Lots of Finals

After 9 amazing days, I am writing my final post for what has truly been a trip of a lifetime.

We are all waiting at the Stockholm airport waiting to board our flight to London Heathrow and then onto Toronto.

Yesterday was a day of finals. Our final game against Taby was brilliant on so many levels. Our boys played their best hockey against the top 2000 team in Sweden. It went back and forth for two periods. We played a lot of Swedish with sadly no Finnish in our game. We missed 6 or 7 breakaways and ended up on the losing end of a 5-2 score.

Tevi was instrumental in our dressing room speeches. His "three words" we're motivating, comical and sooo Tevi.

P.C and Lucas C battled through their respective injuries to make a huge difference in a big game.

Having one of the Swedish Taby Mom's sing "O Canada" while the teams lined up at the blue line was something I won't soon forget. The group photo at the end is a sign of the respect that both teams had for another.

We headed back to the hotel to pack and then we were onto a fine Italian Restaurant for our final dinner which proved to be our best meal yet.

One final breakfast this morning, one final bus ride, and counting to 39 to make sure we had everyone on board. 

I have no doubt that the memories are many and the stories plenty. Our team has come together like never before and the drive for a championship begins on Wednesday.

A huge thanks to our parents for their support of this adventure and to John Trimble from the GTHL and his wife Ann for their support, especially as we delt with Tevi and his unfortunate injury.

Greg Kelly and Northern Group Travel did an amazing job as our trip ran without a hitch or delay.

Special thanks to my two assistant coaches Dave Day and David Crawford for getting our boys ready to play.

Lastly to Jordan Greenberg my wing man for his support from day one in helping me take a dream through to reality.

 

Thanks to Matthew Sams some final hockey photos to enjoy.

Challenging day on different levels

We had a great day upon arrival in Stockholm. After the longest walk from the Silja Symphony to our new bus with all our hockey bags and luggage, close to 500M  we were introduced to Kathrine, possibly the best tour guide I've ever had who took the group on a wonderful bus tour of Stockholm, which included a trip to the Vasa Museum. Sweden's 17th century version of the Titanic whose maiden voyage only lasted 20 minutes and whose ship remains stayed under water fully intact for over 350 years, before being brought to the surface 95% in one piece.

Following a bus tour of the old town of Stockholm we headed to our hotel, checked in a grabbed some lunch. 

It was time to head to Vallentuna to play our first game. It was awesome to watch the little hockey players greet us as celebrities.  The boys played a team made up of a mix of 2001, 2000 and 1999 born players. It was a very talented team that schooled us a bit on their home rink. It was 2-0 after one and 4-0 after the second, we played a solid third and the game ended in a 6-2 defeat. 

The game was overshadowed by the games first shift when Tevi, our heart and soul collided with a player on Vallentuna and quickly came to the bench clutching his arm. Jordan was amazing, as were our hosts who took Tevi to the hospital in Stockholm. 12 hours later Jordan and Tevi returned with a broken wrist.

He will be missed but will help me coach the rest of the way.

The Vallentuna families hosted our boys to an amazing buffet known in Swedish culture as a Julbord (traditional Christmas  dinner).

Alana and me had a brilliant evening meeting up with a dear old friend from Teachers College days whom we had not seen in 20 years. A special time for us both. Adrian is now a doctor in Orebo Sweden. 

We awoke this morning to a very cold but sunny day in Stockholm. Greg took those interested on a walking tour of old Stockholm, other slept in and some went out shopping. At 2pm we headed to the Globen Skyview for a magnificent 360 degree view of Stockholm, at sunset.

We are now headed to Taby for our final game. We are missing a few with Tevi out, PC has a bad back and Lucas Crawford Holland is a game time decision with a lower body injury. Lucas Fisher is close to coming back but still a few weeks away.  He wil be a an amazing addition.

One last evening, on what has been an amazing journey. Everyone is looking forward to sharing their collective stories upon our return.

One last entry tomorrow. 

Farewell Helsinki Hello Stockholm

Sorry for the delay on the latest post. The last couple days have been action packed.

After picking up the boys from their host families on New Years Eve morning, we headed into Helsinki for a wonderful bus tour. Below are a few pics.

Inside the Rock Church. A magnificent place of worship dug out of a side of a rock wall. 

 We had a team photo taken on the steps of Senate Square. Later that evening it played host to the largest craziest New Years celebration I've ever witnessed. There were close to 100,000 people in attendance.

Following a quick re group at the hotel we headed out to Helsinki's Vikiing restaurant. 

Following dinner we walked to Helsinki Ice Hall to watch Sweden play Canada.

It was an amazing atmosphere but not the outdone we had hoped for.

