Day 11 - Day off before heading home Jan. 7, 2016

Here we are. The tournament is over, and we chose to stay an extra day due to how tired we were last time when we left a few hours after the final game was played. Our plan was to spend the day packing, and then go to bed early so we could start to adjust our sleep.

We were up at about 9:00 am, and after showering, we went down for breakfast. This was our final breakfast here, because we would leave tomorrow before the buffet opened up (way before). The first groups had already left the hotel early in the morning, so there weren't a lot of people in the buffet. We got what we wanted, and then went back to the room to finish off our writing entries, and to do some of the packing.

When we were finished, we decided to go over to the store across the street (a mall with a number of shops, including a Target (or whatever the Finnish word is for Target)). We needed some small things, and Dawn wanted to be sure she had some trinkets for her friends at home. We got them, and then headed back to our room.

We met some friends at the elevator and said our goodbyes. They were going to Tenerife for a few months and were also leaving tomorrow. Tenerife is located off the coast of Morocco, Africa. They are certainly looking forward to some warmer weather. They have rented a house and will travel around the islands and just enjoy themselves.

Then it was back to our room. We watched a couple episodes of "House of Cards" and around supper time, decided we should go and find something to eat. It was too cold outside (-21), so we decided to eat at the hotel. When we got down by the restaurant, we noticed some of our group going upstairs, so we asked them if that was where we went for dinner. They told us that there were complimentary hors d'ouvres for those in Business Class rooms, free of charge. We did not know that, but were in the right class of room, so went up. There was a good selection, and we got enough to keep us going until the next meal.

Back to the room, and shortly afterward, we were in bed. We had to board the bus, so I set the alarm for 2:30 to ensure we were downstairs in plenty of time. Wouldn't you know it, sleep was hard to come by. We must have slept, but it didn't feel like it. However, staying in bed at least rested our bodies.

On Jan. 7, we boarded our bus at 4:00 am (there were 3 of them this morning) for the trip to Helsinki airport. We arrived at about 4:45, and it was cold (-25). Once inside, we had to get our boarding passes, but the counters weren't open yet, so there was a pretty big lineup of people waiting to make the trip to Frankfurt.

After going through security, we boarded the plane and left at about 7 am. This was an hour and a half trip, and then we had to go through the very large airport in Frankfurt, to find our boarding gate. Security is pretty tight here, and we also had to go through passport control, so it took a while. I had our boarding passes on my phone, and wouldn't you know it, they weren't updated when things changed. My phone showed we were supposed to be at Gate B28. However, nobody from our group was there, so Dawn went to find information.

It turns out, our gate had been changed to B25. We got there (it was only a short distance), and joined the line of people who were already boarding the plane. It was a very long lineup. Finally, we got in and found our seats. We sat there for quite a while, and Dawn had just finished saying that it would be strange if something was wrong and we had to get off again (there were 400 people on the plane). Wouldn't you know it, the pilot came on the blower to say that there was a fuel leak in one of the wing tanks, and we would have to get off. There was another plane we could use, but it would have to be prepped for us. He told us to go to another gate, so off everyone went.

Part way to this gate, we were told to go to another gate, and for this one, had to go through security again. These guys were very thorough. We got patted down, had to take off our shoes and belts, had our carry-on bags checked carefully. Generally, we got to know them quite well (none of them were very friendly). Then we had to walk another long way to the gate we were sent to. When we found it, there was quite a lineup to get into the boarding lounge.

There wasn't nearly enough room for everyone, so they finally ordered a couple buses for those of us in the lounge to get onto, and after a while, they drove us over to where there was another 747. Then we had to sit there while the bus got hotter and hotter. It was quite a bit warmer in Frankfurt (+5) and became quite uncomfortable. Finally, they let us off and inside the building. We were at the gate they had sent us to after we got off the previous plane, but we finally started boarding.

