End of the Trip

What a trip! Sorry its been so long since my last post but the last few days have been pretty hectic.  But here I am lying in my bed recovering from jet lag trying to recount my last days over in Erzurum.  We ended up finishing in 6th place after a loss to the Slovakians we had beaten the week before.  We started out playing a very sloppy game and it seemed as though the Slovakians had changed up their style of play so that they would not be beaten by us again.  We even had more power plays than they did since they tried to play our style of hockey but just couldn't keep up.  We were down 3-0 going into the 3rd period when the guy in the locker room came together and we all said this needed to stop and we needed to come out this period on fire which we did.  As soon as we took the ice for the 3rd period the Slovakians were on their heels.  We were at top speed and hitting like freight trains and before we knew it we were only down 3-2 but with a lucky turnover in our end they capitalized once more and we were in the hole again.  But we were relentless and scored with about 45 seconds left which gave us plenty of time to pull the goalie and try to tie it up.  We had won the draw and spent the last 45 seconds desperately trying to put one in but they tightened up around their net and managed to stave off every attempt until the final buzzer rang.  It was a hollow feeling going 3-3 in the games but we had to be proud of our accomplishment.  We had finished 6th which was higher than any USA hockey team had finished in these games since they started competing in them in 1991 not to mention we played against both Olympic, National team players and pro players.  People who thought we were going to get killed against these teams can look at us and say that we really gave everything we had and made every game as competitive as possible which certainly surprised most of them.  

After the game we had one night to go out and experience the 'Disco' which we couldn't wait to do.  As soon as we arrived back at the dorms everyone got all cleaned up and ready to go since it was already 11:30 and the place closed at 1:00am.  We were all ready to go and dance like crazy so we rushed on to the bus and headed for the disco.  Once we had arrived at what looked like a metal warehouse we showed our passes to the security guards and rushed in out of the cold to the most enormous intercultural dance party I think I will ever be a part of.  The DJ was playing all American music while the bartender was serving all foam beers at the beer stand.  It was hilarious watching everyone dance and try to yell to each other to hear when nobody could really understand what they were saying anyway with the language barrier.  But we all had a great time sweating on the dance floor because of the pure volume of athletes out there dancing.  When they turned the lights on and told everyone they needed to leave we tried to gather as many people as we could and go keep the party going in the basement of our dorm.  When I had arrived there were athletes from about 30 countries in the basement continuing to party which we were loving until the heads of some of the delegations came down and told everyone that the party was officially over and that it was time for bed.

The following day we had to pack up our gear and the dorms and prepare for the long trip home, but not before the closing ceremony.  This time all of the athletes would be walking into the crowded stadium all together rather that with only their delegation which made it an even cooler experience.  While this was going on there were many more pictures being taken but the real action was in the trading of team gear from other countries.  I managed to get a hat from Sweden, mittens from Switzerland, a scarf from Italy, a jacket from Turkey and a vest from South Korea.  By the end of the ceremony nobody could tell who was who from their country because they were wearing all sorts of other gear from other countries.  It was so amazing to see that kind of international friendship being displayed so effortlessly.   This trip was an incredible experience for me and something I never thought I would have the opportunity to do.  Turkey did a phenomenal job of hosting these games and I'd love to go back again someday.

I don't believe I need to exhaust you with the details of my trip back home because 26 hours of travel and being awake for 48 hours is tiring enough to think about.  Its great to be home and eating the food I love with my family.  Thank you for all the support over the past semester and then during the games.  I couldn't have done it without you.  Until Slovenia in two years, I'm back to riding on the dog!

