President's Game....
Probably the highest honor ever bestowed on Northern Edge to date occurred this evening. The Northern Edge Instructors played the Belarusian President's hockey team. Planning for the game began last week - and so did the nerves! Since we didn't have enough instructors to make up a full roster, we recruited members from the Hockey Federation as well as several of the boys from camp. Todd Woodcroft decided to pick the oldest North American boy from each respective age group. This meant Eddie and Blake got drafted. In addition, Jesse and Casey, Curt Fraser's two sons, joined the squad as did two Belarusian boys. Blake was named captain of the team!
In contrast to our team (which had never played together before), The President's Team is primarily made up of ex-professional players that play together at least once a week. Vladimir Tsylplakov, whom I have mentioned in previous posts for helping with the camp, is on the President's Team. I tried unsuccessfully last week to convince him to play on our team instead (recall his son is in the camp).
I was tagged to be the coach of our team - primarily so I could take pictures from the bench. Before the game, I had to meet with the Media Director and the President's security to get clearance to use my camera. As I was escorted through the arena, I literally got goosebumps! The entire stadium was sold out with standing room only. A complete crew of cheerleaders were keeping the fans pumped and figure skaters performed a pre-game show to entertain the crowd. Belarusian music was rocking the arena and flags were waving everywhere! I also found out the game was going to be televised! I couldn't believe the excitement and national pride in the arena! Of course, I returned to the locker room to share this experience and it only made the player's nerves worse!
The first 20 minute period was a bit rocky - our offense wasn't clicking together just yet and so at the conclusion of the period, we found ourselves down 6-1. However, after intermission and a clean cut of ice, we settled down a bit and played a much better second period. We managed to hold the President's Team to only two goals and we netted two for ourselves. Not only did our offense pick up but we had some great defensive plays as well (way to go Denis and Curt)! At the conclusion of the 2nd period, the score was 8-3. In the third period, we played even better! We found our legs and were able to keep the President's Team from scoring. At the same time, we were able to put up two more goals on the scoreboard. The game ended 8-5 but I believe our team still felt victorious and proud considering what we were up against. If we only had 2 or 3 more periods, we probably could have taken them! I'm not sure the instructors would agree with this theory since they had already been on the ice 6 hours today prior to game time!
Eddie received the game's "best player" award for our team and was given a gift to honor him. Tim "Velvet" (instructor) was also honored and was given a gift.
This was an incredible experience for everyone! All of our boys and host families were in attendance. I can't wait to hear the stories tomorrow morning at camp!
To view photos from the day, click here Pictures
New Camp Began Today...
This morning we welcomed the 2nd week of campers. This group, much like last group, is full of very talented hockey players from all parts of Belarus. We look forward to getting to know as many of the boys as possible as we progress through the week!
By the way, I found out what the older boys did yesterday - some went to a beach and others went shopping!
Cheers!
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