Day Three - An Exhbition Game, team meals, practice...

Thursday, February 12 started off very, very rainy and cold enough to cause ice on the windows. The coaches and I left the hotel around 7:45am and arrived at the Colisee around 8am to await the arrival of the team. Very similar to yesterday, with many of the boys being dropped off at the Colisee. It sounded like they all had a fun time at their host families' house. Some of the boys played pond hockey; some played xbox...but they all had wonderful warm homecooked meals and a good night sleep. Which was good, because the first activity on the agenda was an exhibition game against the Vancouver Seafair PWAAA at 10:10 at the rink in the mall (Gallerie de la Capitol).


Skate Sharpening at the Colisee

Before loading up the van, skate sharpening of Chris' skates was a priority. On the first floor of the Colisee is a little proshop and the skate sharpener. It really is a neat machine because the skates are attached to the machine, which slides the skates back and forth - it is fully automated. However, prior to the skates being placed on the machine, the man to the left, looked at the blade and noticed that it was slightly curved. So, he placed it in a vice-like apparatus and straightened out the blade.

Transporting of the equiptment and the team

While Robert S. has a van to transport us from the hotel to the location we are suppose to meet the boys, anytime we go places as a team, we travel in 2-3 vans supplied by the tournament. All the boys and 1 or 2 adults travel in the van with them. If the destination is a rink for practice or a game, the equiptment is transported by a U-Haul like truck.

Off to the Exhibition Game

We loaded up the vans and headed to the rink at the mall for the Exhibition Game. As mentioned, the game was against the Vancouver Seafair PWAAA. The game was three 15 minute running time periods...and here, for the tournament there is no check (i.e. no hitting). Something to be aware of, which several of the boys mentioned that it was hard to comply with. Let's just say that it was good thing to have had this exhibition game, for it gave the boys a feel for how to play non-checking hockey. Unfortunately, we lost the game - the final score was 5 to 3.

A quick summary of the scorers:

2nd period - 5:31 - Carson from Kyle

2nd period - 4:53 - Carson from Brian and Hiroki

3rd period - 10:00 - Max from Morgan and Brian

The boys weren't happy with the outcome or their play...so, hopefully they will know what they will need to do when they show up at their first tournament game tomorrow evening at the Colisee.

After our exhibition game, there were other teams getting ready for theirs...a Russian team was getting ready to go out on the ice. In addition, Washington Jr. Capitals and the Pittsburgh Jr. Penguins. Speaking of the Jr. Penguins, the coach of this Quebec team is Mario Lemiux, who drew a lot of attention! It is fun for the kids (and the adults) to see some of the great hockey players!

Lunchtime...hockey team fashion...
The tournament package contains a meal program for the teams. In a community center near the Colisee is a "mess hall" where they serve cafeteria food. So, for lunch today, the boys walked in the cafeteria, grabbed a tray and walked down the line to see what choices they had for lunch. No, there wasn't any green jello - sorry, but there was red Kool Aid. The boys dined on roasted chicken with sides of boiled peas and rice and/or ziti noodles in meatsauce. Bread, lettuce cups, bananas, applies, oranges, cookies, Tim Horton donuts, and other sweets were plentiful.
There were some very hungry boys at the table; as there were a lot of clean plates on the table. After they were done, they were responsible for busing the table. Before leaving the cafeteria, a member of the tournament proudly showed us their beautiful cake commemorating the 50th anniversary of the tournament.

Now that the bellies of the San Jose Jr. Shark PWAA hockey players were full, it was time to head back to the Colisee, before loading the vans to head to another rink for practice. Practice this afternoon was, yet, at another rink. Practice lasted for about an hour. We were hoping to get in another game, unfortunately it didn't happen because many of the teams were still arriving. While at this rink, the Carolina Jr. Hurricans were practicing and the Detroit Victory Honda team was just arriving in town. In fact, due to bad weather several members of their team were still stuck in Detriot. Since their first game wasn't until Saturday, they weren't too worried.

After practice, the boys got all the equipment packed back up and loaded on the truck. While waiting for the vans to pick us up, the boys enjoyed another snowball fight. When the vans arrived, the boys loaded up and off we were again to the Colisee. Back at the Colisee, some of the boys' host family were there for pick up. It was at this time that the boys who ordered a tournament ring were brought down by the pro shop and received their rings. Before the rings were packaged up in a special blue velvet pouch, the salesperson fitted them making sure that they were not too big or too small. Due to several incidents of lost articles...the boys receiving their rings were given advice on how to make sure that they didn't loose the rings before getting back home (in California). Such advice was to leave them at their host families' house in a backpack or someplace safe - they were adviced not to wear it to the rink, because they would have to remove it before putting on their gloves for a game or practice. (If you talk to your child and they received a ring, you might just want to talk with them about it).

Something else that a few of the kids are doing - and all will have an opportunity to do as the tournament goes on - is to trade pins with all the other teams present. Teams are here from all over the world, as our boys have talked with players from Moscou C.S.K.A, Swiss Eastern Selects...all over the US and Canada.

There were several of the host families who had a child or a friend play in the evening game at the Colisee - meaning dinner would be late...we made sure that the boys who were remaining with us would be fed, taking them back to the community center/hockey cafe. Tonight the menu consisted of hambuger patty, green beans, french fries and gravy, bread, fruits and plenty of sweet options. Again, these boys were well fed. While at the center, a few of the boys viewed some girls who were there for either a dance or cheerleading practice. Well, let's just say that some of the boys found the girls attractive and decided that it would be fun to talk with them - even with the language barrier (they spoke French). The boys were very well behaved, so please do not worried (but I don't know if I can say the same thing about our coaches...just kidding:) ).

What is up for tomorrow? Well, the morning will be similar as the first few days - meeting them at the Colisee between 8 & 9am. We will probably watch some of the teams play their morning games, visit a hockey store and eat lunch together at the community hockey cafe. After that, the plan is to take some time for school work and rest up before our first game. At 7:40pm (4:40pm California Time) we will take the ice at the Colisee for the first time. We will be playing the Peterborough Petes. The boys are excited and looking forward to this big event. For those who are interested in actually watching the team play, you can purchase the "live stream" at http://www.tournoipee-wee.qc.ca/ . Note, it will cost $35US.

Well, it is time to sign off. Good night from Quebec.