Game's 4 & 5

It can be pretty hard going from one end of the spectrum after a such a gratifying win only to have the rug pulled out from under you so quickly.  We knew we were in for a fight when we were matched up against the second seeded Belarus.  It was really a david vs. Goliath kind of game in that we were the underdog American squad playing against 3/4 of Belarus' national team of which the majority play in the KHL which is the top pro league in Russia.  From the drop of the puck we had them on their heels.  They went up 1-0 early but we quickly responded and it was tied 1-1 going into the first intermission.  The second period is where all the action happened and we went behind 3-1 by the ten minute mark which only fueled our bench to get going and before they knew it we had tied it up and they were awestruck.  This arrogant European team who was expecting to blow us out quickly realized that they were in a dogfight with us. The more we hit them the more they would shy away from us and give up the puck.  Unfortunately they picked up on this and quickly turned into the Belorussian diving team which, of course, the European referees took as us playing dirty and started calling ridiculous penalties against us.  We ended the period tied at 3's apiece but we would be starting the 3rd period 2 men down which a good team like Belarus would certainly capitalize on.  And sure enough one minute in, they buried a backdoor pass to make it 4-3 and we tried playing catch up the rest of the game.  We continued to get penalties which put our goal further away and they capitalized again when we pulled our goalie and then again with a few seconds left.  

Although we lost 6-3, the score didn't tell the real story.  We played our best game of the tournament and there was really nothing about our game we would have changed.  As our coaches told us, "We win with class and we lose with class", but this wasn't the case for Belarus who tried picking fights with us and tried running our players at the end of the game.  We received numerous hand gestures from their bench as the game ended.  It really stung but we lost with class and held our heads high with the knowledge that we would no longer be competing for a medal.  The locker room was silent but we knew that we had given our last ounces of energy trying to win and advance.  Losing never feels good and everyone knows it. 

Since we had lost we decided that we would do what no American team had done before us in these games and try and finish in 5th place.  Our next game would be the following day against Japan who was one of the fastest teams in the tournament.  We had our team meeting today and everyone agreed that this would be our last chance at finishing better than any team had before us and with that in our minds we went out and took our anger out on Japan.  We took their speed away from them by hitting every guy with the puck as quickly as possible.  It helped that their biggest guy was 6' tall and we were up 1-0 by the end of the first period.

Our coaches came into the locker room and told us that they thought it was the worst period we had played so far and that we had better pick it up if we wanted to win.  We took his words to heart and dominated them the rest of the game.  We went up 4-1 which included a short handed goal that I assisted which felt good as I'm not much of an offensive player and pride myself on protecting my own end.  They did come back in the 3rd period and scored 2 more goals but with a beautiful snipe by one of our forwards late in the game we sealed the victory and solidified the furthest American finish in the World University Games history.  Now this doesn't say much for the American teams in the past but it feels good to go further than any team has before us.  With that said we are shooting for 5th place tomorrow against Slovakia who we already beat but will by no means take lightly come game time.  Either way these games have been an incredible experience and I would certainly love to be selected to play for team USA again in 2 years in Slovenia.  

Game 3

In the word of Jay-Z team USA hockey is "On to the next one".  We beat Spain yesterday 4-1 which pushed us on to the next round of the tournament.  You would think that since we outshot Spain 65-16 over 3 periods the score would have been a little more lopsided in our favor but their goalie is undoubtedly the best in the entire tournament.  For two periods he managed to stifle every attempt we had and it wasn't until early in the third period that he let up a goal and then the flood gates opened.  It was a good game for us as a team because we were able to dominate every minute.  As the final buzzer sounded we were all so excited to be going to the next round and one step closer to the medal round.  But once again we couldn't celebrate for long in preparation for our next game which is tomorrow night the 3rd against Belarus.  Things are going to be really interesting against such a strong offensive team but I can't wait to surprise them and move even further.

