2010 1031 A Swedish Halloween

Public Skating

This week was the arrival of Shane and more new things. Shane came one week ago and has played with the team this week. On Monday since there was no practice and we finished school early, we decided to go to the public skating at Hagernas with a stick and puck. I went along with my dad, Erik, Mans, and Gustav. This was the first time my dad had skated in two months. He enjoyed it even though he was wearing different skates. This was very fun but tiring. We skated with only some of our pads on because that is how they do it here and it is easier. The next two days featured some more training before our second league game and Shane's first game. Our team played well and we beat an average team 9-0. Shane scored one goal and an assist in his first game. On Friday, our team did some running during training. We ran about three kilometers with breaks in between. I had just ate before training so once I had a lead in the group, I lost it on each of the three runs. Erik won two of them. After that we did some more work before a difficult on-ice training. On Saturday, Shane, Niklas, Erik, Calle, and I were planning to go to another public skating in the day. However, the ice was double-booked so we ended up just playing NHL11 on XBox for a couple hours. Later on I went to an optional practice with only several players there. Erik did not go because he was resting for a couple of '96 games that he played today. However it was still fun. The '96 team won the tournament easily that they played in today while I was at a three and a half hour practice. The practice was fun and we also practiced some technique during it. When I came back today I realized that it is Halloween. Then I remember that they do not celebrate it here in Sweden. We also changed our clocks and it gets dark at 4:30 already in October! Now I will go to bed and rest before a camp next week with practices during the nights.