Sting Take Europe Day 7

Another beautiful day in Helsinki. I am enjoying and appreciating this city more and more each day. The weather has been clear and sunny and the people are very polite and friendly. It is actually very "Canadian" here. Even the countryside is the same as Alberta's. Birch, spruce, pine, larch and mostly poplar trees are everywhere. It is like the Drayton Valley/RMH area without all of the oil activity, or view of the Rocky Mountains.

We started the day early at Senate Square in downtown Helsinki. This is in front of the beautiful white domed building that I photographed and included on the blog couple of days ago. The building itself is actually Helsinki Cathedral and was built between 1818 and 1852. The sky was clear, the crowds minimal, and the lighting perfect for some team pictures. Several Moms also came along for a few quick snap shots. It is our hope to provide one of these photos to each of our faithful sponsors when we return. One challenge that we did not foresee were the Cathedral work crews preparing on the steps for Good Friday events tommorrow.

After the "photoshoot" we returned to the hotel. Here the group split up again. Some of the girls went for breakfast and one final shopping trip, while the rest of the girls jumped on a bus to visit their host girls at Finnish school. The nine "school girls" and I left the Helsinki area and after a short detour (OK the driver was lost), delivered the girls at Finnish high school. We tried to keep the girls with their hosts - but of course like us, not everyone attends the same High School - so the nine that went were divided up. After school, they then went home with their hosts and met us at the rink for our 6:00pm practice ice with the Finns. Those seven girls who did not go to school and enjoyed the opportunity to shop a little more - then went to practice with our coaches and many of our parents.

Practice was in Tuusula - a suburb of Helsinki. The rink is a little older, but is situated amongst a very busy soccer complex and athletics area. It was several miles from the closest town however.

I think everyone was happy to see our hosts again. The Finns came on the ice wearing their new Sting practice jerseys, and our girls wore their new black game jerseys. A highlight for everyone was Meagan Gabert joining the team on the ice for the first time since fracturing her ankle at provincials in February. It has been a long frustrating journey for her. Though she was tentative and still restricted in what she could do - it made my trip seeing her out there again. Like everyone else she has worked hard and earned her spot on this trip - but has been unable to skate with her Sisters. This was awesome!!!!!!

Prior to practice, Greg and I watched and learned as the Finns sharpened skates. Their club has two (2) skate sharpening machines. They are very nice, but are very different from both Greg's and my (Lee's) machines. They are very specific and concise in regards to grove and rocker for each player's specifications. Very interesting.

Practice was run as usual, but with a lot more players. Greg put everyone through their paces, but it was difficult to keep any flow with 30+ players on the ice. The Finns are great skaters and can also shoot and pass well. Their goalie is very strong. We let our girls pick the drills that we ran. After a warmup we ran the CR drill, back ice drill, compete drill, coqahauala drill and 3v0 drill. We finished with a short scrimmage Yellow vs. Black at 2v2, 3v3, 4v4 and 5v5. It was fun, and surprisingly not very competative. That was nice. Both teams really seem to like one another. The stands were intermingled with Moms from both teams laughing, talking and watching. The Finnish coaches watched from the bench.

After practice the girls all departed with their host families. The goodbyes certainly appeared to be harder on our Moms than the girls. We look forward to seeing them all again tommorrow for our first game of the tournament versus Tusuula at 1745hours. I am sure the girls will have many stories.

The parents left the rink on the bus and returned to the hotel. After a quick briefing in the lounge - we separated for dinner. Another quick debrief also occured in the lounge area after supper. Yes Lee, Mad was held to under three drinks.

Tommorrow we begin our tournament and everyone is excited. As we have seen many times over the last week, our Finnish hosts have been very nice to us. They have stored our gear, driven our girls to the rink, offered to sharpen skates, feed and housed the girls, provided the practice ice, and have organized the tournament. They have been awesome! Their girls are good ringette players and though we are in different pools - I think everyone hopes that the two teams will meet. It will be a good game.

My observations for Day 7:

Mad Caine is the undesputed Snipe Champion of Europe. Though she fought valiently to avoid the crown, the decision of judges was unanimous. Should another Sting parent ever leave a fuller glass of fruit juice on the table before retiring to bed - then I'm sure she'll gladly relinquish her title.
If you are ever in Helsinki, Finland - the California rolls at the Japanese restaraunt are awesome.
There is beer and chololate every few feet here. Please don't love us any less if we return much larger than when we left.
Ringette Central needs a new skate sharpening machine. I even know the two awesome Finnish guys that can come over to teach us how to operate it.
In teenage vernacular, the words "sweet", and "cool" are out in Europe. The new word is "bitter". Everything over here is "bitter". Cool!
Ringette coaches are all the same. My second favorite part of practice tonight (after the surprise early return of Beaker) was being with, and watching the Finnish coaches. Great guys, but quietly competative. Just like us. They often made the same grunting sound watching practice when things on the ice did not follow what has been taught. Bitter.

C.K.

A big thanks to Gord Taylor for todays pictures.