After the game we cleaned ourselves up and were told we were going to a traditional Turkish dinner which none of us had ever experienced.  As we drove deep into the city of Erzurum we had no idea  what we were getting into and when we pulled up and saw an old wooden building we all looked at each other with skeptical thoughts.  Once we stepped inside it looked as though we had gone back in time and instantly we were told to take off our shoes.  We were led to a room that had no chairs but only pillows on the floor with small circular tables about a foot high.  It was like we were in the Roman empire as we lounged around and let our attaché's order our food.  Soon the food came in and we couldn't believe how much was put in front of us.  Chicken, beef and lamb with bread and tons of vegetables covered our small tables and we dug in.  The food was incredible and we devoured all of it almost as quickly as it was prepared.  It was a raucous occasion with all of us yelling and hollering at each other laughing and joking around.  It was unlike anything I had ever expected and before we knew it, it had to end and we were led back to our bus by our equivalent of Jason Bourne.  Our guy from the American embassay is a total bad ass and scopes out our buses for bombs and makes sure all cars stop for us in the streets.  It only adds to the feeling of being a celebrity over here and makes us laugh because this will never happen again.

We ended up drawing the 2nd ranked team, Belarus tomorrow night at 7 o'clock Turkey time and I'm excited to shock everyone here with a big win.  Stay tuned for the results and more blogging soon!

game 2

It sure feels good to win over here especially when the Swedish teams are cheering for us! The only country who has shown us any support in the stands other than our American comrades.  We played Slovakia yesterday, the 30th, and expected it to be a very similar match up to the Kazakhstan squad but this time we came ready to play.  Although we went down 0-1 early in the game we quickly tied it up and then left them in our dust the rest of the game.  By the end of the first period we were up 4-1 with all the momentum favoring us as well as a Canadian referee who wasn't buying the flopping and diving the Slovakians started to do as we pulled away with the lead.  It was obvious they were getting frustrated when they began to take stupid penalties against us.  I was drilled into the boards from behind and got a bloody nose and no sympathy for my shoulder or wrist but the pain subsided with every goal we scored.

By the end of the game our small section in the crowd was yelling and screaming as we dominated them all game and ended up winning 7-3.  It was a huge turn around for us from game one and our whole bench was on their feet most of the game cheering every shift.  It was all smiles at the end of the game when we were watching the highlights before we left the ice.  Although we were pumped to win by such a huge margin we couldn't reminisce for to long as we had to start preparing for our next game against Spain on tuesday.

Waking up early this morning wasn't as difficult as the other day when we had lost and we were on the ice for practice by 8:00 and tried to look as presentable as possible for yet another team picture.  I was told I couldn't have any contact this morning because of my pending injuries which came with countless chirps from my teammates but it was a pretty laid back practice which felt good.  After we left the ice we grabbed a quick bite for breakfast and watched the girls team play against Canada which didn't go so well.  Hopefully they beat Great Britain tomorrow and can advance to the medal round.

After lunch and a well deserved nap we were told we would be going to the mall to check out how the Turks did their shopping.  Shockingly it was just like the American malls that I hate going to back home. I found this to be an enormous waste of time but since we go everywhere as a team I had no choice.  We were told to wear none of our team USA gear because we would stand out to much but as I looked over our group I thought to myself, "Boy I bet nobody will be able to notice that we're Americans now...".  After 2 hours of roaming around we finally got back on the bus to come back to the village where we've been relaxing ever since.  We have an early curfew tonight to prepare for our must win game tomorrow against spain who apparently has the best goalie in the tournament.  Until then, my friends, I bid you adieu.

Game 1

Well we played our first game last night against Kazakhstan and unfortunately didn't get the result we were looking for although we out played them the entire game.  We were told before arriving here that the referees wouldn't give the United States team any help in terms of calling penalties and about 5 minutes in we found out how correct that information was.  Playing against Kazakhstan's national team was going to be a big challenge especially when we found out how much older they were than us.  Early in the game one of our players laid a beautiful text book hit on one of their players who managed to get his elbow up high enough to give our player a concussion and we somehow got a penalty out of it.  The european style of play is much different from the North American style in that they are very speedy and play a finesse game while we like to play a grittier and more physical game.  It didn't help having a separated shoulder but with a shot of cortisone I was able to hit some of their guys pretty hard which really took them off their game.  Unfortunately we were unable to convert on our chances and ended up losing the game 0-5 even though we out shot them 37-30 by games end.  Even though we got our proverbial 'butt's kicked' we couldn't be to disappointed in the loss.  Our next game is tomorrow against Slovakia which should be a very similar game but after a solid practice this morning we feel pretty confident that we can beat them.  It is really fun to play in front of such a huge crowd although there is minimal support for us in the stands.  I'm looking forward to getting our first win and being able to move on to the medal round later in the week.

