Day 10 - Bronze and Gold Games - Jan. 5, 2016

Photographer Across Arena

Part of our Group Photo

We had some time to waste today before we left for the arena. We were going early for the Farewell Reception and lunch, as well as the group photo. Buses were to board at 12:40 pm so we could get into the arena early and have the photo done. Security was at the door and let us in, making sure we went to the proper place. We set up in the lower bowl behind the penalty boxes, and the photographer was located across the arena in the stands there. It took Rita quite a while to get the whole group organized because some of them thought it was funny to be a problem. Clearly they weren't/aren't teachers.

Lunch Speeches

 Then it was to a large room they had rented for our Farewell Luncheon. Our group was so large that we had to use 3 levels of this section of the arena. For some reason, they couldn't fit 530+ people into one room. This was also a buffet lunch - salad, cold chicken, scalloped potatoes, and a type of pork rib done in a barbecue sauce. It was very tasty. I got us some cold water to drink. When the girl came around asking if we wanted coffee or tea, we each ordered a cup. She didn't tell us that a small cup would cost us 3.5 Euros each. Well, lesson learned (again).

After the farewell speeches, we were on our own until the doors opened. That would take place in about 20 minutes, so we went downstairs and used the bathrooms. Then on our walk around the arena, the doors opened, and things went from quite comfortable walking around, to battling the hordes as the crowd entered.

At 3:30, we went into our seats and watched the warm up. They get 20 minutes for this, so we saw the final 10 minutes. Then it was ice clean, and the beginning of the Bronze Medal game between Sweden and the US.

Before Doors Open

Shortly After Door Open

I felt that Sweden had shown to be the stronger team in the round robin, so figured that they would win the bronze. The Americans had a different opinion, and outplayed the Swedes for most of the game. It was pretty even for the first part, and then the US scored the opening goal. There wasn't much of an American group there, but many folks cheered for this. I think the Finns were hoping for the US because they dislike the Swedes so much.

Then the US scored again. It got quite a bit quieter until the Swedes scored their first goal. Before the end of the period, they scored again, and the arena was pumped up.

When the teams came back out, the US began to play better again, and they scored the 3rd goal. From there on, the Swedes couldn't do much. This goal really galvanized the US, and demoralized the Swedes. There were lots of goals, with the final score being 8-3 for the US. They won the bronze medal.

After the awards ceremony, it was wait for the final game - Finland vs Russia. We stayed at our seats for this game because it gets so crowded in the mezzanine. Part way through the break, a friend from Kamloops and his wife, came down to our seats to say hello. We knew they were going to be there, but didn't expect anyone to spot anyone else in that crowd. Somehow, they were able to find us in the crowd, and they showed up at our seats for a hello. That was a real surprise.

At 7:50 pm, the teams came on the ice for the warmup. We could see the Russian team better than the Finnish team because of where our seats were. They had some really interesting drills that were fun to watch. There is a lot of skill in these young players.

Russian in front of us

Then the ice clean before the game and the teams came out. The arena was full. There were quite a few Finns there, but also a lot of Russian supporters. Sitting just a couple rows in front of us, were a couple Russian men, one who was really pumped up; waving his flag, singing, and generally being noisy. When the game started, and the Finns had a scoring chance, he jumped up and blocked the view of a lot of us. Our new friend sitting beside us shouted at him to sit down, and there was a bout of raised hackles and chest-pounding before he sat down. It was effective because he rarely stood up after that, although he appeared to want to on occasion.

This was an excellent game. It was back and forth. The Russians scored first and the man in front of us was playhing that up. They held that lead for the rest of the first and for all of the 2nd period. The Finns came out and scored, right at the beginning of the 3rd period. They the Russians scored again, just over a minute later to take the lead back. Half way through the 3rd period, the Finns scored again to tie the game again.

The Russians were taking a lot of penalties. We thought the refereeing was pretty good, and the penalties were actual penalties. Finland scored the go-ahead goal with just over 2 minutes  the to go, and it looked like they were going to win. However, Russians scored with 6.9 seconds left to send the game to overtime.

Final Score

In the OT, the Finns scored in the first 2 minutes to win the game. The place went nuts. It was loud and crazy right through to the presentation of the medals and the national anthem. We had to leave at that point to catch our bus back to the hotel, but we were pumped.

All-in-all, it was a great tournament. We had a great time. We saw lots of sites of places we likely won't see again, we met some great people, we met and conversed with the very friendly Finns, and we had great weather for the first part, and pretty good weather (but cold temperatures) for the last part. We are now thinking about joining Destiny Tours again, if they decide to run a tour for the WJC that will take place in the Czech Republic in 4 years.

All that is left now is to get packed up tomorrow, and then get on the bus at 4:00 am on Thursday morning for the flight back to Vancouver.