As quickly as they could, they got everyone in, seated, and strapped in, and then began the take-off procedures. We were in the air at about 11:00, an hour and a half late, so we would be late getting into Vancouver. This was not a big problem for us because we had to get our car from the hotel where we left it, and then drive out to Abbotsford. However, some folks had to make connections with other flights. They didn't.

It was quite a wait getting our bags from the plane. They didn't quickly show up. Finally, we got them, and went outside to wait for the  hotel shuttle bus. When we got there, I picked up our car, we loaded our bags, and started off to Stella and Doug's place.

We got there at about 5:00 pm. Stella phoned to see where we were, just as I was about to open their door. We had a pretty good laugh. They had supper ready for us, and we sat down to eat and visit. After supper, we retired to their TV room, and I promptly fell asleep, much to the amusement of those who were there. What can I say.

Snow at the rest stop where the toll booths used to be.

Dawn got herself ready for bed, and then woke me up to come to bed. We were both in bed by 8:00, to try and get enough sleep for the drive home on Jan. 8.

We left the Holbrow mansion about 10:00, and after filling up with gas, began the drive home. I had checked the road report and things looked pretty good, so we had a good trip. We were home at about 1:30, and unpacked our bags. There were great piles of dirty clothes in our bedroom, waiting for the washing machine.

We went to the Blazers game that night and watched the Blazers come away with a win. This was the first time this season we had seen them wearing their white sweaters. The league changes colours for the teams after Christmas. They played Tri-Cities, and it was a good game. Fast, close checking, hard hitting, and fun to watch. The Blazers scored the winning goal with a few minutes to play, and Tri-Cities wasn't able to respond with a goal.  Them home we went and off to bed.

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.

Day 9 - Semi Final Games - Jan. 4, 2016

We were up and went to breakfast just after 8:00 am, in the hotel. This chain of hotels certainly supplies good breadfasts as part of our stays.  Then it was back to the room to get ready to board the bus back to the train at 9:20. Once everyone was accounted for, we were off on the buses.

We arrived at the train station at about 10:00 and had to go through an initial security check to enter the station. Then we had to wait until just before the train arrived to get passed the ticket checkers. Here they checked our passports to make sure we were supposed to be on the train. This was a secure area, so photographs were not allowed, although some people were taking them. We saw one girl have to delete a photo she had taken, but we know she took more than just one, so she still had some.

Inside the Train heading to Helsinki

Then we were on the train, sitting in one of the cars that were for our group, and began the 3 hour trip back to Helsinki. Once again, we had to have our passports checked by the Russian border people, while on the train. When we entered Finland, the Finnish border gaurds came around and checked our passports. These guys were much friendlier, and smiled and laughed with us. They asked who we were cheering for, and of course, everyone said Finland which drew lots of laughs.

The train was a little late arriving back in Helsinki, so we had to hurry to drop off our backpacks, get our tickets, and get down to the buses for the trip to the arena. We got off the train, walked to the hotel, went up to our rooms and got to the bus, all within about 20 minutes. Pretty spectacular for a couple of old folks who have trouble walking on slippery roads.

We were a little late getting to the arena. Traffic was quite bad for some reason. We figured it out as we got closer to the arena. Lots of cars were going to the same place we were going. When we arrived, there was only about half an hour before the game started. We found our seats for these games, which were in the lower bowl of that arena. We had seats in row 6, but they were behind the time keeper and the penalty boxes. Quite a lot of glass to look through, and it was hard to see the game. Dawn watched most of the games on the big screen, and wasn't too happy.

Beginning of the game

We were surprised that the first game was Sweden and Finland. We had thought that Finland would play the late game, but I guess all those folks who were driving knew more about it than we did. We were sure that Sweden had a stronger team (and we still think that). However, they played a fast, hard checking game, and in the end, Finland prevailed, 2-1. There were some pretty upset Swedish players, and some pretty jubilant Finns by the time this game ended.