Away from the arena we got to watch the ski jumping competition today which was mind blowing.  You would have to have some screws loose to consider jumping off that enormous ramp but seeing that its not me up there it was pretty entertaining to watch.  The crowd was huge and it was similar to being at a rock concert with everyone bouncing up and down to the music while these maniacs flew past us.  Even though the event is held directly across the road from our dorm it took us almost 45 minutes to get through the traffic and wild drivers that reside here in Erzurum.  We have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as drivers education here which has made every trip in a vehicle a hectic experience.  We tried to watch the snowboarding events today but due to warm weather and poor visibility the even was moved back.  I hope for their sake that a huge snowstorm rolls in in the next few days!  

Opening Ceremony

Well now that we're here and finally adjusted to the 8 hour time change things are getting really exciting.  Last night which would be midday on the 27th for those back in the states were the opening ceremonies for the 25th Winter World University Games and what a show it was!  We spent the day practicing and getting used to our surroundings which included waking up at 5:30 because nobody could sleep any later but at 6:00pm we got on the bus and headed to the enormous stadium for the ceremony.  We rode over in a bus loaded with our team and the 8 Australian athletes who I didn't expect to see at the winter games.  We pulled up to the stadium and couldn't believe how many people were flooding into the arena.  After waiting around for our time to enter we finally lined up about half a mile from the entrance with the whole American delegation and made our way behind the flag to the entrance.  Everyone had their cameras out and were yelling and hollering with excitment.  Finally after what seemed like an eternity of waiting we got to the entrance and heard the huge crowd inside cheering for the countries who had entered before us.

Then it was our turn to enter and as we peaked through the entrance we heard the crowd go wild which nobody really expected. As soon as we got inside and saw the enormous crowd of 50,000 people, the place erupted and we began our long lap around the stadium.  We were taking countless pictures of the crowd and the entire scene inside the arena and everyone was yelling and waving in our direction as we passed in front of them. I've never had goosebumps like that before and felt like I had the itch-less chicken pox.  It was the most incredible feeling to have all those people from another country on the other side of the world show us that kind of support and you couldn't have slapped the smiles off of our faces.  As we took our spot on the enormous floor of the place we watched as the rest of the countries filled in behind us to the endless roars of the crowd.  As the place filled up with more and more countries we began to run around to meet and take pictures with the other countries.  We traded pins and took pictures with people we had never seen before and every country was as excited as we were.  It was a malay of greetings which was only fueled by the noise of the crowd.

The real noise began when Turkey entered the stadium and you couldn't even hear yourself think.  It was deafening and finally everyone was inside.  As the all the countries took their places on the floor we were welcomed by the president of Turkey and countless higher ups all as excited as the next to be holding the games in their country.  It was an unreal sight.  After they had all spoken we were moved into and empty part of the stadium seating for all the athletes and witnessed tons of local traditional dances and music.  The place was going wild as horses ran and dancers danced around and a giant pyramid looking object opened in the middle of the place to unveil the torch for the games.  Soon enough a horse rider threw a torch into the middle and the thing burst into a giant flame.  It was like watching the Olympic ceremonies on tv with a front row seat.  There were giant eagles flying around on high wires and more music and dancing commenced.  The final act was performed by Turkey's big pop group whose name I couldn't try and spell or say but the local crowd loved it.  The ceremony ended with  a fire work show that lasted at least half an hour and soon we made our way outside to get back to the Olympic village.

