828 by the Nantlle Railway which predated far more widely known ventures such as the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and the Ffestiniog Railway.


title: Caernarfon

text: Caernarvon railway station opened in 1852 as the western terminus of the Bangor and Carnarvon Railway. This connected the town with the North Wales coast and the expanding national network.


title: Caernarfon

text: Carnarvon Castle railway station opened in 1856 as the northern passenger terminus of the 3ft 6in narrow gauge Nantlle Railway. This service ended in 1865 when the line being built from the south by the standard gauge Carnarvonshire Railway took over most of its trackbed. The Carnarvonshire Railway's temporary northern terminus was at Pant to the south of the town. Pant station opened in 1867.


title: Caernarfon

text: At the same time the Carnarvon and Llanberis Railway built its line from Llanberis to Caernarfon. Its temporary western terminus was called Carnarvon (Morfa). It opened in 1869 near the modern road bridges over the Afon Seiont.


title: Caernarfon

text: For a short period, therefore, Caernarfon had three terminating stations on its edges. Records are contradictory, but this ended in either 1870 or 1871 when they were connected by a line through the town using the tunnel which survives, having been converted in 1995 for road traffic. When the through route was opened Pant and Morfa stations closed and the original station became the town's only station. The London and North Western Railway also took over all the lines mentioned leaving one station and one service provider by 1871.


title: Caernarfon

text: The services to Llanberis and south to closed progressively from the 1930s, with tracks being lifted in the mid-1960s, but Caernarvon station survived until 1970, with Bangor to Caernarvon one of the last passenger services to be closed under the Beeching Axe; it is now the site of a Morrisons supermarket. In November 2020 the Welsh Government stated 'further consideration' should be given to reopening the line.


title: Caernarfon

text: The fifth station was opened in 1997 on the old trackbed in St. Helen's Road. It is the northern terminus of the 2ft narrow gauge Rheilffordd Eryri / Welsh Highland Railway. Work began on a permanent station for the town in February 2017. The new station opened to passengers in Spring 2019. Heritage steam services provide links to Porthmadog, where passengers can change for services on the Ffestiniog Railway to Blaenau Ffestiniog.


title: Caernarfon

text: Bus services in the town are provided by Arriva Buses Wales, and a number of smaller, local operators. Longer distance, cross country services are operated by Lloyds Coaches, and connect the town with Bangor to the north, and Aberystwyth via Porthmadog, Dolgellau and Machynlleth to the south. These services are part of the Welsh Government funded TrawsCymru network.


title: Caernarfon

text: The A487 trunk road bisects the town, providing access to major urban areas along the North Wales coast and the Port of Holyhead, via the A55 expressway. Llanberis at the foot of Snowdon can be reached via the A4086, which heads east out of the town towards Capel Curig.


title: Caernarfon

text: Heading north out of the town is the Lôn Las Menai cycle path to nearby Y Felinheli. Heading south out of the town is the Lôn Eifion cycle path, which leads to Bryncir, near Criccieth. The route provides views into the Snowdonia mountains, down along the Llŷn Peninsula and across to the Isle of Anglesey.


title: Caernarfon

text: The Aber Swing Bridge is a pedestrian swing bridge that crosses over the Afon Seiont to connect pedestrians from the foreshore to the Watergate entrance in the centre of Caernarfon by the Caernarfon Castle.


title: Caernarfon

text: There are four primary schools in Caernarfon, Ysgol yr Hendre being the largest. The others are Ysgol y Gelli, Ysgol Santes Helen and Ysgol Maesincla.


title: Caernarfon

text: Ysgol Syr Hugh Owen is the single secondary school serving Caernarfon and the surrounding areas and currently has between 900 and 1000 pupils from ages 11 to 18.


title: Caernarfon

text: Caernarfon Town F.C. () is a Welsh football club based in the town, which currently plays in the Cymru Premier, the top level for football in Wales. The club is nicknamed "the Canaries" because of its yellow and green strip. Caernarfon Town plays at The Oval which has a capacity of 3000 people and 250 seated people.


title: Caernarfon

text: Caernarfon hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1862, 1894, 1906, 1921, 1935, 1959 and 1979. Unofficial National Eisteddfod events were also held there in 1877 and 1880. Caernarfon also hosted the 30th annual Celtic Media Festival in March 2009.


title: Caernarfon

text: Galeri is a creative enterprise centre that houses a gallery, a concert hall, cinema, a number of companies, and a range of other creative and cultural spaces.