Then it was another walk around the arena, in the walkway with lots of restaurants and beer places. What a crowd. In places, it was very difficult to move. People were standing in line, and generally standing around, blocking access to anywhere to walk. We finally found a less busy area, and leaned against the wall until they opened the doors to let back into the seating area.

The second game went very similarly to the first game. We felt the US team was stronger than the Russian team. The US scored the first goal in the first period. It stayed that way until more than half way through the second period. Then the Russians scored. A short while later, they scored their second goal, and the US seemed to wilt. They continued to play hard, but the Russians put on even more pressure and basically kept them tied up. This game also ended 2-1, and now things are set for the Bronze and Gold medal games tomorrow.

They should be fun, and if today is any indication, they will be hard fought.

Day 8 - Overnight Trip to St. Petersburg Jan 3, 2016

We were up early (4:00 am) to get ready for our trip to St. Petersburg. The train leaves at 6:15, so we have to gather in the lobby for roll call, and get a coffee and croissant for breakfast (not our usual breakfast fare). Once everyone who was scheduled to go was accounted for, we walked over to the train station, which is about a block from our hotel.

It was cold (about -13), and we were happy to get inside the station. Then it was a wait to get on the train. Finally, they allowed us on, and we found seats. As it turned out, we would be riding backward to St. Petersburg. There is internet access on the train, so at least there are things to do.

Once we got going, there were a number of security checks; passports checked a couple times, and we had to fill out entry/exit cards for Russia. When we entered Russia, we had to go through some more checks of identification and they took our entry card. We had to hang on to the exit card because we would need to turn it in when leaving Russia. We also changed 100 Euros into about 7200 Rubles so we had some money to spend in Russia.

We arrived in St. Petersburg at about 10:15 am St. Petersburg time (an hour ahead of Helsinki), so the trip was about 3 hours long. It is a high-speed train, traveling up to 200 km/h, with about 4 stops along the way. There are 72 on this trip, including our 2 Destiny guides, so we needed 2 buses. We found our bus,m and met our local guide, Katrina. She was a middle-aged woman who constantly referred to us as "dear guests". She would be with us for the day, taking us to the places we were scheduled to see.

We drove around the city a bit while she pointed out some of the famous sites of St. Petersburg. The first place she showed us was the old KGB building. I think it is because Putin was in the KGB that this was important. It isn't KGB anymore but is now FIS, which is the current security organization. Then it was on to more sites along the Neve River.

Father Christmas

Peter and Paul Fortress

Our first stop was just across one of the bridges. It was to view the Peter and Paul Fortress, the original location of St. Petersburg. We didn't go in, but viewed it from a short distance away. It must have been a typical stop for bus tours because there were a bunch of street vendors trying to sell us books, hats, and other souvenir type items.

Our Savior of Spilled Blood

After that, we moved on to the Church of Our Savior of Spilled Blood. This was a beautiful building with ornate spires. It looked very nice from the outside. Here we had to wait for a while as they were picking up our tickets for entering the church. Again, lots of street vendors selling their wares. It reminded us of Columbia or Tijuana and the pushy vendors there.

Mosaic inside church

Inside, it was again very beautiful. The building was quite dark, but there were lots of huge pictures. The amazing thing about these pictures is that none of them are painted. Instead, they were mosaics. When I looked at them it was impossible to tell, but on looking at them closely, I could see the small mosaic tiles. These are amazing works of art.

Rear view of church

When we exited, we were at the back of the church, and it was still quite beautiful on that side. When everyone was there, we walked around to the front to find our buses and to brave the vendors. They really wanted us to purchase something.

Then it was off to visit the Hermitage Museum. This was a huge museum, taking up 5 large buildings. We were only going to look at a part of it, over a couple hours. The bus let us off in front (or at least what we thought was the front) of the buildings, but we had to walk around to the other side. This was quite a hike and was difficult because the snow had not been cleared from the whole walkway, and where it was cleared, it was quite slippery.