Outside the place we were rushed by hundreds of Turks taking pictures with us and of us.  It was like nothing I've ever felt before, we were like celebrities and everyone wanted their picture with the Americans.  It was the most incredible night of my life.  We finally made it back to our dorm around 1:00 in the morning and the entire village was still buzzing.  We had to get to bed quickly though to prepare for our first game tonight the 28th against Kazakhstan.  The games have officially begun and I can't wait to play in front of a sold out crowd tonight.  Stay tuned for the results of the game tonight which can also be found in these places on the internet.  Stay tuned for more!
-The tournament homepage on USAHockey.com: http://bit.ly/USAHwug-The U.S. National University Team blog: http://bit.ly/WUGblog-USA Hockey's Facebook page: http://FB.com/USAHockey-USA Hockey’s Twitter pages: http://twitter.com/USAHockey; http://twitter.com/USAHockeyScores

Finally in Erzurum

Well here we are in Erzurum after close to 27 hours of straight traveling.  As you can imagine traveling with 44 players (between the men and women's teams) and probably 15 coaches, doctors and trainers this is no easy task.  We left Chicago at 3:25pm central time en route to Frankfurt, Germany which proved to be a pretty raucous trip as nobody could sleep due to excitement.  Once arriving in Germany we moved through another security check point and waited for about 2 hours to get on our plane to Istanbul, Turkey.

Soon enough peoples excitement began to fade as our body clocks told us it was late at night even though the sun was up.  Before long we were on our way to Istanbul which took us a few more grueling hours but it was only when we had arrived in Turkey with the whole group where we started to run into problems.  Our first flight to Erzurum had been cancelled which didn't really phase anyone but when we had to go through customs then grab our bags and move to the other end of the airport everyone started to get pretty grouchy.  It was like a small army of American hockey players pushing baggage carts full of bags and sticks past everyone to see us.  We were told to try and keep the attention off of ourselves overseas to keep a low profile but there was absolutely no way that was going to happen while wearing only our USA duds.  The real disaster started when we were getting our tickets to go to Erzurum and we were handing our passports to random airline workers who spoke minimal english.  After waiting in the most crowded area of the airport we soon caught wind that there passports missing and not everyone was going to make it on the same flight.  I was counting my lucky stars when I was handed both my passport and my ticket and told that I was on the first flight out.  We waited for HOURS for this debocle to be solved before we heard that just one of our coaches' passports had been lost and only two people would not be making the trip with us.

Finally we were told that we could go through yet another security check point and take the overcrowded bus to our plane.  We weaved through planes and luggage transports and finally arrived at our plane.  Once we had boarded it really hit me how big these games were going to be.  I sat next to Russian skiers, behind Polish curlers and in front of British athletes of various events and before I knew it I had passed out.  When I awoke 2 hours later I noticed that the plane had not moved an inch and people were still boarding which only aggravated me more but soon I was out again before I heard the pilot announce that we would be landing soon.

The airport in Erzurum was buzzing when we had all deplaned and reached the baggage claim.  Athletes and officials had packed the place and it was hard to think straight with all the yelling that was going on. After another grueling hour we had moved all of our bags to the buses and found out that we had missed our practice and would just be going to the rink to drop off our gear and check out the arena.  Once we were all loaded and our police escort had arrived we made the short trip to the arena and unloaded our stuff.  When we pulled up everyone went haywire at the sight of the place.  It was like going to the olympics but this time I was participating in it! The rink was incredible and as soon as we had our stuff in the locker room we were made aware that we WOULD be skating.  Once everyone had suited up and got onto the ice we skated about three laps when the lights began to go out row by row and soon we were on the ice in complete darkness, so we got off and got undressed and finally got to take a much needed shower.

Once we had left the rink and pulled up to the gates of the Olympic Village we unloaded one last time and went through our last security check point.  FINALLY we made it!  Although it was dark outside the place was aglow with lights and flags and music.  It was incredible and everyone was awestruck at the ski jump that was directly across from where we would be staying.  We drearily made our way to the cafeteria and found the place almost empty minus a few pots of soup and loads of bread which everyone greedily devoured.  Before long nobody could keep there eyes open and we made our way to bed.  Finally we were in Erzurum and everyone was thankful to be able to lie down and get some well deserved sleep.

