2011 0324 Champions!

Flag

Last Saturday was the Final of Mitt i Cupen, which is the league that Taby plays in. We came out and overpowered SDE to win big 7-0! This was gigantic for us as it has been the team's goals the main season. In the middle of the season we had struggled. Then our coaches decided to put us through three weeks of difficult training. This finally payed off as we won every game the last two months to capture our trophy. The next day was very tiring in Rimbo as we were on the ice for over four hours that day. Monday was my last practice with the team. Everybody was very nice and thankful for me playing in Sweden. Thank you to everyone who helped me out in my time in Sweden. I enjoyed most of the year a lot and will visit again later for sure. Wednesday we flew nine hours home to New York. After travelling by train and car for the next seven hours we arrived home in Baltimore! I am so excited to be home and seeing everybody that I missed here but am already missing everyone in Stockholm. The whole trip feels like a dream because all of yesterday the Eastern Coast was covered in a foggy, rainy storm. The next few weeks I have much baseball now and hockey tryouts for next year. I might continue to write in this blog a little bit every few weeks. Now I have much unpacking to do as we had eleven bags between the three of us. Good luck to everybody in Taby!

2011 0319 School's Out

Logo

This past Tuesday we travelled south to battle the Arlanda Wings in our tough semifinal matchup. After a slow start we rallied to score three quick goals at the end of the first period to lead 3-1. In the second we kept fighting and clawed out a close 4-1 victory. We played pretty well defensively and shut down their strong, powerful players. It was a great game, one of the best of the year for us and was nice revenge from when they tied us in Gothenberg. We were very happy after the game to be moving on to the final against SDE who later won their game 5-2 over a suprising underdog team. Unfortunately, the 96 and 98 teams both lost by one goal in their semifinals to Nacka. The 99 team and our team are both in their championship which will be played today. I will write more about the upcoming game and my departure to the United States after I leave Sweden. My dad and his fried arrived yesterday and will leave with me on Wednesday morning. My last day of school was yesterday, Friday because Monday and Tuesday we will probably tour Stockholm one last time.



2011 0313 Long Weekend

Me with the Svensson's the First Day in Sweden

This picture also brings back a lot of memories of my first time in Sweden. It is still hard to believe that I am leaving in about a week. Last weekend we won an exibition game against a very good team in Nacka by the score of 6-2. This was a big game for us to get ready for the final three games of the playoffs. Yesterday, I got up around six in the morning and got back around 11 at night. I got called to play a 7-game-1-day tournament with a lower team. We won more than we lost and eventually lost 4-3 in overtime in the final to Viggan which is the other team in Taby. This was a great day with tons of playing time for me and the others. I scored five goals and three assists which is pretty high for me considering that I was playing defense the whole time. Today we had another game and won 8-2. The game was far away against an average team. I scored two assists in this win as well. In the first team we upset Huddinge for the third time this season with a 4-3 win in the quarterfinals. This was a huge win against one of another of the best teams in Sweden. We will advance to the semifinals to play our rival Arlanda Wings on Tuesday night. It will be another tough, close game with them. Arlanda was the team who barely won the Gothenberg tournament over us. I will blog once more before my return. 

2011 0305 Playoffs!

Picture From My First Game

This picture from my first game brings back a lot of memories from my first weeks in Sweden. I will be leaving in about two weeks now and hopefully coming back for a few weeks in the summer or later. We only have 2-5 games remaining in our schedule now, depending on if we win or not. It has been a lot of fun here in Sweden the last seven months, but I am excited to return home soon. The last three weeks my dad has left (he will come again in about ten days to pick me up), I have gotten hitten in the head in a hard check, and I have been sick for one week. I missed some practices, but I am back up to speed with a spring camp and more practices. I only have about eight days left of school as I am getting packed and getting ready to say good-bye to everybody in Sweden. We have gotten eight more inches of snow again as well. It has been a lot of fun staying here and playing hockey and I hope we win the playoffs! I will do another blog or two before I return to the United States.

2011 0222 Finland vs. Sweden Pictures

Pregame

Ericsson Globe

End of the Game

Us in our Seats

Erik, Calle, and I

2011 0215 Two Wins

Our Team Photo

This last week we only had practice four times and one important victory against SDE 6-2. This is a team that is a little bit ahead of us in the standings and around the same skill level as us. After a close first period we broke out to a big lead and beat our rival once again. The day after we went into Stockholm and to the Ericsson Globe where the Sweden vs. Finland was. The Globe is the largest circular structure in the world and there were about 10,000 people at the game. A lot of the people were youth hockey players with their families. It was very close until Sweden finally won in a shootout and also won the entire tournament. At the game I got a Sweden jersey that is yellow and has three crowns. This week we conclude the regular season with an easier game before the playoffs start next week. My dad will come tomorrow and is staying for around five days. Also, my grandmother will come for the weekend and watch me practice hockey on two busy days. It is feeling more like winter again as we got about eight inches of snow and the temperatures are low below freezing. Later I will show some pictures of the game.

2011 0207 Super Bowl!

Super Bowl XLV

Yesterday was the Super Bowl for American Football for those who did not know. It started at 12:30a.m. on TV here in Sweden. I slept for a few hours before and a few hours after last night. It was a great game between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Around 4:15 in the morning Green Bay prevailed with a 31-25 victory. In the United States I am always part of a party, but it was different this year. Also, the commercials were not part of the game in Stockholm. This was after an unusual practice where our team did some unexpected things. First, during the off-ice training we ran across a small bay/inlet. It has stayed cold enough for the ice to be very thick. After doing a few agility drills we finished with playing soccer for twenty minutes. The three weeks of difficult training are over now and I think it has finally payed off. It will be normal training again but it will not be easy either. After a slow start on Saturday, we won 4-1 over a below average team. This next Saturday we play our rival, SDE again. We have owned the competition so far as we are 3-1-1 against them. After this game and another one it is playoffs. My dad and grandmother come next week for 3-6 days as well. But first we have only four practices this week which still seems like a lot and are going to a hockey game between Sweden and Finland. It will be the best players for the two teams minus the players in the NHL at the Globe on Sunday evening which is the big hockey arena in Stockholm.