Sting Take Europe Day 8

Good Friday in Helsinki started with rain for most of the morning.  The temperature was a little cooler than the last few days, but still warm enough for a light jacket.  We are right in the middle of Helsinki - so protected from the wind.  The rain was quite nice actually.  Being the holiday, virtually all of the stores were closed here today.  The girls were all at their host families homes - so it was a relaxing morning.  Parents either went walking to see the quiet downtown area, hit the hotel spa, or simply took it easy and recovered at the hotel for a few hours.

At 3:00 pm we left the hotel on the bus for the trip to Tuusula for the first game.  The girls were already there and had many stories to tell us once we arrived.  Of particular interest was the flying of the Canadian flag outside of the Arena along with the Swedish and Finnish flags.  The hospitality here is amazing!  We are being treated sooooo well.  After talking with the girls, it seems that everyone is enjoying their time with the hosts.

There was a small table set up at the front that sold some Finland and 2010 World Ringette Championships items.  The concession was open and the coffee was very good.  We watched much of the game before us which involved our host team.  They ended up defeating another Finnish team from the Espoo EKS club.  Many of our parents were invited during this game to visit the homes of the host families for supper after we were done playing.

The Sting girls hit the ice against a team one year younger than our own (1996) playing at their home rink at Tuusula at 5:15 pm.  Again, the girls lined up at center ice for the singing of the Canadian and Finnish national anthems.  There were many Canadian flags around the ice surface.  The girls played very well and dominated the younger team from the opening to the closing whistles.  Final score was 13-1 Sting.  Shenyce played very well in net and the only goal scored on her was on a penalty shot.  As big as the goal margin was - the girls continued to work on doing the little things right and did not get lazy as can often happen in a one sided game.  It was nice to see.  The opposing Finnish coach was very respectful and nice.  I'm sure that their team will be very good next season.  The ringette rules here are the same as back home, but seem to be more closely called here.  Unfortunately we spent too much time in the penalty box.  Hopefully that changes before we see some of the stronger teams.

After the game all of the girls returned to their host family's homes.  Some of our parents also went to visit the hosts, and some parents brought the bus back to the hotel.  We have a big day tomorrow with our final two round-robin games.  The first is against a Finnish team from the Heinola Ringette club and the second is againt the younger (1996) club from our host Nurmijarvi Club.  Some of these girls we know and had met in Sweden.

Only a few observations on Day 8:

•  The Finns have been amazing hosts and seem to want to accomidate us with everything.  They have given us a room at the rink to store our equipment rather than carrying it around.  They have organized lunch for the next two days.  And tomorrow morning, one of our new friends Jari Lindstrom of the 1996 Nurmijarvi team will sharpen our skates together with Greg and myself.  They also made a banner for us (see below) with all of our names on it including Watson and Bell.
• The difference in time zone changes has finally caught up with me.  I was doing an amazing job for 7 days at being early for everything.  Really.  Euopean C.K. is much more punctual than North American Chris.  I think the nine hours helped.  Until today.  Five minutes late for the bus.  Sorry gang.  I am re-focused and ready to capture that magic one more time before we return to the world of late C.K.
• It is a pretty amazing experience to stand on the bench prior to a game in Europe and hear the girls sing along with the national anthem while lined up on the blue line.  Very nice.
• Finally, It is ironic to note that many of our new friends are proudly wearing clothing with Canada or the maple leaf on them, while we are busy shopping for anything with Finland or Suomi on it.

C.K.