Now that the sun is up and we are finally moving around its easy to see how big these games are going to be.  60 countries are participating and everyone is running around trying to get rid of their traveling legs.  I can't wait to get this thing going!  Stay tuned for more!

Burlington. We have a problem!

And so it begins! Although we leave for Erzurum tomorrow and the games don't being until Thursday, I have already had some great adventures.  It all started on Christmas day while celebrating at our friends' house when I received a call from my airline informing me that my flight to Burlington, Vermont the next morning had been cancelled.  As we left to go back home we noticed that the car was not producing heat which was only a preview of things to come.  Soon enough a massive winter storm was upon the quiet city of Lake Forest and my parents and I were trying to solve the issue of how I would find my way to Burlington before the evening of the 26th.  As the storm grew worse and the weather channel told me that the east coast was also getting battered we were running out of options.  At 2:00 in the morning my dad and I were shoveling the foot and a half of snow out of the driveway it had been decided, another father- son road trip.  So dad received the 'father of the year' award and at 8:00 we hopped in the car and left Lake Forest in our strangely foggy rear view mirror.  It wasn't long before we realized there were more problems with the car than we had realized the night before.  It  was like we were flying the Apollo 13 shuttle.  Not only did the heat not work but soon we found out that the washer fluid wasn't spraying onto the windshield and once we arrived at the Ohio border and our phones' batteries were beginning to dwindle, that our 12 volt outlets in the car were also dead.  It was almost like the scene in the movie 'Blue Brothers' where John Belushi is wiping the oil off the windshield so that Dan Aykroyd could see where he was driving.  The windows fogged up inside and the salt and snow was making the outside almost impossible to see through.  I found myself wiping the inner window with a paper towel so Dad could see the road. As we managed to escape the storm that had left home under at least a foot of snow, we were preparing to run into the storm that had caused my flight to be cancelled.    After reaching eastern New York we had finally met our match.  As the snow began to blind us late into the night and only 3 hours from our destination, Dad decided that it was a good time to stop and get some sleep and finish the trip in the morning.
As the sun rose we opened our eyes to more snow and frigid cold in the car but with Dad's expertise driving I made it to Burlington the morning of the 27th just in time for the teams 2nd practice.  I was greeted by the team and coaches with applause for finding my way through the treacherous storms.  As the morning practice ended, I was excited and ready for the games we would be playing over the next three days.  The first game against Castleton State was a good 5-4 team win which got everyone excited to play against St. Michael's University the following evening.  Although that game ended in a 3-2 loss it was evident that we had a pretty talented squad and we were even more excited to play against the University of Vermont in our third game.  Although the first two games were really exciting it was the game versus UVM that everyone was really thinking about even before the trip had begun.  We heard that Gutterson Field House had sold out days before the game was to take place and that meant that we would be playing a national powerhouse in front of at least 5000 fans.  I can tell you that I have never been more excited to play in a game ever in my life.  As game time approached I grew more and more restless and when I found out that I would be in the starting line up I almost lost it.  My name being called out in front of all of these people against the University of Vermont was something I could only dream about before I made the team, and here I was hoping that I wouldn't fall flat on my face when I skated out to the blue line for the national anthem.  Soon enough the game was under way and I have never been so happy in my entire life.  Playing with the USA logo on my chest made me feel like a superhero and although the final score was 7-1 in favor of the Catamounts, the score didn't translate into how well we actually played.  After only three days together the team couldn't have been happier with our performance.  Everyone was smiling knowing that we would definitely be a force to be reckoned with over in Turkey.  The trip ended with Team USA only winning one of three games but in hindsight, a complete success.  Before I knew it I found myself back in the car which had, luckily, been fixed before we hit the road.  We decided to take an alternate route through Canada to get home and managed to do it in just 16 hours!  What a trip! and that was only the beginning!  Stay Tuned for more!