2011 0130 Close Loss and Big Win

Me on the Train

During this week we were challenged some more on and off the ice during the practices. We had six practices this week and will have six the next. However, we were rewarded with two games this week and one next week. The first game was extremely tough against Arlanda on Friday night. After a few lead changes they hung on to win 3-2. This was a rematch from what was basically the Championship in Gothenberg. We moved on after that tough defeat and were ready to win our next game against one of the worst teams in the league. We scored early and often as Taby marched to a 17-0 victory. The difficult practices from the week are paying off now. There will be one more week still of these practices. I am getting used to the tiring skating, running, and physical conditioning. I think both teams are improving though proving that it is necessary. It will be hard for us to make the top three spots in our division as we keep falling behind. However, we are in the playoffs still and have a good chance at winning any game we play in. My dad is coming in a little over two weeks. I now only have eight more weeks left in Taby. The time has gone by very fast. Hopefully some people here can come visit the United States this summer.

2011 0124 A Tough Week

Another Picture of my Dog

This has been a very tough week of hockey training. It will be like that for two more weeks to get the team back in top form and ready for the playoffs. The first three days the ice training were difficult and even without pucks the first day. The physical training was just as hard as we ran several kilometers each day in the wet snow/ice. Shane left Thursday morning to go back to the United States. Recently we have had medium-hard practices the last two days of the week. We tied the game 3-3 dissappointingly. They got off to a 3-1 start before we came back and tied 3-3. Our second goalie played pretty well. They were one of the bottom teams in the league and we fell another point out of first place. This week we have a huge game against the Arlands Wings who we tied in Gothenberg before playing an easier game on Saturday, the day after. We have training everyday this week and it will be similar to last week. However, I think our team needs it to start playing better and get in better shape and that can happen with practice. The cold is back but there is no snow yet.

2011 0116 Back to School

Picture of Fenway and Friend's Dog

Another week has passed and everybody has left or are soon leaving from the holidays. Hilda, my grandfather, my dad, and Shane's family left last week. Shane and his grandparents leave on Thursday as well. Shane scored three goals in his last game today in our 6-4 win. We played much better today than yesterday when we lost a very disappointing game 4-1 to Jarfalla. They are in first in our league and now have an even bigger lead over us. Even though we outshot them 36-16 they are very defensive and they won. I cannot believe that we are getting rain here in Sweden! There was a lot today and should be more tomorrow. This is causing the snow to turn to a wet ice/slush. It is very hard to walk places and the roads are starting to flood a little bit. It reminds me more of home where it rains sometimes. That is where my dog is; he is staying with a friend of ours from my baseball team. They also have a nice dog. It is only ten weeks before I will return home. I am very excited to go home but it will be hard to leave here. I think some of my teammates might visit the United States this summer. Besides school this week there is a game on the weekend.

2011 0109 Pictures from Gothenberg

Gustav, Pelle, Me, Patrick, Niklas, and Shane

 

Shane and I on the Train

 

Part of the Team Skating



Covered Rink and Speed Skating Track



The Team Lining Up for Lunch



Ice Rink Where our First Games Were

 

Trophies/Closing Ceremonies



Our Team Ready to get Trophy



2011 0108 Happy New Year!

Playoff Rink in Gothenberg

On the last day of the year Shane's family, my dad, my grandfather, and I travelled to Gothenberg, Sweden to play in the biggest hockey tournament in the world. There were 48 teams with most of them from Sweden. There were also the best teams from Norway, Finland, and Czech Republic. The train only took three hours to travel across Sweden because it went over 200kph or about 130mph. Once we got there we went to eat at a pretty fancy restaurant with some of my teammates. The food was very good but took four hours to eat as planned. That is the way the meal was supposed to go on New Year's Eve. Then we went back to the hotel to see the end of Sweden vs. Canada which Sweden eventually won in a shootout. Ten minutes before the New Year my teammates and I hurried outside to watch the fireworks in downtown Gothenberg. It was a crazy place to be and was dangerous but nobody got hurt in the end. It was fun to celebrate the beginning of 2011 in Gothenberg, Sweden's third largest city, I think. The next day we went skating outside for an hour or so before preparing for the tournament with the Opening Ceremonies. It was very fun to stay in the hotel that housed all 48 teams and their families. However, there were 23 floors with 40 rooms to a floor! The next day we would have our first three games! The first we won very closely 3-2 against a tough team from Finland. This would later prove to be the game that helped us win our group and advance to the playoffs. We won our next two games 3-1 and 5-0 against one of the host teams and a team from southern Stockholm. The next day we won our first out of four games against a team from northern Sweden 8-0 before winning another important game 1-0 against HV-71. This put us in great position to advance. However, we played poorly against a team from Norway and tied 3-3. This brought us to a crazy game against a team from Czech Republic. We dominated from the start and towards the end the game it became very dangerous. They were a very dirty team and by the time the game was over, they had four players out of the game, three in the penalty box, three left on the ice, and none on the bench! The referee had to call off the game in favor of us. This put us in Group 1 for the playoffs. We would play the other five teams who won their group: SDE, Arlanda Wings, Czech Republic, Helsinki, and Nacka. Four of the six teams including us were from the Stockholm area. First we beat SDE, our rival 1-0 in a very close game. Then we blew a 2-0 lead to tie Arlanda in another very close game. The next two games we won 1-0 and 7-4 in pretty close games. However, Arlanda was also winning and they had a bigger goal differential. We lost our last game and were eliminated from the tournament. Arlanda went on to win and we finished in second out of 48 teams. It was a pretty good finish and I am happy with second place even though first place would have been a lot better. I played pretty well in the beginning, more than the end. It was fun to play in such a big tournament and to win a lot of games. It was also fun for me, but not the others to watch USA top Sweden in the broze medal game at the World Juniors. Russia beat Canada suprisingly to win gold. Now it is back to Stockholm and the league games. School is back on Monday and my dad and Hilda who is a good friend and our nanny leave tomorrow. There are more practices now again too.

2011 0107 Merry Christmas!

Washington All-Stars Players

Two weeks ago we, Taby played in a Christmas tournament in Arlanda near the airport in Arlanda. Along with Taby, Jarfalla and Nacka played in this tournament. Gustav Blom, Shane Sellar, and I play for Taby. Anton Schou plays for Jarfalla and Hugo Danielsson plays for Nacka. These were three of the six teams in the warmup tournament before Gothenberg. We won the first game 4-2 against Sodertalje although we did not play that well. The next two we lost in close games to Jarfalla and Nacka 5-3 and 2-1. This put us out of the tournament but it was only training matches. We moved on to the next day and still had two games left and wanted to win. We won the first 9-0 against Sollentuna and lost a very close game to the tournament champions Arlanda Wings 1-0. We hoped to play a lot better in Gothenberg. The next day my dad got to run our practices because the coaches were out of town. It was a different but fun practice. Then we headed to Arlanda to pick up my grandfather who stayed for a week. The next day I had four more games in Eskilstuna which is about an hour away with some 98's and the 2nd team. We won two games, tied one, and lost one to finish 2nd out of five teams in the tournament. I played pretty well even though the game was much slower. The next day we got up early to travel to Gothenberg for the New Year and the biggest tournament of the year and the biggest hockey tournament in the world.