After trying to get to Senate Square, only to be turned back by the huge crowds, we celebrated New Year's Eve and got everyone to bed for what proved to be a busy New Years Day.

We spent the morning at Helsinki's version of the Science Centre. From there we headed to the port and boarded the Silia Symphony bound for Stockholm.

Below is a shot of Helsinki as we left the port.

What a ship. 12 stories, a shopping center, multiple pubs and a Vegas style show along with a casino.

One of the highlights was being able to watch the Winter Classic in the middle of the Baltic Sea.

After a huge Buffet breakfast, we are leaving the ship for our hotel to unpack and then will leave at 1:30pm for Vallentuna our first of two games in Sweden which is being billed as Canada vs Vallentuna.

Should be fun. Another post tomorrow.

Happy New Years everyone!!!!

Bidding Farewell to our hosts

Today was bittersweet, we got to see the boys again and continue on with our amazing trip, but sadly had to bid farewell to the Mantsalla families who took such amazing care of our boys over the last three days. 

My host family, Sari and Petre were amazing with sharing some photos.  They personally took in Will, Ben and Jack L.

Yesterday, the boys spent a couple hours at the rink playing shinny, mixing up the teams and having a fun game.  

This was followed by a BBQ of sorts at the local community center where they watched Finalnd play Slovakia.  The boys on our team exchanged some jerseys and got some nice T-shirts and pucks in return.

Life long friendships were born and I have no doubt that many will keep in touch.

We are now on the bus back to Helsinki where we will be taken on a three hour tour of the city. We have a 5pm dinner set at a local Viking Restaurant and then it is onto the World Junoir game tonight Canada vs Sweden and New Year's Eve in Senate Square in Helsinki.

The boys in their Shinny Game.

Alana and Sari our host Mom at the Canada Swiss game. New best friends.

Jani our main Finnish organizer in Mantsala on the right and another host Dad roasting sausage for the boys last night.

Sari and Petre with their new (used) NT jerseys. Many of the boys exchanged jerseys or simply gave theirs as a gift.

Last night the parents had a great night out at a local pub. 

Talk to you all again tomorrow.

Go Canada Go!!! Hope to be on TV tonight.

Free Day in Helsinki

Last night we hosted all the billet families at the Canada Swiss hockey game. It was a ton of fun. The boys were mighty tired after a long and exciting day of hockey.

We bid farewell to the boys after the game as they returned to Mantsalla to spend the next two nights with their host families. They are planning to have a shinny game of hockey mixing up the teams and then everyone is getting together at a local community center to watch the Finnish game.

The parents are spending a free day in Helsinki taking in the sights. 

We head to Mantsalla tomorrow morning to pick up the boys and  spend the afternoon  on a bus tour of Helsinki followed by a team dinner at a Viking restaurant and the Canada Sweden game.

A view from our seats at last nights game.

Champions

What a day, many memories made. After winning our semi finals 8-2, we prepared ourselves for what we knew would be a hard fought finals against  Hunter Hockey of Helsinki. 

We played a full NHL length game, three 20 minute periods stop time with floods between each period.

After quickly being down 1-0, the game opened up with a pace of play I've never seen for this group. End of first 4-3. End of second 6-5 and after a lengthy second intermission, due to some ceremonies etc, NT came out flying in the third with 4 goals to their one.  Final 10-6. Stands were packed and our billet families were there to cheer us on.

In all my years of being involved in Yourh hockey, this day and game might be at the top of the list. 

I am so incredibly proud of how our boys played, supported one another and most importantly had fun.

Onto Helsinki Ice Hall tonight to see Canada vs Switzerland.  More tomorrow.

Game Day #1 a huge success

What a great day for the boys, after a pretty good night, with some boys wide awake by 4am, we collectively started the day with an amazing Buffet Breakfast.

We boarded the bus at 8am and headed to the rink. We arrived in the darkness and had a great first game beating the 2001 Mantsalla side 9-1.

It was not the most exciting game, hockey wise, but to be playing in Finland with all that goes with that, it was a great way to start the day.

We had lunch in a small cottage style restaurant which was minutes from the rink. The fair was comprised of Onion Soup, Chili, sausage and a type of Breaded fish, along with Salad.

We headed back to the rink and prepared for what ended up being a. Great game. The first of two periods it was very close, 2-1. We scored two short handed goals in the span of 45 secs  to seal the win 4-1.

The boys met all their billets and are all now happy and home with their families. 

The parents are on our way back to the hotel and have opted to take in the Canada Denmark game tonight.

We are back at the rink tomorrow for the Semi Finals at 9:40am.

So far an amazing trip.

Boys on the bus to the game

Before game one wearing our travel home Whites.

Outside the rink before lunch.

Ty doing what Ty is so good at, making friends with the other teams goalie.