When we got to the door, we all had to get earphones and receivers so that our guide could talk to all of us about what we were going to see. Each group must have been on a different frequency because we could only hear Katrina, not the other guides that were also taking tours around.

Hermitage Hallway

Vase

Stained Glass Window

Again, there were some pretty amazing things to see, but after a while, we got pretty tired of walking around and climbing stairs. We did find a souvenir shop and made some small purchases. We were ready to leave, and were quite happy when Katrina took us back to the cloakroom to get our jackets. Then it was back outside to find our buses and leave for the restaurant.

Lunch was at a Russian restaurant. It was a salad, soup (borscht, I think), a main plate (whipped potatoes and chicken slivers in a sauce. Dessert was ice cream and fruit topping. This nicely finished off this meal. It was quite nice.

After boarding the buses again, we were off to Pushkin, a city just outside of St. Petersburg to visit the Catherine Palace. This was the summer palace of Catherine the Great. It was getting close to dark, so it wasn't overly easy to take photos on the outside. However, they light up the outsides of the buildings, and this palace did look beautiful. It was huge, about 500 meters long.

Summer Palace

Model of the palace

One of the Dining Rooms

Again, we had to go inside, and were supposed to take out coats off at the cloakroom. Dawn and I instead went looking in some of the shops, thinking we would forego this tour. However, Katrina found us and we had to go along with her. We left our coats on, and in retrospect, it would have been much cooler without them.

The tour was basically looking at the many rooms in the palace. Some had original pieces in them, and some were restored.There had been lots of damage done when the Nazis had occupied St. Petersburg, and they have worked very hard to restore the historical artifacts and rooms of the structure. Katrina was really into passing on knowledge about this palace, and after a while, we were just tired of it. There were too many names, eras of architecture, and artifacts to view, and they just ran together.

When we finally left, we had to wait outside for the buses to get back to pick us up. It was quite cold, and we basically stood around. There was a line of vendors down to the street, but they were closing up at that time. When they finally got there, we happily boarded for them to take us to our hotel. It was about a 45-minute drive back to St. Petersburg, and then we arrived at our hotel. We were staying at another Radisson Blu here. Check in was quite efficient. They were ready for us, and quickly got more front desk help to process our group. We had to leave our passports at the desk so they could complete the registration, and that didn't feel comfortable, but they were very reassuring.

Once we dropped off our bags (we only brought our backpacks for this trip), we went out looking for a restaurant. We found Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, MacDonalds; those kinds of fast food. We were looking for something a little more authentic but weren't able to find anything that looked interesting, so when we came to an Italian restaurant, we went in - Moma Rosa.

The food was very good. I had spaghetti with meat sauce, and Dawn had jumbo shrimp. The waitresses were very good. They spoke varying amounts of English, but we were able to make ourselves understood. They smiled a lot, something we didn't see a lot of since crossing the border into Russia.

After that, it was back to the hotel. It wasn't late, but we were both quite tired. We were in bed by 9:30, and had to be ready for roll call by 9:45 in the morning. Breakfast was part of the stay, so we decided we would get up at 7:00 am. We didn't have any trouble getting to sleep.

Day 7 - Quarter Final Games - Jan. 2, 2016

Got up in the morning, all excited about starting the playoffs for the tourney. Not much going on until we leave for the games. Had breakfast, and then back to the room to sit around, write the blog, and generally take it easy. The games we go to now are at the big Hartwall Arena. So, today, the bus leaves at 12:40 for the 2:00 game.

This is a new adventure. The Hartwall is considerably larger and nicer than the little arena where we have played the round robin games. It holds more than 13,000 fans, and is more like an NHL arena. The Finnish Team, Jokerit, plays in this arena, in the KHL. Speaking with a Finnish fan, this is their second year in the league, and they are doing quite well.

In the first game, the Russians (1st in their pool) played Denmark (4th in our pool). It was a really good game, with the Danes holding their own quite well against the Russians. In fact, the Russians didn't look as good as the Danes in the first period and a half. Denmark was up 2-0 in the rest period, before the Russians scored near the end of the period.

Part way through the 2nd, the Russians started playing much better, but the Danes still hung in there. It was back and forth, and the Russians finally tied the game up with just over a minute to play. Then, in overtime, they won the game 4-3. It was a tough loss for the Danes, but they sure showed they can play at this level.

Then it was the wait for the Canada game. We had about 2 hours to wait. The arena began filling up with lots of Finns, and it got very crowded. Lots of red sweaters, so we knew we would have lots of company.

We went to our seats with a slice of pizza, and got seated, just after the warmup. Then the teams came out and the place erupted into cheering.

In the first period, Canada was the better team. We scored the first 2 goals, and were leading into the final minute of the period. Then the Finns scored with about 11 seconds left in the first, and their fans went crazy.

In the 2nd period, play continued to be strong. The Finns seemed to have become more comfortable, and really began to push the play. Canada started to take penalties (some deserved and some not so much), and the Finns tied it up and then went ahead by the end of the 2nd.

In the 3rd period, Canada tied it up, and shortly afterward the Finns scored to go ahead again. Then Canada tied it up again. We couldn't get the lead, and the Finns scored again. They had a lot of power plays, and Canada's penalty kill wasn't good. The goalie didn't look sharp, letting rebounds out, and not stopping pucks that he should have. He wasn't getting a lot of help from the defense, and with about 4 minutes to go in the game, the Finns scored to go up 6-5. Despite their efforts, the Canadian boys were unable to get the tying goal, and thus ended our tournament.

Mighty Casey had struck out.

Tomorrow, we are off on our tour to St. Petersburgh. We leave very early in the morning, so have to get to bed in order to be able to wake up on time.

Day 6 - New Year's Day

Slept in this morning. Didn't even open my eyes until about 9:20 in the morning. The curtains in our room are very good and keep the light out quite well. So, it wasn't easy to tell that it was already daylight. However, it seems that most people were slow to get up, so we weren't the only ones sleeping in.

We had breakfast as usual. Finding a seat wasn't too bad because the bulk of the people weren't down yet. The breakfast buffet would be open until noon today, so there was no real hurry.

After breakfast, we went back to our room, and basically spent the rest of our day in there. I worked on finishing off a couple blog entries that I wasn't able to finish yesterday. I read a bit, and we watched a couple episodes of "House of Cards". Generally, it was a lay-around day.
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About 6:00, we decided we needed to go for a walk and possibly find some supper. When we got outside, it was considerably colder than it had been. The temperature was about -7, and with a bit of a breeze blowing. It felt cold when it was blowing towards our faces. We walked down the street and found a restaurant that we thought we would give a try. We entered and sat down. Unfortunately, there were a bunch of young hockey teams (likely 12-13 year olds) who were going to eat there, too. It quickly got much too noisy for us, so we left.

Sports Academy Sports Bar and Grill

We left and carried on walking. About a block or so away, there was a place called the Sports Academy Sports Bar. I recalled hearing that the New Year's Classic was going to be on the screen there, so we went in. They sat us at a table, and we were able to see TVs all around the room. The game wasn't on yet, but there were a couple Finnish broadcasters on, talking about the upcoming game, I suppose.

We ordered ( burgers and fries) and then the game came on. It took quite a while to get through all the preliminary introductions, etc., but the game did start by the time we got our meal. The place was packed with Canadians. Some stood up and sang Oh Canada when it was sung on TV. It was a lot of fun, and they got a clap when it was over.

View From our Table

We left at the end of the 1st period At that time it was 1-0 for Montreal, and we figured if it was on in the Sports Bar, we should be able to get it on our room TV. Not so. There was only a soccer match on the TV. The walk back to our hotel was the cold one. The wind was in our faces and was chilly.

Back at the room, we watched TV and read and answered emails. There was a note in the lobby saying we could pick up our tickets to the Quarter Final games at about 9:30, so I went down after that to see if I could get ours. It was not to be. First they mentioned 10:15, then it became 11:00. I decided I was going to bed, and went back upstairs. The last message that came through on Facebook was sent at 11.51, saying that tickets would be set up at 9:30 in the morning for those who hadn't picked theirs up yet.

That is when we will get ours, I guess.

Day 5 of Tournament - Dec. 31, 2015 - New Year's Eve

Well, today was the big day. We were getting ready for the big New Year's Eve game against Sweden. Things were pretty quiet for most of the day while we waited for the buses to leave at 2:40 pm.  We went back to the store to make a couple more purchases. We found out that it was a Target, so felt like we "must" be getting good deals.

Then we stayed in our room, watching TV and working on the computer until we were ready to go. All of us boarded the buses and left for the arena. The first game was Denmark and USA. The Danes were clearly the weaker team, but they put up a good fight. During that game, the crowd was growing, with lots of Swedes showing up for the next game.

The US won, and then we had the wait for the Canada-Sweden game. The Swedes were a very vocal group, doing lots of singing and chanting. The attitude from all was pretty positive, with the Canadian crowd answering (or at least trying to) the chants of the Swedish fans. They were dressed in their colours while the Canadians were dressed in ours.

Crowds before the game

Lots of Canadians and Swedes

When the teams came on the ice, the arena was very loud. There were far more Canadians in there, than there were Swedes, but they made up for the lower number with lots of noise. Again, the Canadians responded with our noise.

The game started and the Swedes scored the first goal. Our goalie didn't seem to be very comfortable, letting out rebounds, often missing the puck by a bit, and generally giving Sweden the edge. They scored first, and then later on, scored the 2nd goal. Fortunately, Canada scored late in the period to hopefully bring some life to the boys. Canad was taking a lot of penalties, and Sweden has a pretty powerful power play.

Team Canada Ready to Take to the Ice

Crowd across the arena from our seats

The fans around us were pretty disgruntled. Many of them knew they had the answer and the boys just had to do what they said. Most of the opinions were to do different things, but clearly they thought they knew more than the coaches and players of Team Canada.

In the 2nd period, our boys came out and worked very hard. They were doing lots of hitting, and the Swedes were backing off. Unfortunately, there was a breakdown and the Swedes scored again. This really quieted our crowd, but added lots of life to the Swedish fans. Canada was taking lots of penalties, and the Swedish power play was very good. They moved the puck quickly, and always seemed to have open guys. When Canada got the puck, they always seemed to have one or two guys attacking the puck handler.

The 2nd period was our best period, but they were down even farther. When the break happened, we were down 3-1, so it was still doable.

When the 3rd period started, we thought it might be different. Unfortunately for us, Sweden started to play seriously, and they smothered our guys. It was as if there were more Swedes on the ice than what was legal. Canada didn't make a serious move in this period, falling down another goal. In the last couple minutes, we pulled our goalie and the Swedes scored an empty net goal. There were a lot of sad looks and disappointment from the fans in our section, but life will go on. At least the team made the playoffs.

After that, it was back on the bus and off to the New Year's Eve party. This took place in an undisclosed place, and when we got there, we were assigned tables according to our bus. Our bus was split between 2 halls in the venue, and it was very quick. We got to our table, took our jackets off, and then attacked the buffet for dinner. This consisted of green salad, a couple other types of salads, scalloped potatoes and roast beef. It was great. There was coffee and dessert. Our dessert was another cake like we had in Tallinn. The jello on top of the cake had some very tart and tasty berries, and it was quite enjoyable.

About that time, people were getting their jackets on to go outside to watch the fireworks. We didn't go out, and apparently they were over pretty quickly. Folks came back in, and then many of the friends we had made came around to wish us Happy New Year. Shortly after that, we left for the bus and the trip back to our hotel. We got back there at about 1:00 am, and were off to bed. This was a long day and night for old folks like us.